Education:

10/2005-9/2009:   PhD Thesis, Dissertation Title: “Explaining Political Party Performance in European Communication. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) of Party Political Cueing in domestic EU Treaty Ratification”, Bremen University
Supervisors: Prof. Ulrike Liebert (Bremen);
                     Prof. Ben Crum (Amsterdam)
Dr. rer. pol. with great distinction “Magna cum laude”.

06/2008:                Workshop: “(Fuzzy Set) Qualitative Comparative Analysis” with Prof. Carsten Schneider, Central European University, Budapest

09/2007:                 16th ECPR Summer School on European Parties and Party Systems: ‘Parties & Democracy in the 21st Century’, European University Institute, Florence, 10-21 September 2007

12/2006:                 Workshop „Atlas.ti Qualitative Content Analysis“ with Dr. Susanne Friese, Universität Hannover

02/2006:                 Workshop „Empirical European Public Sphere Research“ with Dr. Christoph Meyer, Birckbeck College, London

12/2005:                 Workshop „Critical Discourse Analysis“ with Dr. Michal Krzyzanowski, University of Lancaster

02/2005:                 Graduate Spring Seminar on Methodology, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Bremen

02/2005:                 Workshop: English for Academics, Fremdsprachenzentrum der Hochschulen im Lande Bremen

06/2003:                 University Diploma Degree, Diploma Thesis „Strukturwandel europäischer Öffentlichkeit? – Der Verfassungskonvent in der deutschen, britischen und französischen Presse“, Bremen University

10/1995-01/2003:  Academic Studies: Political Science Programme, Bremen University

08/1993-07/1995:  Abitur at Gymnasium am Wall, Verden

08/1992-06/1993:  Windom Area High School, Minnesota/USA – High School Diploma Degree