Testimonials

The Max Weber Programme is like all the good things in life: the further away they are, the more you realize how good they were. Here are three situations that make me feel this way. First, whenever I update my webpage provided by the Max Weber Programme, which I still use. Second, whenever I meet a Fellow, even if she is from a different year - we share a few memories and I feel part of a large and growing community. And finally, whenever I recognize how much I have broadened my understanding outside my field of specialization. In a nutshell, the Max Weber Programme gives you practical support, companionship and knowledge.

Alexander Kriwoluzky, Max Weber Fellow 2008-2009  

The Max Weber Programme is unique. It offers excellent academic opportunities combined with beautiful surroundings, rich in history, culture, good food and wine. Villa La Fonte is probably the best place in Europe, and possibly the world, to be inspired and this inevitably leads to academic excellence. In addition, the international setting not only of the Max Weber Programme but of the EUI as a whole contributes to this very special experience, which has a lasting impact on any career.

Nikolaos Lavranos, Max Weber Fellow 2008-2009

A Max Weber Fellowship is probably one of the best things that can happen to you as a young academic. I went to Villa La Fonte in the hope of accomplishing some post-doctoral research, but I soon realized that this year held many more opportunities: from the stimulating academic practice training, to inspiring discussions with faculty, researchers and fellows, to the unforgettable experience of living in one of the most delightful cultural and culinary contexts. All this contributes to a highly fruitful post-doctoral programme, both intellectually as well as socially. As many of my fellows, I will keep the close and lasting friendships with a wonderful group of scholars as the most- treasured souvenir of this year.

Silja Häusermann, Max Weber Fellow 2008-2009

Describing the Max Weber Programme as an enriching experience would be an understatement. It has been so much more. As a historian, I learned to analyse evidence carefully and use the arguments from other disciplines in the social sciences. Before the year at the Villa la Fonte, I would never have imagined chairing a workshop on game theory and the sixteenth-century art market. Nevertheless, the interesting Max Weber Lectures, the animated discussions with the Fellows in economics and a crash course in game theory for social scientists enabled me to do so successfully. Equally, I became skilled in adopting comparative and transnational approaches in my own research. Since then, this methodological framework has become the keystone of my postdoctoral research on sixteenth-century noblemen and their cross-border strategies between France and the Netherlands. So as a scholar, there is the era 'before' the MWP, and the one 'after'. Still, the most rewarding part of the MWP experience consisted of making friends in one of the most beautiful places in Tuscany. The year may have passed too quickly, but fortunately those contacts stay. My (research) community has now opened up to New York, Montreal, Hong Kong, Zürich, Vienna, Amsterdam and Berlin...

Violet Soen, Max Weber Fellow 2008-2009