Master Thesis Project Lisboa

Master Thesis Project
Lisboa
Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Master’s Thesis Opportunity

Quantifying the Public Value of Digital Peer-to-Peer Refugee Support

Host organization: Wefugees e. V.

Location: Remote

Start date: Flexible

Duration: 3–6 months

Language: English or German

About Wefugees

Wefugees is the largest digital community for refugees and asylum seekers in Germany. Since 2015,

our platform has provided free, multilingual,
-
- peer and expert advice on asylum, residence, and integration topics — connecting people with verified experts and creating a growing public knowledge base accessible to everyone.

We believe that knowledge should be a human right — and that scalable digital solutions can

relieve the burden on public systems while empowering people to help one another.

Thesis topic

“Measuring the societal and financial impact of 1-to-n online refugee counselling versus

traditional 1-to-1 advisory services. ”

Publicly funded refugee counselling in Germany is still mostly delivered as 1-to-1 advice — either in

person or through individual chats. Wefugees offers an alternative model: one expert answer can be

read and reused by hundreds of others.

The goal of this Master’s thesis is to develop a scientifically sound estimation model of how much

public cost could be saved each year if parts of refugee counselling shifted from 1-to-1 to 1-to-n,
- based digital formats like Wefugees.

Core research question

How much money and administrative effort could Germany save annually by scaling

digital 1-to-n peer counselling compared to the traditional 1-to-1 advisory model?

Possible
- questions

What are the average costs per 1-to-1 counselling case (including personnel, translation, and overhead)?

How many individual cases could potentially be solved by accessing existing online answers?

What indirect savings arise through faster asylum procedures, fewer appeals, and reduced double counselling?

Methods and deliverables

Literature review on
- benefit evaluation of public advisory services and digital social

innovation

Data collection from official statistics (BAMF, municipalities, NGOs) and Wefugees usage data

Development of a quantitative calculation model (Excel, Python, or R) for annual savings

estimation

Policy brief summarizing key findings and recommendations

Your profile

Enrolled in a Master’s program in Economics, Public Policy, Data Science, Social Innovation, or a related field

Proficiency in German to communicate effectively with public authorities and access relevant information sources

Strong analytical and quantitative skills (Excel, R, Python, or STATA)

Interest in migration, social innovation, and digital public services

Ability to work independently and communicate results clearly

Optional: experience with
- benefit analysis, impact measurement, or public administration



What we offer

A highly relevant
- world research case with direct policy impact

Access to unique Wefugees platform data and expert network

Visibility of your findings in reports, conferences, and publications

Flexible working arrangements and the chance to make a real contribution to social innovation in Germany

Application

Please send your CV , a short motivation letter (max. 1 page), and your university’s thesis

requirements to info@wefugees. de with the subject line: Master Thesis – Cost Savings Analysis.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.