Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz

Tobias Lenz
21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C4.004
Fon +49.4131.677-2461, tobias.lenz@leuphana.de
Professor*in, Professorship of International Relations
Assoziierte/r, Leuphana Center for Cooperative Security (LCCS)

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Vita

Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz is Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science (IPW) at Leuphana University. His research interests include international organizations and the comparative study of regional integration processes. In his ongoing research, he analyzes factors influencing the institutional design of regional organizations over time, the influence of EU institutions on other regional organizations, and the dynamics of self-legitimation in regional organizations.

Tobias Lenz is currently head of a Leibniz Junior Research Group entitled “Sources and Consequences of Legitimation Strategies of Regional Organisations” (LegRO) funded by the Leibniz Association at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg. He has recently completed a project funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony under its Research Cooperation Lower Saxony-Israel program on the impact of organizational overlap on the authority of international organizations (together with Yoram Haftel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem). He has held fellowships and visiting positions at the European University Institute, the Free University of Amsterdam, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Free University of Berlin. He obtained his doctorate (PhD) in International Relations at Oxford University in 2012. More information about Tobias Lenz can be found here.

  • since 03/2020: Professor of International Relations, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
  • 09/2019 – 02/2020: Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Leibniz Junior Research Group “Sources and Consequences of Legitimation Strategies of Regional Organizations” (LegRO), German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, Germany
  • 09/2015 – 08/2016: Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
  • 12/2013 – 08/019: Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessor) of Global Governance and Comparative Regionalism, University of Goettingen and German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, Germany
  • 12/2011 – 11/2013: Postdoctoral fellow on the ERC project “Causes and Consequences of Multilevel Governance”, directed by Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks, Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 2007 – 2012: Dr.Phil in International Relations, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, United Kingdom (defended in Nov. 2011)
  • 2005 – 2007: M.Phil in Politics: European Politics and Society, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, United Kingdom
  • 2001 – 2004: BA in European Studies, University of Osnabrück, Germany

Projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Interorganizational Diffusion in International Relations: Regional Institutions and the Role of the European Union
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 2021 Oxford , 255 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  2. The Rise of International Parliaments: Strategic Legitimation in International Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Frank Schimmelfennig (Author) , Thomas Winzen (Author) , Jofre Rocabert (Author) , Loriana Crasnic (Author) , Cristina Gherasimov (Author) , Jana Lipps (Author) , Densua Mumford (Author) , 2020 1 ed. Oxford , 368 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Book › Research

  3. A Theory of International Organization
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Liesbet Hooghe (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , 2019 Oxford , 224 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  4. Measuring International Authority: A Postfunctionalist Theory of Governance
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Liesbet Hooghe (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , Jeanine Bezuijen (Author) , Besir Ceka (Author) , Svet Derderyan (Author) , 2017 Oxford , 928 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  5. From Geopolitics to Geoeconomics: The European Union's Promotion of Regional Integration in Latin America, 1980s - today
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 2009 Saarbrücken , 128 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research

View all publications

Journal contributions

  1. Comparative Regionalism beyond Europe versus the Rest
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Fredrik Söderbaum (Author) , 01.09.2025 , in: Review of International Studies, 51, 5 , p. 889-905 , 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  2. Expanding or defending legitimacy? Why international organizations intensify self-legitimation
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Henning Schmidtke (Author) , 01.10.2024 , in: Review of International Organizations, 19, 4 , p. 753-784 , 32 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  3. Globalising the Study of Diffusion: Multiple Sources and the East African Community
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Mariel Reiss (Author) , 01.10.2024 , in: Journal of European Public Policy, 31, 11 , p. 3703-3731 , 29 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  4. The Legitimation of International Organizations: Introducing a New Dataset
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Henning Schmidtke (Author) , Niklas Krösche (Author) , Swantje Schirmer (Author) , 01.02.2024 , in: International Studies Perspectives, 25, 1 , p. 86-110 , 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  5. Discovering Cooperation: Endogenous Change in International Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Alexandr Burilkov (Author) , Besir Ceka (Author) , Liesbet Hooghe (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , 01.10.2023 , in: Review of International Organizations, 18, 4 , p. 631-666 , 36 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

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Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. Institutional Change
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 20.12.2025

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research

  2. Global Theories of Regionalism
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Lynda Chinenye Iroulo (Author) , 07.12.2022 Cheltenham , p. 36-51 , 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  3. EU Entrepreneurship, Norm Diffusion and the Parliamentarization of Regional Economic Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 31.05.2019 Cheltenham , p. 70-87 , 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

  4. Vergleichende Regionalismusforschung
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Kai Striebinger (Author) , 01.01.2017 Wiesbaden , p. 39-56 , 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

  5. Regional Institutional Design
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , 01.02.2016 Oxford , p. 513-537 , 25 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Activities

  1. Diskursreihe Ethik im Gespräch
    Thomas Jan Kück (Speaker) , Tobias Lenz (Speaker)

    Activity: talk or presentation in privat or public events › Research

  2. How Overlap Interacts with Delegation: Evidence from the Complex of Economic Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  3. Against the Tide: The Resilience of Liberal Norms in Regional Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  4. Against the Tide: The Resilience of Liberal Norms in Regional Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  5. Discovering Cooperation: A Theory of Endogenous Institutional Change in International Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

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Press / Media

  1. O-Ton zum Thema Nawalny/ Russland
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  2. Die Europäische Union: Ein Modell unter Druck
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  3. Politikwissenschaftler Lenz über Krisen der EU
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  4. Die Gemeinschaft Südostasiatischer Staaten: Interview mit Tobias Lenz
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

View all press/media coverage

Prizes

  1. Lehrpreis der Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaften
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Education

  2. Postdoktoranden-Stipendium
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  3. Max Weber fellowship
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  4. European Union fellow am Colorado European Union Center of Excellence
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  5. Pre-doctoral fellow an der Kolleg-Forschergruppe „The Transformative Power of Europe“
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

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Teaching