Ari Ray

Political Scientist, Collegium Helveticum/ETH Zurich

I’m an Early-Career Fellow at the Collegium Helveticum, affiliated with the Urban Policy group at ETH Zurich. Starting Summer 2024, I will be a Senior Researcher (SNSF Ambizione) at the University of Geneva.

My research centers on the causes of socio-political inequality and the behavioral foundations of economic policymaking. For this, I leverage a combination of survey and public archival data to investigate the conditions under which people from structurally disprivileged backgrounds are able to attain public office.

Previously, I was PostDoc at the University of Geneva; a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute; a PhD Researcher at the University of Zurich and a SNSF Predoctoral Fellow at Stanford University. Projects of mine have recieved financing from e.g. the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

For more information, feel free to browse the Research and CV sections of this site.