“Our discussions in class are not that different from what is actually happening at a professional research conference.”

Yannick Stephan, student at the the Master's Programme in Political Science at Umeå University.

PhotoYannick Stephan

- Before I started studying the Master Programme, I was studying the Bachelor Programme of Political Science at the University of Mainz in Germany. During my studies there, I participated in the Erasmus+ programme and had my exchange at Umeå University which was the main reason to start studying the Master in Sweden. The courses here are really well structured with a variety of exercises in order to get closer to certain topics and to learn new and interesting things in the field of political science. I also wanted to continue studying with “regular” Political Science to stay within this broader context of approaching the study area and by not limiting my studies to a certain aspect.

All students at the Master's Programme in Political Science have the possibility to participate in the The Swedish Network for European Studies (SNES) spring conference. 2019 the conference took place in April at the Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden. SNES brings together academics, including graduate students, from across Sweden and Europe. The theme for the 2019 conference was “Democracy at the crossroads - European changes and challenges”.

- I am really happy that I had the chance to participate at the SNES Spring Conference. It was interesting to see so many scholars from our research area at one place discussing their papers and preliminary findings. It showed me surprisingly that our discussions and commenting sessions of each other’s papers in class are not that different from what is actually happening at a professional research conference. Since we were not the only Master students at the conference, it was also great to talk with other students about their fields of interest and possible ideas for the thesis and in general about studying Political Science.

What are your plans after graduating?
- I hope to get a clearer picture of this after the internship next autumn term. But in general, I would like to work in an organisation and do research. Of course, a dream would be to work one day at one of the many Institutions of the European Union. So far, I am really happy to study the Master's Programme in Political Science here at Umeå University and I think I made the right choice to continue my studies. Within not even one year of studying, I already learned so many new things and got to know many great people too.