Nikita Dhawan

Nikita Dhawan studied Philosophy and German Studies at the University of Mumbai, as well as Gender Studies at the Research Centre for Women's Studies at SNDT Women's University Mumbai, India. In 2006, she obtained her PhD in Philosophy from Ruhr University Bochum.

After holding the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Guest Professorship at the Institute for Political Science at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (Winter Semester 2006–2007) and subsequently a postdoctoral fellowship at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) at Justus Liebig University Giessen, she was a Junior Professor of Political Science with a focus on Gender and Postcolonial Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt from 2008 to 2014. She was also a Principal Investigator of the Excellence Cluster "The Formation of Normative Orders," Director of the Frankfurt Research Center for Postcolonial Studies (FRCPS), and a member of the board of directors of the Cornelia Goethe Center for Women's Studies and the Study of Gender Relations at Goethe University Frankfurt.

From 2014 to 2018, Nikita Dhawan was a Professor of Political Theory with a focus on Women's and Gender Studies and Director of the Research Platform Gender Studies: "Identities – Discourses – Transformations" at the University of Innsbruck. In 2017, she was awarded the Käthe Leichter Prize for her research in the field of Women's and Gender Studies, as well as for her contributions to the women's movement and achievements in gender equality. From 2018 to 2021, she held the Professorship for Political Science with a focus on Gender Studies at Justus Liebig University Giessen.

Since October 2021 Nikita Dhawan is Chair holder of Political Science with a focus on Political Theory and the History of Political Thought at the TU Dresden.