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Luca Siepmann
BA Hons KCL
I joined DPIR and Oxford as a student reading for an MPhil in Politics (European Politics & Society) at Mansfield College in 2023. My main research interest is in the area of party politics and opposition studies. Under the supervision of Nick Dickinson, my MPhil dissertation will explore 'party modernisation' as a concept in the UK Conservative Party and the German Christian Democratic Union.
Before coming to Oxford, I graduated from my BA (Hons) in European Politics at King's College London with First Class Honours. I was awarded the European & International Studies Award for the Best Overall Undergraduate Degree by my home department. My undergraduate dissertation explored the nascent literature on international friendship, and applied it to British-German relations, a relatively understudied dyad. Specifically, it analysed state visit discourse and tested whether a shared temporality and understanding vis-à-vis past and future have emerged in contemporary British-German relations. I was an active member of various student societies, and served as President of the German Society in 2022-2023.
Outside of academia, I am actively involved in local politics, and have served as an elected town councillor in my hometown since 2022. During my undergraduate, I worked as local assistant for a German MEP, and have also held several research assistantships. I have also interned for several weeks in the offices of a British front bench MP and a leading German parliamentarian, gaining valuable insights into the operation and administration of parliamentary offices. Outside of term time, I also work as supply teacher at my old grammar school.
Since 2020, my studies have been generously funded by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes), Germany's most prestigious HE scholarship.
Research Interests
Party Politics; Opposition Studies
British Political History
Political Architecture
Domestic Angles of Foreign-Policy Decisions
Languages
English, German (native; CEFR level C2)
French (CEFR level B2)
Spanish (CEFR level B1)
Latin (German 'Latinum' qualification)
Award
Scholarship (German Academic Scholarship Foundation; since 2020, covering tuition fees and a monthly stipend)
European & International Studies Award for the Best Overall Undergraduate Degree, Department of European & International Studies, King's College London.