Dr. Ortrun Merkle is a researcher at UNU-Merit and Maastricht University. Her research focuses on the nexus of corruption and gender and corruption and migration.
Her research focuses especially on sextortion and the role of gender norms, as well as gender-mainstreaming in anti-corruption. She regularly also provides trainings on these topics to policymakers. As one of the few researchers focusing on sextortion, Ortrun has been invited to join multiple research projects and publications as an expert on the topic She holds a Ph.D. from Maastricht University, where her dissertation assessed the impact of gender norms on forms and effects of corruption. Ortrun has a strong background in research methods, especially qualitative methods and research ethics and has taught methods courses on Bachelor, Master and PhD level as executive training. She has conducted both qualitative and quantitative data collection across the world and has considerable experience managing large research projects in collaboration with multiple stakeholders. During her PhD Ortrun has been a visiting researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) as well as UNU-Gest in Reykjavik. Ortrun is also a trained mediator and certified intercultural trainer.