Simon holds a MA in International Relations and Development Policy from the University of Duisburg-Essen and BA degrees in Political Science and African Studies from Leipzig University. Before joining the IEE as a research fellow and PhD Student, Simon worked as Project Assistant with the Centre for Global Cooperation Research in Duisburg and supported the Chair of International Relations and African Politics of Prof. Dr. Christof Hartmann as research assistant. Furthermore, Simon supported a GIZ project in cooperation with the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as external consultant and conducted an internship at the Department of Southern Africa and South Africa of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. His PhD research focuses on the dynamics of regional governance and regionalism in the Global South and examines the role of regional political spaces for the promotion, diffusion and contestation of social policy.

• International Relations & International Political Economy
• Development Theories and Development Politics
• Regional Governance & Regionalism (especially Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America)
• Global & Regional Social Policy
• Social Constructivism

ORCID

• Summer Term 2023 (12 - 23 June): Social Science Perspectives on Development, Master Programme in Development Management, Ruhr-University Bochum, with Anne Siebert, PhD
• Summer Term 2022 (22 August - 2 September): Social Science Perspectives on Development, Master Programme in Development Management, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, with Prof. Dr. Christof Hartmann

Supervision of Master theses (MADM programmes at Ruhr-University Bochum and the University of the Western Cape, South Africa)

• Grigoryan, Arpi (2024). Community Consolidation Reforms and their Effect on Participation and Accountability - An Empirical Study of Decentralization in Armenia.
• Mngomezulu, Boitumelo (2023): Participation in Water Management in Cape Town - Perceptions of Deprived Urban Communities.
• Tique Calderon, Evelyn Yohana (2024): Multi Stakeholder Involvement in Participatory Development Projects - The Case of Coffee Producers in Ataco, Colombia.