“Rising Stars” at the Chair for International Relations 

The Chair for International Relations congratulates Leah Lazer and Dr. Abdou Rahim Lema for being admitted to the University of Freiburg’s Rising Stars Academy. Dr. Tim Zajontz, Interim Professor in International Relations, will act as the host for the two scholars who both research interconnections between global structural transformations and local dynamics across Africa.  

Leah Lazer is a PhD candidate in Urban Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and has previously worked for the World Resources Institute in Washington DC and London. Her PhD research combines the quantitative analysis of infrastructure finance flows with qualitative case studies. Lazer is interested in the impact of foreign finance – and its growing geopoliticisation – on urban mobility in cities across the Global South, with a particular focus on Africa.

Abdou Rahim Lema recently completed his PhD at the University of Montréal, Canada, with the support of the Vanier Scholarship by the Canadian government. His research focused on Chinese-financed infrastructure projects in ‘sub-Saharan Africa’. Having pursued his education in Turkey, Poland, China and Canada, Lema brings diverse academic experiences in the field of international relations and political science to the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy. During his fellowship, Lema wants to further develop a “view from below” on the development-security nexus in Africa-China relations. 

As a part of their fellowship with the Freiburg Rising Stars Academy, Leah Lazer and Abdou Lema will be associated with the University of Freiburg and its Africa Centre for Transregional Research (ACT) until March 2026. Between March 16 and March 20 all “Rising Starts” and their host Principal Investigators (PIs) will gather in Freiburg for a Conference Week. The Freiburg Risings Stars Academy connects highly qualified international researchers from diverse fields with Freiburg-based scholars, fostering long-term exchange and collaboration. Find out more here.