Research projects
Here you'll be able to get an insight into our current research projects, details, and further links.
Ongoing Research Projects
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PROSPER
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The Jean Monnet Network PROSPER (Project to Research Opportunities to Strengthen Prosperity and Economic Resilience in the EU) is a three-year (2025-2028) project funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme and coordinated under the lead of Professor Federico Fabbrini at Dublin City University. It involves 12 academic institutions from 12 different EU Member States. more... |
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National Coordination of EU Policy-Making
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The project is led by Prof. Dr. Eva Heidbreder (OVGU) and Prof. Dr. Hussein Kassim (University of East Anglia, UK). Member states of the European Union (EU) and closely associated neighbouring states are deeply integrated. Accordingly, the coordination of EU policy-making has become a crucial element of domestic politics and policy-making. The management of EU coordination varies across EU member states and has been confronted with severe new challenges due to deep-cutting crises that had to be addressed within the framework of a new Treaty, which took effect in 2009. |
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Administrative Steering in the EU: DG Reform and Beyond |
This project, led by Dr. Johannes Gerken, examines shifts and transformations of the European Commission’s administrative steering capacities. It is based on the literature on political steering and previous research on multi-level policy implementation and execution in the European Union. The starting point of the habilitation project marks the introduction of the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG Reform), which was set up in 2020 and has replaced the Structural Reform Support Service (2015-2020). |
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The executive triangle of the European Commission (COST-Network “CoREx”)
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Prof Dr Eva Heidbreder and Dr Johannes Gerken are part of the "CoREx" network, which analyses the executive triangle of executive politicians, top bureaucrats, and political advisors in Europe from an innovative and comparative perspective. Within Working Group 2, they are carrying out research on career patterns in the executive triangle of the European Commission as a central political actor within the EU’s multilevel governance framework. |
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A Union of Equality? An Examination of Gender Equality Policies during the Von der Leyen Commission |
The dissertation of Alba Kugelmeier López, M.A., is article-based, meaning that according to Otto-von-Guericke University’s regulations for dissertations, at least three articles will be published. |
Concluded Research Projects
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Jean Monnet Chair
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The Jean Monnet Chair on Interactive Multi-level Democracy in Europe takes a forward-looking approach to the topical issue of democratic participation in the EU system. Faced with fundamental democratic challenges at the EU level and in the Member States, the JMC contributes to the theoretical understanding, the work of policy makers, and the practical engagement of citizens. |
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Hamburg-Vigoni Forum |
The University of Excellence of Hamburg, the Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, and the German-Italian Centre for European Dialogue Villa Vigoni launched a joint project: the Hamburg-Vigoni Forum. |
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Handbuch der Länder EU-Koordinierung |
Within the framework of EU Jean Monnet funding and in cooperation with experts from the state administration, this project fills a gap both in the literature on German European policy and in applied research that provides (potential) actors in EU policy-making with the necessary basic knowledge.
The project consists of the creation of a handbook that fills these two research gaps. |
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Europeanization under the radar? Trends in politicization & EU policymaking at the sub-state level |
This project by Prof. Dr. Heidbreder (OvGU) and Dr. Schade (Cornell University) fills a research gap by (a) conducting innovative research on how subnational institutions are involved in EU policymaking and (b) bringing together scholars to address the following main themes in recent EU research: 1) the contribution and changing role of the sub-state polycrisis and subsequent Covid 19 crisis; 2) the response and perceptions of sub-state actors in the face of increasing contestation and politicisation of EU policy and integration; 3) inter-institutional power shifts since the Lisbon Treaty and the polycrisis; 4) sub-national actors as drivers and objects of differential (dis)integration. |
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Responsiveness in Governmental Position Formation in Times |
This work, led by Prof. Dr. Heidbreder (OvGU) and Julia Çetinkaya M.A. (OvGU), aims to investigate why Member State governments respond differently to citizens' preferences when setting their positions for decision-making in times of crisis at the EU level. |
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The Power of the European Parliament in European Trade Negotiations |
The PhD project of Alice Jacobi M.A. aims at investigating the relationship between power and influence in the case of the European Parliament (EP) in the Common Commercial Policy (CCP). Investigating whether and under which conditions the increase of EP powers translates into influence in the CCP, this PhD will thus contribute to the literature on EP empowerment and more specifically, the literature on the EP’s empowerment in trade policy. In addition, it will make a theoretical contribution to the question of how institutional empowerment connects to influence. |
