Application for the EON-Ruhrgas personal mobility grant

Destination: Berlin, Germany Duration: 01.04.14-01.09.14 My main field of academic interest is European and German politics. More specifically I am interested in the recent social and political developments in Germany as well as Germany´s political and e conomic relations with other European countries. This is a field I have also gained knowledge about through my Internships in Bergen Chamber of Commerce and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. In my bachelor thesis, I wrote about German domestic policies. I conducted a statistical study of the voting patterns in the German states. The main goal of the study was to examine how much of differences in support for the German Left Party (Die Linke) could be accounted for by socioeconomic factors. The main finding s was that even though socioeconomic factors can account for some of the differences in party support, a huge part of the support that only can be explained by the party?s identity as an East-German party. For my Master thesis, I've started to outline a project where I want to take a closer look at Germanys foreign policies and their role as a dominant force in the EU. I want to examine trends, continuity and change in this field. To extend my knowledge on this field, and as a preparation for the work wi th the Master Thesis I would find it fruitful to study on a German University. More specific, I have been accepted as a exchange student on the Political Science program at Freie Univesity in Berlin, where I plan to take courses in International relations . I am reading several journals on German politics in English and some articles in German. My German reading skills are at a decent level, but my wish is to improve these skills so I take full advantage of academic resources in German. Therefore, I am p lanning to go to take language courses during my stay in Berlin. To cover my expenses for the travel and the accommodation in Germany, I hereby apply for the EON-Ruhrgas personal mobility grant.