INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, PRESS AND EU FUNDING CONSULTANT
Italian Embassy in Berlin
BERLIN, Germany
To welcome the new students of the 4th edition, we decided to take a look back to the experience of one of our students from the 2nd Edition: Erica Margoni, who has worked for the Press and Cultural Office of the Italian Embassy in Berlin for almost 20 years. The 2nd Edition of IMES Evening & Weekend programme took place from February to July 2016. Erica has been part together with 86% of the class of those students who expressed themselves as very satisfied with the Master course and willing to recommend it to a friend.
Why did you decide to embark on the IMES Evening & Weekend programme? Especially if we consider the fact you live in Berlin and you have to move to Brussels three times a week.
I have been looking for a master or a course in EU funds for almost a year and couldn’t find anything affordable or practice-oriented. The IMES Evening & Weekend Programme seemed to be the perfect combination. The calendar of the programme was very detailed so that I was able to check in advance the feasibility of flights, accommodation facilities and off days from work. Basically, I booked every flight and accommodation for the whole period before the Master started and I was highly motivated to attend.
What is the added value of this Master course?
As I am not living and working in Brussels, the added value for me personally is to have the opportunity to study in the heart of the EU Institutions, where you can breathe the European spirit and take advantage of it. But of course, the peculiarity of the Master course is that teachers are high-level professionals still involved in the European business.
How do you evaluate your Master experience, considering the professional contacts you created, the relationships you have built with other students, the teachers you have met?
I enjoyed very much being in a classroom together with young professionals from all over the world, sharing the same passion for European projects and getting different points of view during discussions. I’m sure I will meet some of them professionally again. The teachers were well prepared, nice, dynamic and available, they have been able to convey the subjects they were teaching even if complex and – sometimes – not so appealing. I experienced a lot of inspiring moments during the classes.
What are the IMES Evening & Weekend programme’s strengths?
Since the Master is held in Brussels, you get the opportunity to put into practice what you have learned in the classroom, for example attending “Info Days” or other events highlighted by the Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce, teachers and classmates. This programme is particularly effective because of the short and intense length (four months), during which one learns an effective method to approach the European grants.
Which skills have you developed thanks to the Master?
The Master is based on a learning-by-doing teaching methodology and the analysis of case studies, which provided me with an overview of the complex EU structures and policies. But what I developed the most were the required skills in understanding the calls and in drafting projects for Tender Offers and Grant Projects.
