Two new research assistants joined IBEI in the framework of the inRESPONSE research project: Francesca Leso and Laura Sparascio – April 2024

Francesca Leso is a PhD candidate in the program Politics, Policies and International Relations at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), under the supervision of Dr. Elisabeth Johansson-Nogués. Her PhD dissertation explores the European Union’s relations with Eastern Europe in the wake of the 2022 war in Ukraine. Her research fields of interest are the European Union’s foreign policy towards its Eastern neighbourhood and critical geopolitics. She holds a MA in International Relations from the University of Bologna and a MA in International Security from IBEI.

Laura Sparascio holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from LUISS University and a Double Master’s Degree in International Relations from LUISS University and MGIMO University. Her research fields of interest are security studies, international security dynamics and research methodology. She previously worked as a trainee at the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome.