Dr. Oleksandra Keudel is an Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of the Science, Social Science and Humanities department at Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). She is also a fellow at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the Freie Universität in Berlin and is currently Principal Investigator in the Horizon Europe-funded project Building Resilient Innovations in Democracy, Governance and Excellence. The project is coordinated by KSE in collaboration with the Technical University of Berlin, Erasmus University Rotterdam and the University of Tartu.

Dr. Keudel has been a fellow in the Ukraine Research Network@ZOiS since September 2025. Her research focuses on governing diversity in polycentric political systems, with a particular focus on Ukraine before and during Russia’s full-scale invasion. She studies how local communities address social diversity and build social cohesion, especially in the context of the shocks exerted by external aggression. Her work also examines the institutional capacities and strategies of local authorities, civil society organisations and businesses to respond to different forms of diversity.