By Alice Damgaard Sprotte, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

Aalborg University now appoints one of the world's most cited researchers in international politics as an honorary doctorate. Dr. Frank Schimmelfennig's research focuses on the broad dimensions of EU politics. As Professor of European Politics at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, he has contributed in particular to the understanding of the consequences of EU expansions and to the understanding of the relations between states with national interests and the transnational international organisations such as the EU, the UN and NATO.

A great source of inspiration

The Department of Politics and Society has nominated Dr. Schimmelfennig to strengthen research in international politics at the university. Associate Professor Dominik Schraff from the Department of Politics and Society points out that Dr. Schimmelfennig is a very successful researcher and a great source of inspiration for the university.

"His leadership in research on European politics and integration has inspired many researchers around the world, and many of his former students can now be found in leading academic and political institutions on the European and international stage. This is partly due to the fact that he is able to help younger researchers well on their way in their research careers," he says.

Although the collaboration with AAU is more recent, his work has formed the basis for teaching and research at Politics and Society. Dominik Schraff hopes that the addition of Dr Schimmelfennig will help AAU further advance its research in European and international politics.

"We were looking for a strong foreign collaborator. I have worked with him before and still do. So we see this as an opportunity to expand our collaboration," says Dominik Schraff.

Research in big politics

Migration crisis, Euro crisis, Brexit, EU expansion and corona crisis. These are the major political themes that characterise Dr Schimmelfennig's research. He manages to link his research to current political events and helps to see them in a broader perspective. He also manages to use these events to develop new theories, for example on European politics and migration.

In 2021, he received the ERC Advanced Grant for the project "Bordering Europe: Boundary Formation in European Integration". Here he examines the crises in the European Union and how changes in international politics have led to a backlash against post-Cold War borders.

He is also participating in a research project with Dominik Schraff on trust in international organisations. Frank Schimmelfennig and Dominik Schraff are researching what shapes our trust - or lack of trust - in international organisations. Why is it that we trust some organisations but not others? The study has not yet been published, but it probably shows that we tend to trust less an organisation that does not benefit us - even if the organisation contributes to solving a socially unjust imbalance in the world.

Dean Rasmus Antoft also applauds the appointment of Dr Frank Schimmelfennig as an honorary doctor at AAU.

"We at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences are very pleased that Professor Frank Schimmelfennig will now be even closer to our research environments. Schimmelfennig has a very impressive CV, and with his scientific focus on international politics, especially EU integration, he will be able to contribute important new perspectives to the faculty's research."