Andreas holds a PhD in History of Religion. In his research he examines how different organizations use religious terms and symbols. He studies a wide range of sources and has conducted fieldwork in Sri Lanka and Japan. In Andreas’ PhD thesis, entitled Pragmatic Muslim Politics – The Case of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, he investigates the use of religious terms and symbols in Muslim politics. His aim is to analyze the role of religious terms and symbols within a non-fundamentalist political party, namely the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a Muslim political party that has been part of the democratic process in Sri Lanka since the 1980s. 

Andreas was a part of Associate Professor Kristina Myrvold’s project on the use of religious miniature scriptures during World War I at Linneuas University. His part of the projected started in February 2016. The research project investigates the production, distribution, and use of miniature scriptures for Muslim and Sikh soldiers from the province of Punjab in India who fought for the British Army at the Western front during World War I between 1914 and 1918.

As a photo enthusiast Andreas believes that photographs can contribute to presenting research findings. In one of his projects he used his camera to document signs and symbols in the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza. Using the camera gave him great insight into an otherwise closed society. The book Yakuza tattoo (Dokument Press, April 2017) is a great example when a camera can be useful in academic work.