New Assistant Professor of Development Economics

Dr. Kathrin Durizzo joined the Department of Economics at the University of Göttingen Faculty of Business and Economics in July 2026. She holds a joint Junior Professorship of Development Economics with a Focus on Africa together with the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies (Leibniz Institute for Global and Regional Studies) in Hamburg.

Her research lies at the intersection of development economics and health economics, with a focus on African countries. Using quasi-experimental and experimental methods, she investigates policy-relevant questions related to the design of social protection schemes and the impact of public policies and programmes. She received the SNIS International Geneva Award for research of particular relevance to international organizations. Her work has been published in renowned journals such as Health Economics, Review of Income and Wealth, and World Development.

At the Faculty of Business and Economics, she will offer the bachelor's seminar "Economics of Africa" in the winter semester, as well as part of the master's and PhD-level course "Advanced Development Economics."

Kathrin Durizzo completed her PhD at the Development Economics Group at ETH Zurich in 2023. Her dissertation, "Towards Universal Health Coverage in sub-Saharan Africa: The need for inclusive, sustainable, and resilient health systems", was honored with the ETH Medal. Before this position, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.