Doriana THIRD is one of the two PhD students selected by the UNITA consortium for co-funding of doctoral theses in key areas of the project: European citizenship and intercomprehension.
Academic biography. Doriana is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the West University of Timişoara - bachelor's studies (2019) and also of the master's studies in English European Union Law organized by the Faculty of Law of UVT (2020). During his years in college, he participated in Summer school in European law organized annually by the Faculty of Law of UVT in partnership with the Faculty of Law a University of Udine (2017 edition) and was part of the teams with which the faculty participated in international pleading competitions (participant in the final round of European Human Rights Moot Court Competition – Strasbourg, 2018; semi-finalist of the contest Central and Eastern European Moot Court Competition – Sofia, 2017). Doriana benefited from an Erasmus mobility for students at the Faculty of Law in Montpellier (December 2017-May 2018).
The interview experience. The selection procedure involved the evaluation of 9 application files. Of these, 8 were declared eligible, 3 candidates (one from the Western University of Timișoara, one from the University of Zaragoza and one from the University of Turin) being selected to be evaluated in a separate interview by a committee formed by representatives of the 6 UNITA partners. Doriana was named the winner of the selection procedure, at the end of a dialogue that she described as a wonderful academic experience.
Research subject. The research subject of Doriana's doctorate is European citizenship, more precisely, the impact of the rights granted to European citizens on the rural areas of the Pyrenees Mountains and the Greek Alps. Depopulation, cross-border migration, but also the rediscovery of the potential of the mentioned regions by a privileged class represent realities specific to these mountainous rural areas, and European citizenship is the angle of approach to these realities. The subject of the paper responds to the call of the UNITA program to draw attention to the potential and importance of such areas, which are part of the cultural and natural heritage of Europe.
Choosing the UNITA partner for conducting doctoral studies. The two UNITA partners supervising the doctoral research thus framed are the University of Savoie Mont Blanc and the University of Zaragoza. The two were chosen because their research laboratories are located near the sites that are the subject of the thesis study. Another factor that influenced the choice of the two prestigious universities was the linguistic one, the work was to be written in a language belonging to the Romance language family that Doriana knows, French.
UNITA PhD student experience so far. So far, Doriana has developed a constant collaboration with her coordinators, Professor of European Private Law at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc, Guillaume Kessler, and Professor of Public International Law at the University of Zaragoza, Sergio Salinass. He also familiarized himself with the doctoral research laboratories of the two universities and met the colleagues with whom he is to share them. In May, if the current situation improves, there will be a first meeting of PhD students enrolled at the Savoie Mont Blanc University, during which Doriana will present part of her work.
Thoughts on the UNITA project and expectations. For Doriana, the UNITA project represents the ideal situation in which she could deepen her studies in European law. The collaboration between the partner universities provides him with resources and mobility possibilities conducive to a study focused on the analysis of European citizenship "in action". Doriana's hope is to be able to complete research useful in understanding the value of European citizenship and which can help to understand the contemporary issues facing European identity.
