The ActEU PhD School aims to deepen doctoral students’ understanding of political trust and legitimacy within the polarised EU multi-level system. PhD students will engage with a broad conceptual framework and explore critical issues related to trust, legitimacy and democratic resilience in Europe. The programme aims to foster links between doctoral researchers and practitioners, including EU policy makers and civil society representatives, in different areas relevant to ActEU (i.e. EU democracy and legitimacy, local and regional democratic issues, polarised policy fields, political participation and representation). Through a multi-methodological approach, participants will gain insights into the ‘ActEU triangle’ – the interrelation between political attitudes, political behaviour and (feelings of) political representation – and improve their analytical skills and research methods.
The PhD School will also foster collaboration by giving young researchers the opportunity to present their research findings in peer-reviewed papers and to co-author publications, with the aim of continuing these academic partnerships beyond the seminar.
The Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) invites interested parties to participate in a 4-day doctoral school funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme:
- Benefit from the expertise of renowned researchers in their field through theoretical and methodological presentations;
- To meet and exchange with practitioners, including policy actors and civil society representatives;
- To collaborate with other participants to improve their research work;
- Participating in a practical workshop aimed at developing hard professional skills useful for a researcher’s career.
The ActEU PhD School is an international training programme that alternates between expert lectures by high-level researchers, in-depth discussions on local conditions and the exchange of new research results by participating PhD students.
It will take place from Monday 10 February 2025 to Thursday 13 February 2025 under the scientific coordination of Prof. Dr Daniela Braun (Saarland University, conceptual director of ActEU) at the Fondation Universitaire in Brussels, Belgium.
To apply, please send the following documents in a single file in PDF format to the TEPSA project manager Eva Ribera (eva.ribera@tepsa.eu) by 24 November 2024 (midnight) at the latest:
- A short CV (one to two pages);
- A short letter of motivation (one page) explaining why you and your work would benefit from the Doctoral School;
- An outline of the doctoral thesis of no more than 1500 words (excluding references), comprising the following four sections:
- Summary introducing the doctoral thesis and the social question it aims to answer (maximum 300 words);
- Research questions and theoretical framework;
- Methodological approach;
- Current state of research.
Candidates will be informed personally on 4 December 2024 about the acceptance of their participation.
You can find more information at the following link: Open link.