Professor Dr. Thorsten Quandt
Current affiliations
- Professorship of Communication Science, focus: Online Communication (Prof. Quandt)Scharnhorststraße 44, Raum: IfK, E 226, 48151 Münster
- Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics"Johannisstr. 1, 48143 Münster
Academic profiles
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Research Focus
- Online communication and interactive media
- Media Innovations
- Digital Gaming
- Online Journalism
Academic Education | |
| since 2008 | Habilitation in Communication Science at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich |
| since 2004 | Ph.D. in Communication Science. Dissertation: "Journalisten im Netz" (Journalists and the internet) at the TU Ilmenau |
| 1990 - 1996 | Journalism, psychology, film/television and cultural studies in Bochum and Liverpool |
| 1993 - 1994 | Study of Media and Cultural Studies at the John Moores University in Liverpool, England |
Work Experience | |
| since 10/2012 | Professor for online communication at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster |
| 03/2014 - 05/2014 | Visiting Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 2009 - 2012 | Professor at the University of Hohenheim, Department of Communication Studies |
| 2007 - 2008 | Junior Professor at the FU Berlin |
| 1997 - 2007 | Research Assistant at the TU Ilmenau and the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich |
| 08/2001 - 09/2001 | Visiting Scholar at the School of Journalism, Indiana University in Bloomington, USA |
| 1996 - 1998 | Working as a radio journalist |
Functions and Memberships | |
| since 2015 | Associate Editor of the Journal of Communication |
| since 2012 | Board Member of the journal "Digital Journalism" |
| since 2012 | Head of the evaluation board for Finnish Communication Studies, Academy of Finland |
| since 2011 | Member of the Executive Board of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) |
| since 2011 | Chair of the Temporary Working Group "Digital Games Research" of ECREA |
| since 2011 | Board member of the journal "Communication Theory" |
| since 2005 | Section Editor for the journal 'Journalism Studies' ('Theory Review' section, along with Mark Deuze and Karin Wahl-Jorgensen) |
| 2008 - 2013 | Council in the 'Scientific Advisory Board' of the Finnish Helsingin Sanomat Foundation |
| 2009 - 2011 | Secretary of the "Journalism Studies Division" of the International Communication Association (ICA) |
| 2008 - 2010 | Speaker of the 'journalism and journalism research' section of DGPuK |
| 2006 - 2008 | Deputy Speaker of the 'journalism and journalism research' section of DGPuK |
Publications
Quandt, Thorsten; Klapproth, Johanna; Unger, Saïd; Boberg, Svenja (2026) In: Luttrell, Regina; Bowman, Nicholas David (eds.), Provoking Generative AI Futures: Merging Theory and Praxis, 117-134. New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003487623 Research article (book contribution) | Peer reviewed | Published | |
Wehden, Lars-Ole; Küpper, Lena Maria; Reer, Felix; Quandt, Thorsten (2026) In: Mass Communication and Society, 29(4), 567-589. doi:10.1080/15205436.2025.2609281 Research article (journal) | Peer reviewed | Published | |
Wu, Shangyuan; Quandt, Thorsten; Unger, Saïd (2026) In: Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 1-19. doi:10.1177/14648849261452333 Research article (journal) | Peer reviewed | Published | |
Quandt, Thorsten; Unger, Saïd (2026) In: Westlund, Oscar; Hanusch, Folker (eds.), Outstanding Research in (Digital) Journalism Studies. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003609438 Research article (book contribution) | Peer reviewed | accepted / in press (not yet published) | |
Bartsch, A.; Neuberger, C.; Stark, B.; Karnowski, V.; Maurer, M.; Pentzold, C.; Quandt, T.; Quiring, O.; Schemer, C. (2025) In: Communication Theory, 34, 1-14. doi:10.1093/ct/qtae020 Research article (journal) | Peer reviewed | Published |
Projects
Duration: 01/11/2026 - 31/10/2030 Funded by: VolkswagenStiftung - Transformational Knowledge on Democracies under Change – Transdisciplinary Perspectives Type of project: Individual project | |
Duration: 01/05/2026 - 30/04/2029 Funded by: Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space Type of project: Main federally funded joint project | |
Duration: 01/03/2026 - 28/02/2031 Funded by: EC Horizon Europe - ERC Advanced Grant Type of project: EU-project hosted at University of Münster | |
Duration: 01/01/2024 - 31/07/2025 Funded by: Uni Münster-internal funding - Ideas Lab Type of project: Internally at the University of Münster funded project | |
Duration: 01/10/2023 - 30/09/2026 | 1st Funding period Funded by: DFG - Cluster of Excellence Type of project: Subproject in DFG-joint project hosted at University of Münster |
Talks
| Where topics take off: Tracing temporal impulse dynamics in cross-platform crisis communication Klapproth, Johanna; Unger, Saïd; Quandt, Thorsten (11/09/2026) 11th European Communication Conference, Brno Type of talk: scientific Talk | |
| The agency of industry elites in media policy processes Sjøvaag, Helle; Young, M. L.; Hermida, Alfred; Ferrer-Conill, Ramon; Quandt, Thorsten (10/09/2026) 11th European Communication Conference, Brno Type of talk: scientific Talk | |
| Fragile flows of attention: Temporal dynamics of political issue competition on TikTok across 27 European countries Klapproth, Johanna; Unger, Saïd; Quandt, Thorsten; (09/09/2026) 11th European Communication Conference, Brno Type of talk: scientific Talk | |
| What happens after the storm? Exploring the long-term impact of hashtag activism on social issue careers for sexual abuse (#MeToo), climate change… Beisemann, Sofie; Boberg, Svenja; Unger, Saïd; Quandt, Thorsten; (09/09/2026) 11th European Communication Conference, Brno Type of talk: scientific Talk | |
| The body of body image research: A computational topic analysis (1980–2025) Küpper, Lena; Unger, Saïd; Quandt, Thorsten; (09/09/2026) 11th European Communication Conference, Brno Type of talk: scientific Talk |
Prizes
| Top Poster Award 2026 Awarded by: International Communication Association Award given to: Reer, Felix; Unger, Saïd; Quandt, Thorsten Announced at: 07/06/2026 | Date of awarding: 07/06/2026 Type of distinction: Best presentation award | |
| ERC Advanced Grant Awarded by: European Research Council (ERC) Award given to: Quandt, Thorsten Announced at: 17/06/2025 | Date of awarding: 17/06/2025 Type of distinction: Research award or other distinction | |
| Fellow Awarded by: International Communication Association (ICA) Award given to: Quandt, Thorsten Announced at: 30/05/2023 | Date of awarding: 30/05/2023 Type of distinction: Research award or other distinction | |
| Top 100 Altmetric Ranking 2015 (Platz 24 der weltweit am häufigsten diskutierten Wissenschaftsartikel für „Sexist games= sexist gamers? “) Awarded by: Altmetric Award given to: Breuer, J.; Kowert, R.; Festl, R.; Quandt, T. Date of awarding: 01/01/2015 Type of distinction: Research award or other distinction | |
| Top 3 Faculty Paper Award Awarded by: Interest Group “Game Studies”, International Communication Association (Seattle) Award given to: Scharkow, M.; Festl, R.; Quandt, T. Date of awarding: 01/01/2014 Type of distinction: Best publication award |
Doctorates
| Is it freedom of speech though? How society handles statements in public media. Candidate: Yasmin Erenler | Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Thorsten Quandt Period of time: until 31/01/2023 Doctoral examination procedure finished at: Doctoral examination procedure at University of Münster | |
| Acceptance of virtual reality: Factors explaining the private use of virtual reality Candidate: Janzik, Robin | Supervisors: Quandt, Thorsten; Strauß, Bernd Period of time: 01/04/2018 - 31/03/2021 Doctoral examination procedure finished at: Doctoral examination procedure at University of Münster | |
| Immersive Experiences: Trust Building in Virtual Reality (working title) Candidate: Janzik, Robin | Supervisors: Quandt, Thorsten Period of time: until 31/03/2021 Doctoral examination procedure finished at: Doctoral examination procedure at University of Münster | |
| Immersive Experiences: Risks of and Trust Building in Virtual Reality (working title) Candidate: Janzik, Robin | Supervisors: Quandt, Thorsten Period of time: until 31/03/2021 Doctoral examination procedure finished at: Doctoral examination procedure at University of Münster | |
| Immersive Experiences: Trust Building in Virtual Reality (working title) Candidate: Janzik, Robin | Supervisors: Quandt, Thorsten Period of time: until 31/03/2021 Doctoral examination procedure finished at: Doctoral examination procedure at University of Münster |