I am a Professor of Political Science and Empirical Democracy Research in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim and scientific director of the German Internet Panel (GIP). I was born in Austria but grew up in Mexico, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Thailand, and now commute to and from Slovenia. Before coming to Mannheim, I held academic positions at Goethe University Frankfurt, the University of Essex, the University of Berne and the University of Konstanz. I study the psycho-cultural requisites of democracy with a strong focus on problems of social cohesion and political conflict. My current research focuses on problems of free speech and political tolerance. I also have a keen interest in quantitative political methodology. My work has been published in American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Political Analysis, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), among others. Please feel free to contact me at: traunmueller[at]uni-mannheim.de