Team
E-Mail: knodt@pg.tu-darmstadt.de
Prof. Dr. Michèle Knodt
Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany
Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “EU Expertise at School”
Since 2005 Prof. Knodt holds the Chair ‘Comparative Politics and European Integration’ at Technical University of Darmstadt and is director of the Institute of Political Science. She primarily devoted her work to EU governance research and teaching. In doing so, questions about governance within the multi-level system in various dimensions and policy fields are being examined.
In teaching, special emphasis is placed on innovative teaching methods and a realistic design of the course offerings. This can be exemplified by the cooperation with non-university institutions, guest lectures and excursions. Teaching includes bachelor and MA degree courses in political science, doctoral degrees and habilitations. Among her students are teacher candidates both for secondary as for vocational schools. Prof. Knodt was awarded the Athene teaching award of Technical University of Darmstadt 2017 and 2013 and an award of best Ph.D. supervision by the Friends of the University 2014.
E-Mail: pardos@bgu.ac.il
Prof. Dr. Sharon Pardo
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Co-Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “EU Expertise at School”
Sharon Pardo is a full-time faculty at the Department of Politics and Government, as well as a Senior Researcher at the Simone Veil Research Centre for Contemporary European Studies- Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence. One of Israel's leading experts of the EU, Prof. Pardo is the only Israeli awarded with a Jean Monnet Chair ad personam. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the NCRE, University of Canterbury in New Zealand, Member of the Board of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, and a Member of the National Executive of the Israeli Association of International Studies. The sole BGU faculty awarded a Jean Monnet Teaching Module and a Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration Studies, Prof. Pardo teaches and designs a variety of courses in EU studies, international relations, diplomacy and international law and has taught in Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, Poland and Israel. His research interests focus on EU-Israeli relations, the legal-political dimension of the European integration process, as well as Euro-Mediterranean relations.
E-Mail: urdze@pg.tu-darmstadt.de
Dr. Sigita Urdze
Managing Coordinator
Dr. Urdze is research assistant at the Technical University of Darmstadt and has been working closely together with Prof. Knodt since 2005.
At the Technical University of Darmstadt she is inter alia the managing director of the COST Action ENTER (EU Foreign Policy Facing New Realities: Perceptions, Contestation, Communication and Relations). Furthermore she teaches courses both for BA as well as for MA students. Among her students are teacher candidates both for secondary as for vocational schools. From 2016 until 2018 she acquired the Certificate of Higher Education from the Center for Educational Development and Technology at the Technical University of Darmstadt. From 2017 until 2018 she was working at a project of the consumer association Hesse where she coordinated various educational activities in close cooperation with other civil society representatives. Furthermore Dr. Urdze is an active member of Scientists for Future Darmstadt providing her with close links to climate experts from various disciplines as well as with civil society. In the context of the Darmstadt parent’s council she coordinates a big climate project pro bono. Both in her professional work as well as in her voluntary activities Dr. Urdze has collected wide experience in social media activities and lots of experience with working with civil society actors. Her research interests focusses on the field of EU’s external relations.
Additionally Dr. Urdze is the managing director of the Arbeitskreis Europäische Integration (European Community Studies Association – ECSA Germany), the oldest and largest inter-disciplinary association in the field of European Studies in Germany.
E-Mail: hilape@bgu.ac.il
Dr. Hila Zahavi
Managing Coordinator
Dr. Hila Zahavi (Ph.D., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) is the Director of the Simone Veil Research Centre for Contemporary European Studies– The National Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Dr. Zahavi lead the European Commission funded “Near-EU Jean Monnet Research Network.” She serves as a member of the core committee of COST action “CA17119 – EU Foreign Policy Facing New Realities: Perceptions, Contestation, Communication and Relations.” Her Ph.D. research (completed in August 2018) dealt with higher education as a tool in foreign policy. Recently, she co-edited a book on the "Jewish Contribution to European Integration". Her research interests focus on higher education policies from a political perspective, the political dimensions of the Union’s foreign and security policy, and Israeli-European Union relations.