The prize was assigned by two successful Circap Alumni, Niccolo Conti (Assistant Professor at the Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome) and Filippo Tronconi (Assistant Professor at the university of Bologna).

After a fierce competion, Diego Garzia  was selected as this year winner of the prize.

Diego, congratulations  from all the “Friends of CIRCaP”!

The prizes were assigned by our guest and referee, Prof. Mark Franklin (Stein Rokkan Professor of Comparative Politics at the European University Institute) and the two winners are

Stefano Braghiroli (year of programme enrolment 2006-07) and
Aline Sierp (year of programme enrolment 2007-08).

We wish Aline and Stefano further academic success and we look forward to assigning the next year award!

The aim is to help to enhance international learning through incorporation of international and intercultural activities into the doctoral learning experience.
Eligible candidates are students who were enrolled in the Circap PhD Programme during the academic year 2009-10.

Candidates should send a short list of their activities from the period October 2009 – September 2010 that they think have contributed to enhance their internationalisation.
Such activities include attendance to international conferences (specify if paper-giver and attach paper) and summer schools, participation in international collaborative research programmes, visits to foreign academic institutions, etc.

Applications should be sent as email attachments to conti19@unisi.it by 30 September 2010.
Please use the same address also if you have any question.

An external independent refer will examine the applications and will assign the two awards.

POLICHANGE APRIL_2010

The day, with the degrees ceremony, the distinguished lecture of Doctor Bini Smaghi (Central European Bank), the conversation of Professor Yves Mèny (President of the European University Institute) on the problems of  postgraduate studies, the General Assembly of the Association, and the participation of many professors, students, post-docs and alumni has been a great success.

After a lively discussion, the general assembly has expressed a fully positive evaluation of the activities undertaken by the Association during the past year – among which are research projects and communication among Alumni – and has agreed on the need to further develop its activities.

In particular, there was a large consensus that the Association should contribute to the creation of a “mobility fund” for Circap PhD and Master students.”

It is a matter of fact that students suffer from a shortage of funds to finance their attendance to international conferences. This sometimes prevents them from attending the best conferences, especially when they are held overseas.

Following this recommendation the Executive Committee of the Association has decided to set as a goal for the new year to establish a Student Mobility Fund and devote all donations from December 2009 until April 2010 to this purpose. Once this Fund will have been established, a call for applications will be launched, independent external referees will evaluate the student proposals and assign the award.

In order to make this goal possible the Association needs your help. On behalf of the board and of the whole Association, I am asking you to be generous.

It is now time to help others to accomplish their own mission of students. It is a onetime donation that will last a lifetime.

We have an online donation system that is quick and easy and you can decide how you want to donate (http://circapalumni.org/donations/).

Paper available here “honour Blondel“

You can read the full article here (in Italian)

In this occasion, the Association has supported the inauguration of the academic year of CIRCAP on 8-9 of October with some dedicated events (see the program).
You may find here the  minutes of the 2nd Association Assembly .

The alumni association ‘Friends of CIRCaP’ was founded in October 2007, in the occasion of the first decennial of CIRCaP (Centre for the Study of Political Change).

It is strange how a short event can change the course of your life. When I was graduating, it never crossed my mind – neither those of my professors, for sure – that I would do a PhD afterwards. Instead, I was thinking about doing a Master’s in Flanders, with the aim of im-proving my Dutch – something necessary to find a job in Brussels. While I was on my way to register, I bumped into my supervisor, Lieven de Winter, who strongly recommended a Master Program in a small town in Italy: Siena! The idea quickly charmed me, and I ended up learning Italian rather than practicing Dutch (good for me!).

While doing the Master’s, I discovered something new a-bout myself: for the first time, I actually liked studying. While in Belgium we were mostly asked to memorize, this time I was required to draft papers, and to think. That was nice, and I enjoyed putting a lot of effort and time into it.

However, the idea of doing a PhD was still very insubstantial, as I was quite convinced I was not up to such a challenge. Then, again, a second life-changing event occurred, as Jean Blondel encouraged me to apply. So I did. Won a scholarship. Finished the PhD on time. Worked for a while at the Schuman Center. Met my future husband. Followed him to Portugal. Had my first daughter. Got a research position in Lisbon. Had my second daughter. Won a prize. Won another prize.

When I look back at the past decade, three things strike me. The first is how insecure we all were at the time. Thankfully, this feeling decreased over the years, but I must say that in my case it never entirely disappeared. The second thing is that the recipe for academic success is simply to be perseverant. Get your article rejected, then work on it and try again. And again and again if necessary. I got an article accepted in party Politics recently; I am not ashamed to say that it had been rejected twice before that. Lastly, looking back, I can’t help remembering the feelings I had, and still have, for my colleagues at Circap. These feelings of belonging, warmth, friendship, reciprocal respect but also reciprocal expectations are exactly the ones you have in a family.

Catherine Moury

The Vincent Wright Memorial Price

and the 2009 Gubelkin Price to Catherine Moury!

Catherine Moury, PHD at CIRCAP, won the Vincent Wright Memorial Price and the Gubelkian

Price for the best article of social sciences published between 2006 and 2008. She obtained these important

international acknowledgments for her article titled “Explaining the European Parliament’s Right

to Appoint and Invest the Commission”, West European Politics (2007), 30: 2.

The Vincent Wright Memorial Priceand the 2009 Gubelkin Price to Catherine Moury!Catherine Moury, PHD at CIRCAP, won the Vincent Wright Memorial Price and the GubelkianPrice for the best article of social sciences published between 2006 and 2008. She obtained these importantinternational acknowledgments for her article titled “Explaining the European Parliament’s Rightto Appoint and Invest the Commission”, West European Politics (2007), 30: 2.