German Study Award for Dr Julia Böcker

2022-08-23 Lüneburg/Hamburg. Every year, the Körber Foundation awards the German Study Prize to the best doctoral theses in all disciplines. This year, Dr. Julia Böcker from Leuphana University Lüneburg achieved second place in the Social Sciences section with her sociological study on stillbirths and miscarriages. The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros and will be presented by the President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, in December this year.

Julia Böcker works at the Institute for Sociology and Cultural Organisation at Leuphana. In her doctoral thesis, which has now been awarded, she uses the example of miscarriages and stillbirths to examine how the supposedly invisible can be socially recognised as a loss. To do this, she conducted interviews with those affected, midwives and child undertakers.

According to Böcker, the topic still causes communicative discomfort. The legislation also contributes to social marginalisation. "Only since 2013 has there been a personal status law for miscarriages that is linked to a burial right," explains the cultural scientist. Julia Böcker's field of research is still young. Only a few academics have dealt with the topic of pregnancy loss so far.

Böcker was able to prevail against 150 competitors in her section with her doctorate, which she wrote at Leuphana.