Munkhzul Bat-Erdene, M.A.
Young Scholars Group Representative

Munkhzul Bat-Erdene is a Doctoral Candidate at the Institute of Korean Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. She accepted her master’s degree in politics and economics at the Academy of Korean Studies in South Korea. She had a work experience in an international project against Global Warming in Mongolia. She speaks Korean, English and German. Recently she attended the 7th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security, the 32nd Annual Conference of Northeast Asian Economic Forum and the 16th Emerging Leaders Program. Her recent primary research interests are Northeast Asian cooperation, security, and relationships with the Korean peninsula and Mongolia. She is the Young Scholars Group Representative of the German Association for Asian Studies.

Lars Konheiser, M.A.
Young Scholars Group Representative

Lars Konheiser is a research associate and lecturer at the Institute for Chinese Studies at the University of Freiburg (Germany), where he is also enrolled as a PhD student. Previously, he worked as a research associate and lecturer at the Institute of Political Science (Chair of Comparative Politics) at the University of Freiburg. His main research interests are politics in authoritarian regimes – especially in the People’s Republic of China –, China’s role in international human rights politics, political thought and ideology in contemporary China, as well as the political and societal dimensions of sports.

Konrad Böhm
Young Scholars Group Representative

Konrad Böhm is a doctoral researcher at the Research Training Group East Asian Futures at the University of Duisburg-Essen. His research examines how Chinese scholars and intellectuals envision the future international order. He studied Sinology and Philosophy at the University of Leipzig and subsequently worked in Sino-German cooperation at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). His academic interests are political theory, contemporary Chinese philosophy, and intellectual history

Benedikt Lasar
Young Scholars Group Representative

Benedikt Lasar, M.Sc., is a research assistant with teaching responsibilities at the Chair for China Business and Economics at Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg. He is a PhD candidate in Sinology and focuses on China’s political economy. For his doctoral thesis, he is researching the People’s Republic’s understanding of development economics. Central to this is a comparison of the domestic approach to development and China’s international development cooperation.

En De Tang
Young Scholars Group Representative

En De Tang is a Master’s student in Religion and Culture at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where she graduated a grade average of 1.0. Her primary research explores the intersections of political philosophy, religion, and human dignity. She has a particular focus on the concept of human dignity within Confucianism and its relevance to contemporary political situations in China.
Her academic work has gained recognition, with her abstract on this topic being accepted for presentation at major German conferences, including the Deutscher Orientalistentag and the 5. Konferenz für Asienforschung. Demonstrating her deep commitment to ethical inquiry, En De is also a member of the Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE).
Her academic foundation is notably interdisciplinary, including working as a student research assistant from China studies in Sinology to Digital Humanities at the Freie Universität Berlin. This background, combined with her skills in intercultural communication, informs her goal-oriented and reflective approach to complex academic questions.

Anastasia Kostromina
Young Scholars Group Representative

Anastasia Kostromina is a research associate at the University of Würzburg, where she also completed her Master’s degree in Chinese Studies. She coordinates the BMFTR-funded project Kompetent Wissenschaftlich Interagieren mit China (KoWinChi), which supports academic cooperation with China in a reflective and informed manner. Currently, she is developing a PhD project that explores state policies and public discourses around reproduction and family planning in China and Russia, with a focus on how governments seek to encourage childbirth. Her academic interests include state-society relations, governance, and the role of media and ideology in contemporary China.