Hello everyone,

My name is Sara Þöll Finnbogadóttir and I joined the department as a PhD student on the 3rd of February. I am completely new to the university but have been living in Aarhus for the past six months or so (I haven’t explored everything, so I welcome any suggestions you have about the city!).

Before joining as a PhD student, I worked as a research assistant for the Icelandic National Election Study. I have a BA degree in political science from the University of Iceland and a MSc degree in survey methodology and data science from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.

My PhD project will focus on studying individual factors and mobilizing initiatives that may affect the electoral and political participation of young people. I am mainly interested in what pushes low-propensity voters to turnout in elections and then how they can be pushed to turnout. To examine this, I hope to use validated turnout data, survey, and experimental data. I am excited to start working on the project and with my supervisors: Rune Stubager (main supervisor) and Suthan Krishnarajan (co-supervisor). I will be joining the Political Behaviour and Institutions section.

I dedicate a lot of my spare time to knitting, sports and volunteering in youth organisations. I usually bring my knitting with me everywhere I go and usually knit traditional Icelandic sweaters. I am a dedicated formula 1 fan and have now, since moving to Aarhus, started to become an AGF fan.

If you want to discuss political and electoral participation, learn how to knit (or speak Icelandic!) or discuss sports over a cup of coffee, then come by my office: 1340 – 236.

I look forward to meeting you all!