J.R.A. Mars

Rolph completed his BA in European Studies at Zuyd, the university for applied sciences in Maastricht. During his studies he did his exchange abroad in Valencia, Spain, where he studied international relations. In his final year he completed an internship at the Euregio Rhine-Meuse-North, which aims to boost Dutch-German cross-border cooperation to make Europe more tangible at a regional level. Here he conducted applied research to investigate the motivations of stakeholders to start cross-border projects. 

His appetite for knowledge was far from satiated, however, and so he continued his studies at FASoS where he completed the Pre-Master's in European Studies. During this year he began to become interested in the interaction between party politics and foreign policy. As a result, he went on to complete the MA: European Studies, in which he specialised in international relations. Here too his research revolved around party politics and foreign policy to investigate the drivers of arms exports to Ukraine.