Heidi Maurer

Heidi Maurer is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), where she joined the Department of Political Science in August 2008. She holds a Doctorate from the University of Vienna (Political Science) and obtained a postgraduate certificate in European integration at the Institute of Advanced Studies (IHS, 2004-2007) in Vienna. She was also the 2012/13 Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Fellow at the Center of Transatlantic Relations of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.

Heidi’s research interests are EU foreign policy-making, and especially the EU relations with its Eastern and Southern neighbours and changing patterns of European diplomacy. Her doctoral research investigated the institutional coherence in EU foreign policy-making and examined to what extent the institutional setting of the ENP changed the interactions, routines and tasks of EU actors. Currently, Heidi follows up on this research strand by investigating recent events in the neighbourhood.

Additionally, she is currently working on a project about changing patterns of coordination in the European system of diplomatic representation and assessing the transforming role of EU delegations in European diplomacy.

Heidi is a co-opted committee member of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES), where she supports the Teaching Working Group. Also, she is executive committee member of the ECPR Standing Group “Teaching and Learning Politics“, and co-convenor of the “Teaching the EU” Interest Section of the European Union Studies Association (EUSA).

Since joining Maastricht University, Heidi engages also actively in research about alternative teaching methods and in particular Problem-Based Learning, which is the main method of instruction at Maastricht University. 

In terms of teaching, Heidi contributes mainly to the Bachelor European Studies and Master European Studies. She coordinates the module “EU politics” at the end of the first year, and teaches in various courses of the second year. She also supervises Bachelor papers and Master theses. Additionally, since the academic year 2012/13 Heidi is the coordinator of the Minor European Studies, a six-months programme for exchange students and students from other faculties.