Curriculum Vitae
Table of Contents
My name is Dr. Anna Sophie Kümpel, and I am a Full Professor of Communication at the Department of Media and Communication at LMU Munich, where I lead the research unit on media reception and media effects.
Most of my recent projects deal with the use, dissemination, and perception of news and political information in algorithmically curated online environments, especially social media. Furthermore, I am interested in research on incivility and hate speech, particularly in questions of why users resort to incivility and what influences their perceptions of uncivil online communication. I consider myself to be an advocate for mixed methods research and routinely combine quantitative and qualitative designs to address my research questions. Also, I am very interested in questions related to Open Science and all the ways that can help us to make our research as transparent and accessible as possible.
Academic Positions #
Full Professor | Chair
Assistant Professor (with Tenure Track)
Post-Doctoral Researcher and Lecturer
Visiting Scholar
Doctoral Researcher and Lecturer
Education #
Doctor rerum socialium (Dr. rer. soc.), Communication
M.A., Communication
B.A., Communication (Major) | Sociology (Minor)
Higher Education Entrance Qualification („Abitur“)
Grants and Third-Party Funding #
(Co-)Prinicipal Investigator #
- Information and News Use by Older People in Social Media and Messenger Apps: Perceptions, Practices, and Content (Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) | Research project aquired in the Individual Research Grant (“Sachbeihilfe”) program
- Perceptions and Effects of Online Hate Speech (Funder: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) | Research project as part of the joint project “Einsatz von KI zur Früherkennung von Straftaten (KISTRA)”, jointly acquired with Prof. Dr. Diana Rieger
Collaboration and Advisory Roles #
- HEALTHY NEWS - Navigating Negativity: What is a Healthy News Diet? (Funder: VELUX FONDEN, Role: Part of the International Advisory Board) | Research project on the opportunites and risks of negative news in individualized media environments, led by Prof. Dr. Kim Andersen
- ANMI - The Austrian News Media Infrastructure (Funder: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, ÖAW, Role: Part of the International Advisory Board) | Research project on the development of a digital research infrastructure for the Austrian (news) media system, led by Dr. Josef Seethaler
- AMBITION - Activists’ Mobile Information (Funder: Data Science Center at the University of Bremen, DSC, Role: Advisor) | Research project on news and media usage behavior of climate activists, led by Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann
- Dissemination and Exchange of News Content on the Social Web (Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG, Role: Research Associate) | Research project as part of the DFG Research Unit 1381 “Political Communication in the Online World” - DFG [DFG BR 904/39-2], led by Prof. Dr. Hans-Bernd Brosius and Prof. Dr. Veronika Karnowski
Commissioned Research #
- Uses and Effects of Political Information on Instagram (Funder: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) | Commissioned project for the KAS – Preparation of a literature review on the uses, effects, and societal implications of political information on Instagram, jointly acquired with Prof. Dr. Diana Rieger
- The Changing Culture of Language and Debate on Social Media (Funder: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) | Commissioned project for the KAS – Preparation of a literature review on the causes and effects of incivility in social media, jointly acquired with Prof. Dr. Diana Rieger
- Evaluation of the Youth Pilgrimage “Jugendkorbinianswallfahrt” (Funder: Erzbischöfliches Jugendamt München und Freising, EJA) | Commissioned project for the EJA – Conception, implementation, and reporting of an online evaluation study, jointly acquired with Prof. Dr. Hans-Bernd Brosius
Personal Grants #
- Mentee in the LMU Mentoring Program of the Faculty of Social Sciences (Funding received in 2018 and 2019)
- Travel Grant by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (Funding received in 2014, 2015 and 2016)
Awards & Honors #
Research #
- Best Paper Award of the DGPuK Division “Media Reception and Effects” 2022
- Best Paper Awards (2x) of the DGPuK Division “Media Reception and Effects” 2020
- Competitive Paper Award of the ICA Game Studies Interest Group (2nd place) 2014
- Best Thesis Award of the Department of Media and Communication for a M.A. thesis
- Best Thesis Award of the Department of Media and Communication for a B.A. thesis
Teaching #
- FSR-Phil Award for Teaching in the Category “Best Communication”, winter term 2020/21 (awarded by the Student Council of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science, TU Dresden)
- 2 Awards for Excellence in Teaching at the Department of Media and Communication (LMU Munich), winter term 2018/19
- Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Department of Media and Communication (LMU Munich), summer term 2015
- Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Department of Media and Communication (LMU Munich), summer term 2014
University & Field Service #
Current Positions #
- Member of the Scientific Board of the LMU Open Science Center (OSC, since 10/2025)
- Member of the Editorial Board, Communication Theory (since 04/2024)
- Member of the Editorial Board, Digital Journalism (since 01/2020)
Past and Temporal Positions #
- Member of the Jury for the Austrian State Prize for Historical Sciences 2026, Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research, Republic of Austria (10/2025 - 11/2026)
- Mentor in the LMU Mentoring Program of the Faculty of Social Sciences, LMU Munich (04/2025 - 04/2026)
- Member of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science, TU Dresden (12/2021 - 09/2024)
- Member of the Advisory Board for TU Dresden’s Teaching Strategy “Lehrstrategie sTUDium 3.0” (03/2023 - 03/2024)
- Secretary of the Division “Communication & Technology” of the International Communication Association (06/2020 - 05/2023)
- Co-Chair of the Division “Media Reception and Effects” of the German Communication Association (02/2021 - 01/2023)
- Member of the Advisory Board, Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft (02/2021 - 01/2023)
- Representative of the Academic Staff, Department of Media and Communication, LMU Munich (10/2016 - 10/2019)
- Youth Representative of the Division “Media Reception and Effects” of the German Communication Association (08/2017 - 08/2019)
Reviews #
- Journals: Acta Politica, Annals of the International Communication Association, Behaviour & Information Technology, Big Data & Society, Communication Research, Communication Research Reports, Communication Theory, Computers in Human Behavior, Digital Journalism, Frontiers in Psychology, Human Communication Research, Information, Communication & Society, International Journal of Communication, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journal of Communication, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, Journal of Media Psychology, Journalism, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journalism Practice, Journalism Studies, Mass Communication and Society, Media and Communication, Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft, Mobile Media & Communication, New Media & Society, Political Communication, Public Opinion Quarterly, Publizistik, Social Media + Society, SCM – Studies in Communication and Media, SComS – Studies in Communication Sciences, The International Journal of Press/Politics
- Professional Associations: Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Annual Conference of the German Communication Association (DGPuK), Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), Annual Conference of the DGPuK Division Methods, Annual Conference of the DGPuK Division Media Reception and Effects
- Third-Party Funders: Bayrisches Forschungsinstitut für Digitale Transformation | Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft | German Research Foundation (DFG); Israel Science Foundation (ISF); Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF) | Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); Wissenschaftliche Kommission Niedersachsen (WKN) | Scientific Commission of Lower Saxony
- Miscellaneous: SoSci Panel (Peer-reviewed academic online access panel)
Workshop and Conference Organization #
- Organization of the Workshop “Agile project management in communication research” as part of the Annual Conference of the Division “Methods” of the German Communication Association (2024)
- Organization of the Workshop “Ethical challenges in research on incivility online” as part of the Annual Conference of the Division “Methods” of the German Communication Association (2023)
- Program Committee of the Annual Doctoral Consortium of the Division “Communication and Technology”, International Communication Association (2022)
- Organization of the Workshop “Facebook is dead – and so is our research?” as part of the Annual Conference of the German Communication Association (2022)
- Organization of the Annual Conference of the Division “Media Reception and Effects” of the German Communication Association (2021)
- Organisation of the Review Process for the Annual Conference of the German Communication Association (2020)