Esther Kern joined BIGS in August 2019 as a Research Fellow. She works in national as well as European projects on various societal, security policy and economic issues related to technology and security. Her research focuses in particular on cyber and space security. 

In her bachelor’s degree, Esther studied political science and history at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg and in Connecticut, US. Subsequently, she earned her master’s degree in North American Studies at the John-F.-Kennedy-Institute at Freie Universität Berlin with a focus on foreign and security policy.

Esther gained first working experiences among others at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik – German Institute for International and Security Affairs and the American-German Institute (formerly known as the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies) in Washington D.C. Prior to joining BIGS, she worked as a project manager for an European election campaign.