A new year means new additions to the ARENA team. Janna van Diepen and Joachim Vigrestad joined ARENA as research assistants in January 2020.
Janna will mainly work on ARENA's two EU-funded projects on differentiation - EU3D and DiCE, while Joachim will focus on a large project nearing its end - GLOBUS - as well as other tasks.
From the Brussels bubble to academia
Joachim, who has already spent some time at ARENA when he was a master's student, is looking forward to work in academia:
'I really enjoyed my time at ARENA as a master's student, and after working a year in Brussles, I am ready to (re)enter the academic world', he says.
Janna, who is originally from Germany, says that she too is excited to work on research.
'The position looked exciting, and I am familiar with the topics studied in EU3D and DiCE from my studies'.
Janna has two master's degrees: one in political science, and one in peace and security policy studies.
'I have always been interested in international affairs, and I particularly liked that my studies were interdiciplinary', Janna says.
Joachim has studied political science at the University of Oslo and European Studies at NTNU. As a master’s student at ARENA, he wrote about the EU’s trade and development policies.
'When I was an exchange student in Leuven during my master’s degree, I took several classes on the EU as a global actor. The student grant from the GLOBUS project on EU’s contributions to global justice was thus a great opportunity for me to explore this topic closer', says Joachim.
International work experience
Before joining ARENA, Joachim worked as a trainee at Mid-Norway's regional office in Brussels. Here, he worked on regional cooperation, with a focus on Horizon 2020-funded projects.
Janna has also spent some time in Brussels. She was a trainee in the cabinet for the President of the European Council, Herman von Rompuy. Before she moved to Norway in 2015, she worked as a political advisor at the federal level in Germany.
‘I worked on cross-border cooperation with Benelux countries, and relations to EFTA countries. I really enjoyed to work in an international and intercultural environment’, Janna says.
Football and skiing
When Janna and Joachim are not at work, they are both sporty and active. Joachim likes to watch and play football on his free time.
This sporty lifestyle comes in handy when setting up the team for this year's Holmenkollen relay, which he has already been recruited for.
Janna has adapted well to the Norwegian culture:
‘I really enjoy the “Norwegian lifestyle”. I like to be outside and to go cross-country skiing, although I haven’t been able to do much of the latter this year because of lack of snow’, she admits.
Fun fact about Joachim: He started his career as a child actor when he was 8 years old, when he played one of Nora and Helmer’s kids in A Doll’s House at the Norwegian National theater. He maintains that he has handled being a child star well.
Fun fact about Janna: She worked as a journalist, news editor and photographer for a local newspaper in Germany for several years. The ability to multitask will surely come in handy as a research assistant.