PhD for Sandra Wrzeziono

The disputation took place on 18 June 2025 at the University of Cologne. The two supervisors/examiners Prof. (em.) Dr Frank Schulz-Nieswandt (pictured right, University of Cologne) and Prof. Dr Remi Maier-Rigaud (left, H-BRS) were present. The examination committee was chaired by Prof Dr Karsten Hank.

The dissertation is titled "Variants of the democratisation of the health sector - results of a survey on the design of citizen participation in the German health sector".

Sandra Wrzeziono on her doctoral project and her career plans:

"The results of the dissertation show that health policy stakeholders have a variety of different understandings of democracy in the context of the German healthcare system. Ultimately, the tense relationship between patients and professional actors is of central importance here. In practice, this means that the question of the future design of institutionalised patient participation in the context of health policy decision-making processes is also understood differently, resulting in a variety of possible design options.

I am currently working as a scientific advisor in the office of the German Advisory Council on Health and Care. I would like to continue to dedicate myself to health policy from a scientific perspective in the future."

„I advise doctoral candidates to exchange ideas with other doctoral candidates during the various phases of their doctorate. Impulse from the outside and other perspectives help to sharpen your view of your own work and keep cool.”

Dr. Sandra Wrzeziono, PhD 2025 at H-BRS, Department of Social Policy and Social Security