Michael Scharkow is Professor of Computational Communication Science in the Department of Communication.

His research focuses on online communication, media use and effects, and quantitative methods—particularly automated data collection and statistical modeling—for analyzing large-scale communication data, such as digital behavioral traces or online content. Current research topics include digital media use, platform affordances, and diversity and representation in the media.

Before joining the Department of Communication, he was Professor of Digital Communication at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen from 2017 to 2019. Prior to that, he worked as a research associate at the University of Hohenheim (2010–2017), the University of Münster (2012–2014), and the Berlin University of the Arts (2006–2009). He studied communication science, political science, and sociology at Freie Universität Berlin and received his PhD in 2011 from the Berlin University of the Arts with a dissertation on automated content analysis and machine learning.