Maurice
Baudet von Gersdorff

Hey there! 👋

I'm a Student Research Assistant at the Chair of Comparative Political Behavior in the Department of Social Sciences at Humboldt University of Berlin and I occasionally do some freelance work processing data for scientific purposes. I'm currently enrolled as a graduate student of social sciences at Humboldt University of Berlin, having completed my Bachelor of Arts there.

What draws me is the politics of intergroup relations, which I study with causal inference designs, mostly on large-scale behavioral data. At the Humboldt Governance Lab, I contribute to ongoing projects as an Affiliated Student Researcher. As a student member, I support the European Political Science Society.

Outside of academia, I serve as a volunteer lay judge at the Berlin Regional Court I. I'm also affiliated with the regional lay judges association and a supporting member of both the Python Software Foundation and The R Foundation.

Prior to all of this, I completed a vocational training program in real estate management and worked for municipal companies involved in social housing. Afterwards, I worked as a C‑level executive assistant at the intersection of nature conservation and the energy transition for about five years.

I'm always happy to connect—feel free to get in touch to discuss ideas, collaborations, or shared interests. If you'd like, you can find my PGP public key for secure email communication here.

Publications

• Riaz, Sascha, Maurice Baudet von Gersdorff, and Heike Klüver (2026): Temperature and Aggression Revisited: Evidence from 1 Million Amateur Football Matches. In: PNAS Nexus 5 (6), pgag202. doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag202.
  [Abstract]

  A large body of research documents a positive relationship between temperature and human aggression, underpinning projections of increased conflict in a warming climate. However, most prior evidence relies on laboratory experiments with convenience samples or on crime records, both of which are limited in their generalizability to everyday social interactions. To isolate the effect of temperature in a standardized, real-world social environment, we analyze ~1 million amateur football matches played across Germany and study aggression among more than one million amateur players. Comparing matches played at the same venue within the same league and season, and adjusting for referee and team differences, we find a precisely estimated inverted-U relationship between temperature and player aggression: disciplinary cards (issued by referees for fouls and misconduct) increase with temperature up to ~13°C but decline thereafter. Matches played under extreme heat show a 15% reduction in disciplinary actions relative to the sample mean. Our results contribute to the temperature–aggression literature: in line with affect-based accounts of aggression, moderate warmth may increase irritability and arousal; however, to the extent that aggressive behavior requires physical engagement, it may decline at extreme temperatures.

  [Media coverage]

  • 24 heures (July 13, 2026): La chaleur touche aussi le football et la politique.
  • Exame (July 9, 2026): Calor extremo reduz cartões no futebol? Estudo explica por que isso acontece.
  • Tages-Anzeiger (July 9, 2026): Steigende Temperaturen machen uns aggressiver – und beeinflussen Fussball und Wahlen.
  • Superinteressante (July 7, 2026): Quanto mais calor, menos cartões: o curioso efeito da temperatura no futebol.

Work in Progress

• Baudet von Gersdorff, Maurice, Sascha Riaz, and Heike Klüver: Institutional Oversight Suppresses the Expression of Ethnic Bias.