2019 Laureate of the Arenberg-Coimbra Group Prize for Erasmus Students
11 April 2019
Recommendation 2019
The Selection Committee established by the Executive Board for the 2019 Arenberg-Coimbra Group Prize for Erasmus Students is pleased to unanimously nominate Ms Janeli Harjus from the University of Tartu (Estonia) for this year’s award. Ms Janeli Harjus spent her 5-month Erasmus exchange at Aarhus University in Denmark. After graduating in June 2018 in Tartu, Ms Janeli Harjus’ thesis was awarded the best MA thesis in her programme in 2018.
Ms Janeli Harjus has shown that the value of the Erasmus experience was essential for her future career. The opportunities created by the European Higher Education Area allow students to develop their research interests and contribute to the dissemination of a culture of diversity, discussion and creativity.
In 2016, the Laureate started her Magister Programme of Baltic Sea Region Studies at the University of Tartu. She took the opportunity to spend a term abroad under the Erasmus+ programme and chose Aarhus University in Denmark. The stay in Denmark was essential for focusing her research on the security risks in the region of the Nordic-Baltic countries. The research targeted two main perspectives: affiliation to the strategic aims of NATO as a key security actor in the region, and regional Nordic-Baltic cooperation.
The studies at Aarhus University helped to situate the topic of the thesis within the theories on regional security complexes, relying on the discourse of the Copenhagen School of International Relations. Methodologically, the qualitative content analysis was used. Primary and secondary sources were used. Ms Janeli Harjus improved her knowledge of the Danish language and other Nordic languages that she needed for her research. The value added provided an analysis of NATO’s objectives expressed in national security strategies in the Baltic-Nordic countries.
The study stay at Aarhus University was for Ms Janeli Harjus also an enriching multicultural experience. It is clear that the experience of diversity, creativity and discussion at the Coimbra Group member university shaped the choices made by Ms Janeli Harjus, sharpened the perspectives and enabled her to write a genuinely comparative study.
The Selection Committee would like to congratulate Ms Janeli Harjus on this year’s Arenberg-Coimbra Group Prize and wish her a successful career based on her research and educational experience.
We would also like to congratulate the other candidates, whose testimonials were additional excellent examples of the impact of their mobility experience and their academic qualities, as well as of the commitment to the Erasmus project at the Coimbra Group Universities where they were awarded their degrees and undertook their exchange periods.