People talking about European Studies at the University of Twente!

Student Elena Bondarouk:

In 2009, Elena Bondarouk finished her individual minor at the Institute of Political Studies at Lille (France). "It was an eye-opening experience! It taught me to be more critical of the European Union and the world. The course broadened my world view. The world is changing. The financial turmoil is still unfolding. Europe is beginning to feel it: various companies are being forced to shut down operations. In this chaos, one company especially captured my attention: Opel. German government was first reluctant to offer financial support to it, but it came around eventually. Very quickly, 'the saving or not saving of Opel' became a hot topic in Europe. And this inspired my Bachelor's thesis paper, in which I researched the advantages and disadvantages of giving state aid to Opel. After obtaining her Bachelor's degree, Elena took the decision to deepen her knowledge of the European Union, and chose to do a Master's degree course in European Studies. She finds the programme extremely challenging, and the fact that it is so demanding is also the reason that she enjoys it. "My ambition is to work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but to be a good policy-maker you first need to be a good researcher. That is why I will continue my academic career after this Master and look for a post-academic programme or a Ph.D. position.

Graduate Maaike Damen-Koedijk:

Maaike Damen-Koedijk studied Business Administration with Europe (and later European Studies) as graduate specialisation. "I was interested in, among other things, sociology and law, but that seemed to be one-dimensional. That's why I chose for Business Administration: a combination of disciplines that I enjoy and that are varied." In 2009 Maaike had two employers, PNO Consultants B.V., the largest subsidy consultants in Europe and the University of Groningen, where she worked as project controller. "I organised the financial accountability of a large subsidy programme. In addition to this work I began studying for my Ph.D. At the UT in the area of subsidies." Maaike does research on the differences and irregularities in the area of structural funding expenditures in the EU member states. "The advantage of Public Administration is that you get a lot of useful tools that you can use in your career: insights about legal aspects, political decision-making processes and how the European Union works. I am really happy with the broad base of my programme and as your work progresses, specialisation happens automatically."

Graduate Bob Aal:

From its inception three years ago, Bob Aal has been a member of the Advisory Board of Practitioners for European Studies. At the time, his own studies were still fresh in his memory. Aal has moved on a few positions since then, and is now Coordinator for Military Operations in Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Twice a year he travels from The Hague to Twente to attend the Advisory Board of Practitioners. "In 2009, and even now, two themes dominate: achieving accreditation for the Bachelor's degree and the internationalisation of the course. The collaboration with our partner, Münster University, necessitated some changes to the curriculum, for example. I think it's important to look for other similar opportunities with other universities. By developing collective packages and programmes, you can offer young people the chance to study in different cities. And you need to distinguish yourself with respect to other Europe-focused studies because the number of similar programmes is steadily rising."

Some interesting movies of lectures: