Jasper Simons is Assistant Professor European Governance at the Utrecht University School of Governance. In 2021 he obtained his doctorate in social and political sciences at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, after which he worked as as postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany, and as a lecturer in the European Studies program of the University of Amsterdam. Prior to his PhD, Jasper studied political science, specialising in (international and comparative) political economy, at the University of Amsterdam, McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and Leiden University. Between his academic education and his PhD Jasper worked among others as a trainee at the EESC, lecturer political science in Leiden, and in consultancy. 

Jasper’s research centres around the themes of politial economy and European integration, often with a regional perspective on Central and Eastern Europe. He is foremost interested in questions related to the politics of policymaking (especially in the areas of industrial and social policy), economic development, EU governance, and institutional change. Jasper applies qualitative and quantitative methods, depending on the research question at hand. 

His work has been published in Czech Sociological Review, East European Politics, Journal of European Public Policy, and Socio-Economic Review.