UniBo PhD candidates successfully complete the Oxford-led Europaeum Scholars Programme
In September 2023, two PhD candidates from the University of Bologna concluded their journeys as Europaeum Scholars. After eight inspiring modules in eight cities across Europe and more than 18 months of intense work, Stephanie Arnold and Carolina Gerli, both from the Department of Political and Social Sciences, were selected to present their group projects at the final conference held at the Freie Universität in Berlin.
The three-day conference on “Leadership in European Policy” was attended by outstanding researchers and high-level policymakers including Dr Philipp Rösler (former Vice Chancellor of Germany), Catherina Beader (former Member of European Parliament), Maria João Rodrigues (former Portuguese minister and EU politician), Dr Barbara Lippert (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) and Prof. Joanna Bryson (Hertie School). In dedicated panels on energy transition, participatory democracy, and dignity of work the Scholars had the opportunity to present their policy proposals to the distinguished audience.
In their policy proposals, the 36 Scholars who took part in the programme aim to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of Europe through an innovative, interdisciplinary approach. Next to the ground-breaking ideas on how to empower renewable energy communities or gamify democracy, Gerli’s team came up with “Portal2EU”, namely a set of well-rounded recommendations to improve how digital public consultations are carried out at the EU level. Arnold’s group developed “FairFields”, a project aimed at improving the working and living conditions of seasonal agricultural workers all over Europe. Their suggestions have not gone unnoticed. The Portal2EU team will publish its work in the OECD edited volume “Improving Inclusiveness of International Organizations Rule-Making”, and members of the team have been invited to OECD headquarters in Paris to present and discuss their contribution at the end of November. Meanwhile, the FairFields team has attracted the attention from DG AGRI at the European Commission as well as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) with whom they will discuss the policy recommendations, hoping to implement some of them.
Policy proposals are the result of 18 months of intense policy and leadership training as well as substantial interdisciplinary teamwork. Throughout eight intensive modules, each of 3-5 days, at different locations across Europe (Oxford, Brussels, Luxembourg, Lisbon, Bologna, Geneva, Helsinki, and Berlin), Europaeum Scholars took part in seminars, debates and workshops with leading academics and practitioners, received professional skills training, undertook institutional visits, and teamed up in small multidisciplinary groups to elaborate policy projects to “make Europe a better place”.
The Europaeum is a network of 19 leading European universities (including Bologna, Leiden, Leuven, and Sorbonne) coordinated by the University of Oxford. The network’s flagship programme is the Europaeum Scholars Programme, a two-year policy and leadership course for the most talented, energetic and committed doctoral candidates from within the Europaeum network. It is multi-disciplinary, multi-university, and multi-locational and focuses on contemporary European policy and open to doctoral candidates from all disciplines with a demonstrated (research) interest in Europe. Each student is fully funded by a scholarship covering all accommodation, travel, food and tuition. The call for applications for the 2024/2025 cohort will be available from mid-October on the programme’s website.
Bios
Stephanie Arnold is a PhD candidate at the University of Bologna and a PhD fellow at the United Nations University CRIS in Bruges. Her research concentrates on the international politics of digital development in developing countries with a special focus on how international development programs and finance shape the digital transition in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Before embarking on her PhD journey, Stephanie pursued a five-year master’s degree in law at the University of Bologna. As a law student, she spent an exchange semester at Leiden University as well as the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing. Besides several legal traineeships in Italy, Romania, and Estonia, she also interned at the Embassy of Italy in Tanzania and at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels where she gained practical insight into international affairs and the policy-making process.
Carolina Gerli is a PhD Candidate in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna. Her research explores the role of AI systems in public organizations to tackle corruption in public procurement, with a special focus on Italy, Germany, Estonia, and Cyprus. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked at PwC on digital transformation projects for Italian public administrations, at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Bangkok on anticorruption issues, and at the Embassy of Italy in Beijing.
She holds a MSc in Economics and Management of Public Organizations (2017) and a BSc in Business Administration (2014), both gained at Bocconi University. During her academic years, she also studied at Corvinus University in Budapest (2013) and Fudan University in Shanghai (2015).