Presenting our Fall/Winter HCSS Intern Cohort!
Twice a year HCSS opens its intern applications, Fall/Winter interns (August – February) and Spring/Summer Interns (February – August).
Our interns come from all over the world and work on a wide range of topics at HCSS.
The intern coordinators are Benedetta Girardi and Laura Jasper. If you’re interested in applying for the HCSS internship programme look out for the applications to open in December!
General interns:
Jan Feldhusen – 23 years old, from Germany but has lived a majority of his life abroad. He did a Bachelor’s in Security Studies and a Master’s in Crisis and Security Management, specialising in War and Peace Studies. His personal research interests are primarily the Russia-Ukraine War, European geopolitics, defence & security issues, and conflict resolution.
Thomas Jansen – Recently completed his bachelor’s degree in International Politics at Leiden university. Leiden is also the city where he lives and grew up in. He wrote his thesis on stakeholder influence in the formation of the EU’s Critical Raw Materials act. He continues to find the topic of CRMs very interesting.
Nicole Eichstaedt – 23 years old and French/Brazilian. She is doing her master’s in International Relations, specialising in Global Conflict in the Modern Era, at Leiden university. Her research interests include a broad variety of topics, from emerging technologies and global cyberspace to diplomacy and negotiation.
Noemie Jacq – 21 years old from France, but has been living in the Netherlands for the past 4 years. She recently completed a BA in International Studies with a specialisation in the Middle East region and a BSc in Security Studies from Leiden University. She is particularly passionate about researching climate policies and their impacts, security issues in the Middle East, and the use of disinformation in the context of political tensions.
Laurence Krakow – 22 years old from Belgium and grew up in the French speaking part of the country. She did a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Organisations at Leiden University and is currently completing a second bachelor at the TU Delft in Applied Earth Sciences, a degree which mixes both geology and engineering. She is most interested in geopolitics with regards to the energy and mining industry.
Marit Weurding – 23 years old and currently living in Utrecht. She did a bachelor’s in Liberal Arts and Sciences, specialising in International Relations and International Law, from University College Groningen. For her master’s she chose to continue focusing on IR within the Political Science master program at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include a broad range of subjects from geopolitics, hybrid warfare, US-China relationship, to CRM supply chains and semiconductors, to the impact of climate change on geopolitics (e.g., the Arctic).
Alexander Krabbendam – 26 years old and studying an Erasmus Mundus masters in European Politics. He’s half Dutch, half Scottish, and grew up in Edinburgh. He did his bachelor’s in Ancient History and wrote his thesis on Carthaginian geopolitics. He has a strong interest in European foreign policy, emotion analysis, and wants to learn more about deterrence (among other things!). Alexander also helps run the Indo-Dutch Cyber Security School (IDCSS) at HCSS.
Lennart Cramer – 25 years old, born and raised in Namibia before he moved to Germany for his studies. After a bachelor’s in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) in Germany, he started a master’s in International Security Studies in Pisa, Italy, before eventually moving to Uppsala in Sweden for his current master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies. He has a passion for all things related to Security Studies and foreign policy, such as lessons from the war in Ukraine, Europe’s relations with big powers such as Russia, the US or China, challenges and opportunities for future European defence cooperation, and Russian disinformation campaigns and their effects on Europe’s military support to Ukraine.
Datalab interns:
Maria-Antigone Rumpf – Half Greek and half German, was born in Athens but lived abroad most of her life, mostly in Oman. She is currently studying Data Science & Society in Tilburg, and studied International Studies at Leiden University. Previously she worked as a China Analyst at an OSINT company. Her personal research interests are in economic security and critical technologies, especially related to China, and how to apply data science techniques to strategic analysis.
Alessandro Dell’Orto – Italian, graduated in 2024 with a BSc in Electronics Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, and currently doing a MSc in Engineering and Policy Analysis at TU Delft. Along with his mostly technical background, Alessandro has a passion for Economics, Geopolitics, International institutions, and Human Rights.
Water, Peace & Security (WPS) intern:
Michelle Reitano – Italian and Belgian, currently pursuing a MA in Middle Eastern Studies at Leiden University. She also holds a MA in European Studies from KU Leuven, where she specialised in European External Relations and Europe and its Southern Neighbourhood. She also holds a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Maastricht University. Michelle has a particular research interest in the climate-conflict nexus, migration and refugee studies, and the international governance of human security, with a regional focus on the EU and MENA.
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