European Culture and Economy (ECUE)

Making use of the practice module in the 3rd semester brought me closer to my dream career working on EU law directly in Brussels. 🇪🇺 For three months, I have been able to closely follow several legislative procedures on digital laws as a Policy Assistant supporting several associations, and I will continue for another three months. In that role, I can prepare myself for my master’s thesis in the next year and find a concrete topic. 🧑🏻‍💻

After making a pitch on an event during our ECUE Brussels trip, I secured my way into Europe Analtica, a consultancy company specialised in media and culture law. Now, being surrounded with passionate EU lovers and having access to several networking events, gives me new dreams and potential career paths I never imagined having. 📈

Life in Brussels is vibrant and fast-paced, as there are zillions of events every day, which can get you in contact with politicians, high-ranking managers, or political activists lobbying for their cause. For someone who likes to exchange about these topics, this is brilliant. 💫

Belgium’s allocation between France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany provides an intercultural sphere that challenges your language skills every day. If you are passionate about the EU project, learn more about politics, and actually want to make a change, Brussels is the place to be. ❤️

Would you like to do an internship in Brussels? Let us know in the comments below!

Julia in Norway 🇳🇴

Choosing to study ECUE was the best decision of my adult life because it put me directly on my dream career path! Without having planned any internship or semester abroad initially, since it is not a mandatory part of the ECUE study programme, I ended up as an intern with the Institutional Erasmus Coordinator at the University of Bergen in Norway 🇳🇴. One day, the internship offer was forwarded by RUB employees to my university mailbox, and it was a perfect match. 💚 I sent my application, was invited to an online interview, and afterwards to come to Norway for six months. Suddenly, my entire study programme and career plan were turned upside down but in the best way imaginable!

Despite Norway not being a member of the EU, it participates in the Erasmus programme and cooperates closely with the EU 🇪🇺 in many areas. For this reason, people with knowledge about the EU and international cooperation are highly sought after here. Fun fact: the University of Bergen has its own office in Brussels that works to strengthen collaboration between UiB and its European partners! For my stay here, I receive an Erasmus+ Traineeship Grant, which I applied for through RUB’s International Office.

Life here is dictated by nature. Silence and personal space are to be respected above all! The Norwegian heaven is going into the mountains and being there completely alone, contemplating nature undisturbed. The city of Bergen is located between 7 mountains, so you have to walk uphill A LOT just when going about your daily business. If walking through a rainy, foggy forest or hiking up a mountain for two hours to pick blueberries on top sounds relaxing to you, you would LOVE it here just like I do!

Would you like to do Erasmus in Norway? Let us know in the comments below. 👇

Huge thanks to everyone who came out to the ECUE BBQ yesterday!

Erika in Brussels - Insights from the EU-China Seminar

Diplomatic and economic relations between the EU and China, China expertise in the institutions, as well as a visit to the China Mission in Brussels - I was able to take all this and more with me at the almost four-day seminar “EU-China relations: Strategic partners or systemic rivals?”. The seminar was organised by the Verein zur Förderung politischen Handelns (v.f.h.) e.V..

My interest in China was aroused by the seminar ‘Current Issues in Chinese Politics and Economics’, among other things which I have done for my Vertiefungsmodul. The seminar provided me with a valuable opportunity to better contextualize the topic of my master’s thesis as part of my ECUE studies, ‘The Dependence of European Wind Turbine Manufacturers on Chinese Raw Material Supplies,’ and to address my questions directly to policy advisors, research analysts, and decision-makers.

Thanks to the organisers, the team leaders Felix Alshut and Niklas Schönherr, as well as all other seminar participants, for this time!

Thiking about doing master degree in Europe?
Here is a voice from our international student in

Thank you for coming to ECUE booth!

This month’s Stammtisch will be on Wednesday in two weeks (28.05.) from 16h at I AM LOVE café/ ice cream parlor. Since that is the day after our MA info booth, some students interested in doing their masters in ECUE might join us.
If you want to come, please use this form: https://forms.gle/H5hXwLjWFZMswj6f9
Adress: I AM LOVE, Dibergstraße 2, 44789 Bochum.

💌: A “thank you” post for the wonderful workshop we held in early November!

Foremost, thank you to our presenters who took time from their busy schedules to join us on Saturday: 𝘼𝙣𝙣-𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣 𝙁𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙇𝙖𝙧𝙖 𝙀𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙩𝙩, 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙖 𝙍𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙙𝙟𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙖, 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧, 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙩, 𝘼𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙘.

The workshop would not have been possible without Mr. 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙚, our program coordinator, who reached out to all presenters and guided us, the ECUE student council, throughout the preparations.

Thank you to all 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 and visitors for attending! Though the plan was packed, you persevered! 💪🏼

You will all soon receive an email with photos, materials and presentations!

And finally, thank you to the members of the 𝙀𝘾𝙐𝙀 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙡 (who were too busy organizing the workshop to take any photos together).

𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴!

Stay tuned for future events from the ECUE student council! 🇪🇺✨

Willkommen an der RUB liebe ECUE Erstis! 💙
Bei einem corona-freundlichen Spaziergang durften wir euch letzte Woche bei uns begrüßen. Wir hoffen ihr konntet so eure Kommiliton*innen und die Uni ein wenig kennenlernen.
Euch und allen anderen wünschen wir einen guten Start ins Semester 💪🇪🇺