External PhD candidate. Alexander analyzes how the biomedical sciences arrive at standardized research and communication practices. He focuses on the making and dissemination of reporting guidelines for systematic reviews and tries to understand how such standards redefine the epistemic and social promises of this genre. For his dissertation, he uses expert interviews to comprehend the social processes that result in such a guideline, as well as scientometric analyses to trace their dissemination and application.
Alexander studied „History, Economics and Philosophy of Science” at the I²SoS institute, the successor of Bielefeld’s Institute of Science and Technology Studies. Beside the curriculum, he worked as a student assistant for the Bavarian State Institute for Higher Education Research and Planning (IHF). Since 2018, he is a scientific assistant at the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, where he investigates the characteristics and functions of review articles in various scholarly disciplines.