Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR)

Profile

I am in the second half of my doctoral studies at the Centre for European and International Studies Research. Coming from Political Studies background, my thesis links the rapid development in new Information and Communication Technologies with the normative phenomenon of the so-called 'democratic deficit' of the European Union. Particularly, I am concentrating on the European Commission's consultation regime and their attempts to welcome participation via the internet. A key question for my work is: Under which circumstances is it plausible that e-participation in the Commission's consultation regime could have a positive impact on the legitimacy belief of EU citizen? Part of my empirical research is based on the Commission's consultation for the 'Action Plan on Animal Welfare 2006-2010' and the consultation for the regulation on 'Requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products.

Before coming to Portsmouth I studied Political Science at University of Bamberg (Germany) and International Politics in Hull. While studying in Germany, I was a student assistant tutor in European and International Politics teaching tutorials in European Politics, Game Theory and Foreign Policy Analysis. Moreover, during my time at University of Bamberg I was involved as a student research assistant in projects dealing with Political Theory (editing texts on Philosophy of Science) and Political Sociology (public perception of political scandals).

Qualifications

• MA in International Politics (University of Hull)
• Vordiplom in Political Science (University of Bamberg)

Research Clusters

• Policy, Politics, Justice and Security in Europe

Discipline Areas

• International Relations
• Political Theory
• Politics and Public Administration

Research CV

Papers Given

• 'The “participatory turn” in EU governance – A stillborn for input legitimacy?', a paper presented at the UACES SF 10th Annual Conference, Manchester 2009
• 'Digital Legitimacy – New Ways of Approaching the EU’s “Democratic Deficit”?' a paper given at the 38th UACES Annual Research Conference, Portsmouth September 2007
• 'How to assess the input legitimacy potential of e-participation? A theoretical framework and some remarks on the EU', a paper presented at the UACES SF 8th Annual Conference,    Nottingham April 2007
• 'Participatory Internet Tools – A remedy for the democratic deficit of the EU?', a paper given at the UACES SF 7th Annual Conference, Oxford 2006

Research Initiatives

• Convener of the UACES (University Association for Contemporary European Studies) Student Specialist Study Group on Media and Communication in Europe (since 2006)

Academic Activities

• ECPR ( European Consortium for Political Research ) Graduate Representative at the University of Portsmouth
• PhD member of DEMO-Net Research consortium on e‑participation in Europe since 2007

Grants Received

• Since October 2006: Bursary at the Centre for European and International Studies Research, University of Portsmouth: PhD scholarship (tuition fees, travel fund and monthly maintenance grant)
• August 2006: UACES SF funding of a two year study group of research students interested in Media and Communication in the EU (with Agnes Schneeberger, University of Leeds)
• October 2003: Fully sponsored member of the University of Bamberg Delegation of the National Model United Nations (NMUN), New York 2004 (Robert Bosch Foundation, Auswärtiges Amt