The integration of refugees in Europe remains marked by information gaps, language barriers, and bureaucratic hurdles. Many people lack access to reliable, understandable, and timely guidance — especially those living in rural areas, reception centers, or without sufficient language skills. At the same time, traditional counselling services are reaching their limits: staff are overburdened, resources are scarce, and rising refugee numbers continue to strain the system.

Wefugees addresses this gap through a digital, moderated forum where refugees can ask questions, experts provide verified answers, and all information remains publicly accessible. This creates a collective knowledge base that is transparent, inclusive, and reusable — helping thousands of people while reducing repetitive 1-to-1 consultations.

Why is it relevant especially now?

• Rising refugee numbers in Europe demand scalable, digital solutions.
• Language and digital access barriers prevent many from reaching state services.
• Public advisory structures are chronically underfunded and overstretched.
• Investing in intelligent, self-help digital systems today can significantly reduce integration costs in the long run.

Through this research, we aim to quantify the societal and financial value of digital 1-to-n refugee counselling — laying the foundation for a new generation of social innovations that combine empathy, efficiency, and technology for the common good.

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, community-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 sub-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 cost-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
• 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 cost-benefit analysis, impact measurement, or public administration

What we offer

• A highly relevant real-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.

About Wefugees

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

our platform has provided free, multilingual, peer-to-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.