Nicole Deitelhoff is not easily scared. “I am very robust”, she says with her cheerful and infectious laugh. As a professional peace and conflict researcher, she is able to classify and analyze unsettling global events. However, 24 February 2022 was a difficult day for her, too. “On this day, I knew that my children would grow up differently from me.” In a kind of second Cold War and in a threatened Europe. “For the next decades, Russia will be a massive security risk.”

Even as a professional, she is not left untouched by the current global situation. Trump back in the White House, billionaires such as Elon Mask in power, Putin’s war of expansion, right-wing parties in Europe and the AFD in Germany growing stronger – it is the increase of and link between the conflicts that worries her, as well as the lack of resources for solutions. “Currently, there is a particularly toxic form of male heads of states who are all similarly reactionary, patriarchal and vested with great power.” How can this be addressed, where can we start, what has to change? The TU alumna analyzes patterns and trends of global political situation. “This is not about individual conflicts, but generally about rules and international sets of rules”, says Professor Deitelhoff. Rules are not of much use when dealing with players such as Trump or Putin. “Ultimately, the only way is to stand together; a majority of states needs to come together and form a counter-alliance”, explains the researcher and points to history, which has shown on numerous occasions that, if need be, the international community will join forces against aggressors.

"Our perspective is mostly black and white, but the world is much more colorful"

At the moment, Deitelhoff also notices a lot of fear among her students, for example the fear of a nuclear attack. These fears can be countered with data, indicators and analyses that make the situation more predictable for her as a scientist. In her profession as a peace and conflict researcher, she sees herself more on the side of conflict research, describing herself as a “very pessimistic optimist”. What can we learn from conflicts, what changes can we initiate? “Our perspective is mostly black and white, but the world is much more colorful.” In Deitelhoff’s view, there is a lot of movement at the moment. For example, the Global South does not consider the current situation to be a crisis of the world order but, rather, that its influence in world politics is increasing. Of course, the Western world sees things differently, but this can also be seen as positive – in the sense of a change. “What we need to do now, for example at G20 summits, is to redefine what our common world can look like”, says Deitelhoff.

The successful researcher was not predestined to embark on a career in science. Deitelhoff is originally from Eastern Holstein. Her parents were the owners of a village pub with a bowling alley near Eutin. “From a very early age, I was very eloquent and had to assert myself”, she laughs. This is probably the origin of what she herself describes as robustness and a certain kind of northern German stubbornness which frequently helps her to stay on track. “I try new things. If they do not work out, I start again or I do something else.” Giving up is not part of the plan. 

A stint in the US became the turning point

Initially, the alumna wanted to become a journalist. She chose law, political science and economics as her fields of study, because she thought that they would form a solid basis for journalistic work. “However, I abandoned this idea as an undergraduate already, because I noticed that I was very passionate about the fields.” What she did not like at all at this early stage was the university. Deitelhoff started her studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, “but I was not happy there”. Too big, too anonymous for her. As she was living in Darmstadt, she heard of the option to subsequently enroll at TU, which had a great reputation for political science, “an excellent department with luminaries and distinguished experts in the subject matter”, she emphasizes. She liked Darmstadt from the start: the degree course was not overcrowded, seminars were small, there was a lot of structure and great support. “This saved me from becoming a drop-out”, she concludes. Here, Deitelhoff came into contact with Klaus Dieter Wolf, Professor of Political Science and Head of the Chair International Relations. Her role model, mentor and, later on, the supervisor for her doctoral thesis.

She also drew inspiration from colleagues such as Gunther Hellmann, who initially worked as a research assistant at TU, later on as a professor at Goethe University and in leading positions at the Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Research and in the “Formation of Normative Orders” Cluster of Excellence – both of which have also become Nicole Deitelhoff’s domains of work today. It was Hellmann who, during Deitelhoff’s fourth semester in her undergraduate studies, pointed her towards an exchange program with the State University of New York in Buffalo and encouraged her to spend a term abroad. “This was the turning point”, the professor reflects. “In the US, the little average student became a high performer.” Teachers there gave a lot of feedback and grades based on one’s personality. “This changed me. I was fired up.”

She had discovered her ambition. Even though she was offered a PhD scholarship in the US, she wanted to return to Darmstadt. There, she would have had to take her master’s degree first, the US master’s degree was not sufficient. “I didn’t want this”, she says. With northern German stubbornness, she pursued her goal, initially working for Walter Hoffmann, former member of the German parliament for the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She applied for a postgraduate scholarship of the federal state of Hesse which was subsequently continued by the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. “This enabled me to complete my doctoral degree at TU and with Professor Wolf after all”, she grins.

"I know how to argue properly"

When, in 2008, a new chair for transnational politics became available at TU Darmstadt, she applied for this position, and the somewhat ambivalent relationship with her Alma Mater began. Following the selection process, she was the top candidate, but there was opposition in the Senate which, however, was not based primarily on Deitelhoff as a person. “This was unpleasant for me”. She does not really want to talk about it anymore. “There were conflicts, but you have to leave them behind at some point in time.” She is the consummate professional peace and conflict researcher and laughs. Her career was not negatively affected by this. She was offered chairs at other universities, but as Frankfurt wanted to keep her in the “Formation of Normative Orders” Cluster of Excellence, they created a professorship for Nicole Deitelhoff. 

Today, she is one of the most renowned experts in her subject matter. Since 2016, she has been Managing Director of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) with about 100 employees. Since 2017, she has been the Head of the Research Department “International Institutions” and, in 2023, she received a Loewe Top Professorship of the State of Hesse. She teaches, supervises PhD candidates, does research and is currently writing a book on the relationship between order and conflict. “My profession is a continuous source of surprises”, she happily reports. TU Darmstadt has a share in this. “The university provided me with solid basic training and brought me into contact with individuals who shaped and motivated me and helped me make the right decisions. I have to credit TU for this.”

In her private life, Nicole Deitelhoff is married to political scientist Christopher Daase and has three children. Daase, too, is a professor at Goethe University and member of the Board of Directors of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. So does the work day ever end for her? “We talk about politics, but never about work”, she emphasizes. And what if they get into an argument? “I know how to argue properly”, she says, laughing out loud.

Joint peace research

There are various close connections between the scientists of TU Darmstadt and Nicole Deitelhoff’s fields of work. For example, there is a link between TU and the PRIF – Peace Research Institute Frankfurt on an institutional level. Last year, they established a joint Professorship for Peace Research in Natural Sciences held by Malte Göttsche. Another professorship, “Peace and Conflict Studies – Transnational Actors” is currently being established, which will be held by Tobias Ide. With the two professorships, TU Darmstadt continues its particular tradition of high-profile peace research in the natural sciences and engineering. 

In the context of the Rhine-Main Universities, there are cooperations in the RMU master’s program International Studies / Peace and Conflict Studies

Cooperation also takes place in the “Formation of Normative Orders” Cluster of Excellence, of which Deitelhoff is the spokesperson. Among others, Tu Darmstadt is also involved in this cluster. 

German text: Astrid Ludwig