Dr. Pascale-Catherine Kirklies

Responsibilities

Digital transformation and innovation in the public sector, with a focus on citizen–state interactions as well as behavioural and agile approaches to public administration.

Public Innovation & Transformation (2026-, BSc Digital Business & AI)
Business Case Studies (2026-, BSc Business Administration & BSc Digital Business & AI)
Public Management (2026-, MSc Digital Government)
Behavioural Public Administration (2022 - 2025, University of Lausanne - IDHEAP, MA Public Policy and Management)

Digital transformation and innovation in the public sector, with a focus on citizen–state interactions as well as behavioural and agile approaches to public administration.

Pascale-Catherine Kirklies is a postdoctoral researcher in the Public Sector Innovation research group at the Institute Public Sector Transformation at Bern University of Applied Sciences. She completed her doctorate at the Institute of Public Administration (IDHEAP) at the University of Lausanne, focusing on the design and perception of public services. Her research and teaching are devoted to the interaction between citizens and the state, and to the question of how this relationship – both analogue and digital – can be better understood and purposefully improved. Methodologically, she works with both qualitative and quantitative approaches, drawing on perspectives from behavioural public administration, administrative burden research, personality research, and agile public administration. She brings broad expertise in public management and a strong understanding of administrative culture and institutional frameworks. Prior to her doctorate, she studied politics and public administration at the University of Konstanz and gained practical experience in a range of organisations – including the German Federal Foreign Office, PwC Public Sector Consulting, the Fraunhofer IAO, and the City of Constance (master thesis) . This close exchange between academia and practice continues to shape her work today.

Feb 2021 - Sep 2025 PhD Researcher & Graduate Assistant, University of Lausanne, Swiss Graduate School Public Administration (IDHEAP) (Lausanne, CH)
Jan - Oct 2020 Research Assistant - Smart Urban Environments, Fraunhofer IAO (Stuttgart, DE)
Sep - Dec 2019 Intern - Public Sector Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers (Munich, DE)
Jul - Aug 2019 Intern – Economic Affairs and Sustainable Development, Division for the Promotion of Foreign Trade, German Federal Foreign Office (Berlin, DE)
Jan - Mar 2018 Intern – Public Relations, Franco-German Business Club Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Bordeaux, FR)
Mar – Jun 2017 Student Research Assistant – International Relations and Conflict Management, University of Konstanz (Konstanz, DE)
Sep 2016 – Mar 2017 Intern – Communications Business Affairs, Daimler AG (Stuttgart, DE)

2021 - 2025 PhD Public Administration, University of Lausanne - Swiss Graduate School Public Administration (IDHEAP)
2018 - 2020 M.A. Politics and Public Administration, University of Constance / Sciences Po Paris
2014 - 2018 B.A. Politics and Public Administration, University of Constance