Philipp Lersch
Project leader
Philipp Lersch is Associate Professor of Sociology of Social Policy in the Department of Social Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and research group leader at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). His main research interests are in social inequalities over and between life courses of individuals in divergent institutional contexts focusing on the family, wealth, and employment.
Sascha dos Santos
Postdoctoral Researcher
Sascha dos Santos is a research associate in the “Life Course and Inequality” research group and the SOEP Research Infrastructure unit at DIW Berlin. His research focuses on life‑course dynamics related to wealth and the labour market. Methodologically, he employs modern causal‑inference and longitudinal‑data analysis techniques. Prior to joining DIW, he worked at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center in the research group “Skill Formation and Labor Markets.”
Mathis Herpell
Doctoral Researcher
Mathis Herpell is a sociologist and doctoral candidate at the “Life Course and Inequality” research group at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). He researches wealth disparities over the life course and in particular in relation to migrant-native differences. He employs various quantitative methods with a current focus on mixed-effect models. Before starting at DIW, he worked as a researcher in the Integration department of the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM).
Irene Brown
Student Research Assistant
Irene Brown is a research assistant in the WEALTHTRAJECT team and the SOEP Research Infrastructure at DIW Berlin. Her research interests center on political developments and social inequality from a comparative perspective, with experience in data analysis and the visual communication of social science topics. Before joining DIW, she worked at the Institute for Parliamentary Research and at the Technical University of Berlin. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and a one-year diploma program in International and Comparative Studies at Sciences Po Toulouse.