Team

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.

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.

Lucas Flath M.A.

Managing Coordinator

Lucas Flath works as a research associate at the Technical University of Darmstadt in the field of “Comparative Politics and European Integration” under the supervision of Prof Knodt.

Since July 2021, he has been working in the interdisciplinary research project "Clean Circles" on policy issues related to energy system integration and new energy technologies in the European multi-level system. Furthermore he teaches political science courses for BA students. Among his students are teacher candidates both for secondary as for vocational schools.

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.

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