Research Interests

  • Political Sociology & Behavior

  • Survey Research

  • Big Data in the Social Sciences

Short Description

Leah von der Heyde is a PhD candidate at the University of Mannheim and a research associate at the Social Data Science and AI Lab (SODA) at LMU Munich. Her work centers around improving the understanding of public opinion using AI, digital traces, and social media, while identifying and mitigating biases against underrepresented groups.

Leah holds degrees in Political Science from LMU and the University of Mannheim, with specializations in quantitative methods, survey research, and political sociology. She was also a visiting student at Georgetown University, where she focused on polling, public opinion, and electoral campaigns. During her studies, Leah engaged in projects such as analyzing the potential of Google Trends for predicting European Parliamentary elections.

Previously, Leah worked for the European Social Survey at GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Mannheim, the European Parliamentary Research Service in Brussels, and several market and public opinion research institutes in Germany and Sweden.

Leah is particularly passionate about data justice – giving a voice to those groups surveys and datasets typically overlook or are biased against. To this end, she is investigating the potential and pitfalls of new data sources for learning about public opinion, and has been involved in research projects on privacy attitudes and their implications for stakeholders and policymakers.