About me

 

I am Lecturer in Political Science at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the KU Leuven in Belgium, teaching mainly on European politics and research methods, while also serving as Research Fellow at the GASPAR Research Group of the Department of Political Science at Ghent Univeristy. In addition, I am Co-Convenor of the ECPR Research Network on Democracy and Representation in a Transnational Space, member of the Social Sciences Steering Committee at PUC - KU Leuven Continue, advisory board member of the Horizon-funded RETOOL project, and Coordinator of the European Parliament History Network.

 

Before joining KU Leuven, I was a Policy Analyst at the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), studying a wide range of topics related to European citizenship and elections. I also acted as Lecturer in European Politics and Society at the Politics and Society Chair Group of the University of Groningen, Postdoctoral Fellow at Ghent University's Department of Public Governance and Management (on the 'Citizen Participation & Democracy' research project), and Visiting Professor at the CEVIPOL of the Univeristé Libre de Bruxelles.

 

I hold a PhD from Ghent University's Department of Political Sciences, a BA in History, MA in European Studies and MSc in European Politics from KU Leuven. My doctoral dissertation addressed the Europeanisation of national political parties and their multilevel organisation. This research has been mostly qualitative and comparative, aimed at reconstructing parties' cross-level linkage arrangements based on semi-structured interviews with political elites in Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark. As part of my study, I did a research stay at Aarhus University's Department of Political Science, which was funded by the Research Foundation Flanders.

 

My broader research addresses questions of EU democracy from a multilevel and transnational (party) political perspective, with particular attention for the Europeanisation of national democratic institutions and practices across EU Member States. With a broad background in political science, European studies, public governance, and history, I aim to maintain an inter- and multidisciplinary perspective. Methodologically, I have expertise in qualitative methods, focusing particularly on (elite) interviews, (comparative) case studies, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), and (historical) interpretative analysis. My research has been published in top academic journals such as the European Journal of Political Research, the Journal of Common Market Studies, Government and Opposition, the Journal of European Integration, and Politics and Governance, as well as in several (edited) volumes published with Routledge and Acco.

 

I also have a track record teaching at the universities of Groningen, Ghent, Leuven, and Brussels, where I was given the opportunity to actively teach and evaluate students, independently develop courses, shape the overall programme, supervise (PhD) theses, and act as mentor. I have developed a broad expertise in active teaching (including in large groups), flipped classrooms and blended learning. Topics I have taught on range from the public administration of the Flemish government, over the dynamics of European party politics and  method seminars, to the history of the EU. In addition, I give guest lectures at a range of universities and other organisations across Europe. I am convinced teaching should be no more nor less than an open invitation for students to explore not only the topic at hand, but also themselves and the world around them. As a teacher, I consider it my calling to make that invitation as compelling and engaging as possible.

 

In my personal time, I am engaged as Executive Board Member for the charity organisation Cloud9, which raises fund to support differently-abled people. In addition, I like to spend my free time playing (board) games and reading (not just political non-fiction). I also enjoy travelling the globe, cooking sumptuous meals, hiking and lifting weights.

 

 

Curriculum Vitae

 

You can consult my full CV and publication list here.