Since August 2021 I am a researcher at the e-governance department of the Danube University Krems. I am also Visiting Professor in European Diplomacy at the College of Europe in Bruges, and I am member of the Jean Monnet network RENPET: Reconceptualising European Power in an Era of Turmoil . Since March 2021 I am Associate Fellow at the think-tank GLOBSEC in Bratislava. I have previously worked at Maastricht University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Oxford and the University of Bristol. My research focuses on European foreign policy cooperation and European diplomacy and aims to explain how and why states interact diplomatically in a poly-centric, networked and increasingly digitalized world.
From April 2020 to July 2021 I have been a Marie Curie Research fellow at SPAIS at the University of Bristol, leading the project “EuroDipl: the added value of European diplomacy coordination” under the guidance of Dr Ana Juncos. I was also Research Associate at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford.
How and why states and their bureaucracies interact diplomatically in a poly-centric, networked and increasingly digitalised 21st century environment is the key question of my academic research. Empirically I focus in particular on European Union member states and European Union politics. I want to better understand what value and expectations states do attach to their diplomatic interactions, and how their diplomatic approach balances between innovation and tradition, especially in light of digital transformations. In particular, I am interested to add conceptually and empirically to our understanding of how EU actors (its member states, institutions and citizens) perceive the added value of cooperating diplomatically and politically – face to face, hybrid or online. I am also particularly interested about how Central European states make sense of their EU membership and how the EU adjusted its relationship to Eastern Europe troughout the last decades.
My academic work is inspired by the cross-fertilization of my research, teaching and policy dissemination activities. I am convinced that my understanding for a variety of research traditions makes me a better teacher and policy advisor, that my teaching makes me a better researcher, and that my regular engagement with policy-makers and practitioners informs my teaching and my ability to prepare students for academic as well as non-academic professional careers.
I have been committee member of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and co-convenor of the “Teaching the EU” Interest Section of the European Union Studies Association (EUSA). I have been the coordinator of the Jean-Monnet Network NORTIA: Network on Research and Teaching in EU foreign affairs (2017-2020) and have been executive committee member and convenor of the ECPR Standing Group “Teaching and Learning Politics” from 2017-2020.
Trained as a political scientist with a minor in communication science, I have been researching and teaching about European Foreign Policy, Europe´s role in the world, and European Union politics during the past years. Next to my foreign policy interests, I have developed my expertise in Problem-Based Learning through my work at Maastricht University, which I actively share within various networks.
In 2017/18 I was a Fellow in EU and International Organisations in the International Relations department of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before joining LSE, I have been Assistant professor in European Studies d at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) at Maastricht University. I hold a Doctorate from the University of Vienna (Political Science) and obtained a postgraduate certificate in European integration at the Institute of Advanced Studies (2004-2007) in Vienna. During 2012/13 I was the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Fellow at the Center of Transatlantic Relations of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.
For more details, please see my CV: HeidiMaurer_CV_2023March
I also greatly enjoy learning about new modes of data analysis and modern communication and how to present research in an innovative manner, as well as traveling, hiking, rowing and engaging with politically interested people.
Collaboration opportunities, feedback or comments are always welcome! Please get in touch if you have any questions.
Dr Heidi Maurer 