Six months of building the EUFOG Network

The last six months have seen the Contested EU Foreign Policy in an Era of Geopolitics EUFOG doctoral network growing with our 18 doctoral candidates settling into their respective positions and the Network meeting twice in person. 

A group of EUFOG doctoral candidates participated in the ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops at the University of Innsbruck from April 7th - 10th, 2026. The event was an excellent platform for academic and professional exchange, and offered an opportunity to present their PhD projects on various aspects of EU Foreign Policy, EU enlargement, contestation and geopolitics. Nika Kratsashvili from Leiden University participated in the workshop “Who Decides, Who Benefits? Democratic Legitimacy in the EU’s Enlargement Policy” , Anniek Sienot from IBEI joined the session “Making Europe Green Again: Implementation of the European Green Deal in Turbulent Times”

This was a chance to serve as discussants for fellow researchers, connect with senior scholars and early career researchers and reunite with our #EUFOG community with Karolina Pomorska, Helene Sjursen, Ian Manners, Amy Verdun, among others. 

The IBEI predoctoral fellow Anniek Sienot attended a delegation visit to Beijing – organized by the Hanns Seidel Foundation and funded by the EU. Together with fellow researchers from think tanks across Europe, they met with state-affiliated think tanks (including the Development Research Center of the State Council), environmental NGOs, and leading universities. The meetings underscored both the complexity and the potential of EU-China climate cooperation. Read more about her visit here.

DCs Lena Zentai and Oliver Reschreiter, from the Jagiellonian University, published two policy blogposts in the Jean Monnet Network’s PROSPER Blog in the wake of Viktor Orban’s defeat in April 12th Hungarian parliamentary elections. Check them out here: 

• The Strongman’s Paradox: Hungary’s Energy Sovereignty Rhetoric and EU Crisis Dependence 

• Reordering Hungary: What Tisza’s Victory Signals at Home and Abroad 

Oliver Reschreiter delivered his first lecture as part of his PhD at the Center for Global and Regional Governance in Astana, Kazakhstan. He says “my lecture explored how the geopolitics of renewable energy and ongoing energy transitions are reshaping our contemporary understandings of energy security and diplomacy, with particular attention to the implications for Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and the European Union, in their evolving partnership”. Read more here.

Our candidates from the Consortium partner University of Bristol, Pia Bohringer and Isabel Fernandez de Diego, orgnized and participated in the SPAIS (School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies) PGR Conference at the University of Bristol (UoB). This is an annual event that brings together postgraduate researchers to showcase their work and exchange ideas.

The EUFOG community meet for its First and Second Network Events. The first event took place in Bristol, December 10th and 11th, 2025, hosted by our partners at the University of Bristol. This event was the first time all EUFOG doctoral candidates and supervisors met in person to discuss the project.

Shortly after starting their PhD journey at their respective host institutions this past September, our 18 doctoral candidates presented their research proposals and valiantly stood for several attempts at a group photo!

At Bristol, the network held a roundtable on Geopolitics and EU Foreign Policy chaired by SCO Dr. Oriol Costa (IBEI) with contributions from leads lead researchers Prof. Dr. Ana E. Juncos (UoB), Prof. Dr. Helene Sjursen (UiO), Dr. Gabriel Siles-Brugge (UoB), and Prof. Dr. Ben Tonra (University College Dublin). Our DCs also participated with interesting and valuable questions and their own contributions. 

During the last day of this event, EUFOG hosted four training sessions on Research design and methods on decentering taught by Natalia Chaban (University of Canterbury) Gender and Diversity in Research by Roberta Guerrina (University of Bristol), Questionnaire Design by Lucas de Abreu Maia (University of Bristol), and a Roundtable on Open Access and Academic Publishing by Ian Manners (Lund University), Karolina Pomorska (Leiden University),Magdalena Góra (Uniwersytet Jagiellonski), Patrick Muller (Diplomatic Academy, Vienna)

More recently, the EUFOG community gathered in a very sunny Oslo for the Second Network Event on May 26th - 27th, this time hosted by our colleagues at the ARENA Centre for European Studies, and spearheaded by Prof. Dr. Helene Sjursen.

During two days of intensive panel discussions, the EUFOG doctoral candidates presented their PhD projects and papers, receiving feedback from EUFOG’s senior researchers and engaging in relevant discussions on all things EU Foreign Policy.

Additionally, they also received two methods training sessions on Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Social Network Analysis by Dr. Seweryn Krupnik from Jagiellonian University and Dr. Marianna Lovato from Tallinn University, respectively.

In light of the wonderful weather, the team stepped outside to endure one more photo session:

Read more about EUFOG’s Events here

Jagiellonian University DC Fanny Fabert will be presenting her paper co-authored with colleague Lena Zentai titled “Between Silence and Selective Support: How Geopolitics Shapes EU Reactions to Informal Social Movements in Serbia (2019 Vs. 2024–25)” at the upcoming ECPR General Conference in Krakow on September 8th - 11th, 2026.

Lena Zentai will also participate in the InvigoratEU Academy on EU Enlargement: Completing the European Project taking place on June 1st - 4th in Brussels, organized by TEPSA.

Diplomatische Akademie (DA) Wien DCs Anna Franco will be participating in the NetSec Early-Career Scholars Summer School in Stockholm between the 9th and the 11th of June. This summer school seeks to provide training and mentorship to Early-Career Researchers (ECR) in order to foster the next generation of European security scholars. Alongside her DA colleague Kim A. Steffens will take part in the roundtable discussions at the upcoming Geneva Peace Forum Meets Vienna also this coming June.

A group of EUFOG doctoral candidates and senior researchers will attend the 13th Biennial Conference of the Standing Group on the European Union convened by EUFOG’s own Ana E. Juncos from the University of Bristol, among others.

This fall season, our EUFOG doctoral candidates will participate in two important international conferences in our disciplines:

• The 19th Pan-European Conference on International Relations organized by EISA and hosted by Iscte - University Institute of Lisbon, 1 - 4 September.

• The UACES 56th Annual Conference, taking place at Charles University's Jinonice Campus in Prague from 7–9 September. 

Additionally, EUFOG members will have an chance to reunite at the 2026 ECPR Methods School, organized this year by our Consortium member the Jagiellonian University.