I am an assistant professor in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science- Cairo University (Egypt).  Prior to this, between Sept. 2021 and Sept. 2022, I acted as a lecturer in quantitative methods in the department of sociology, the University of Essex (U.K.)-  where I pursued my Ph.D degree in Government. 
​
Research-wise, my work focuses on political behaviour and contentious politics. In particular, I study how individuals make decisions to cooperate in contentious settings.  ​Thus, my work lies on the borderline between politics and microeconomics. I use quantitative methods, and machine learning techniques to analyse  observational data; and I design  experiments (in Z-tree and O-tree) & survey  experiments to generate data.  Although I teach quantitative methods in SPSS, STATA and R, my preferred software is always R.​

Somaia M. ElSayed

My professional experience extends to national and international agencies, alike. For two successive years between (2020-2022), I acted as the head of Scientific Research and Programs Unit in  the Institute of Governance  and Sustainable Development , at Egypt's  Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.  I also served as a member of the consultative committee for the United Nations Development  Program's Arab Human Development Report 2016. 
In my capacity as a senior field researcher, I led a team that provided input from various stakeholders in preparation for the report of Egypt's First Urban Forum, "My City My Responsibility", published  by UN-Habitat (the National office in Egypt), Egypt's Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, and the Ministry of Urban Renewal and Informal Settlements in 2015.
Furthermore, I contributed to the statistical and quantitative analysis of the League of Arab States' regional report on International Migration and Development Report 2014.

 

​