The London School of Economics and Political Science 

Geography & Environment    

 

                   

Home CV Thesis Publications

Name                  Sylvia A.R. Tijmstra

Nationality           Dutch

Date of Birth        17 May 1978

E-mail                 s.a.tijmstra@lse.ac.uk

 

Current position

September 2009+ Programme Director MSc Contemporary Urbanism

September 2008+ LSE Fellow in Human Geography, Department of Geography and Environment, LSE

Education

2005- present      MPhil/PhD in Human Geography, London School of Economics and Political Science

                           Title thesis: The Origins of Regionalism and Constitutional Accommodation; Comparing Scotland to Wales and Quebec

                           Expected submission date: 01-03-2010  

 

2003 - 2004         Master of Science in Local Economic Development, London School of Economics and Political Science

-   Average grade 75 out of 100 (Distinction)

- Courses: Local Economic Development, Economic Development Management, European Economic Development Management, Micro-economics for Public Policy, Macro-economics for Public Policy

 

1997- 2002           Master of Arts in Political Science, with a specialization in International Relations (International Political Economy), University of Amsterdam

- Average Grade 8 out of 10

- Key Courses: International Political Economy, Political Economy of International Money and Financial Markets, Internationalism and Cosmopolitanism, Methodology of Non-Experimental Research

- Two-trimester group research project: State, Market and International Trade and Production. Individual contribution to project: Do changes in political risk influence the location of Foreign Direct Investment? 

 

1997 - 2002         Master of Arts in Social Science, with a specialization in Public Administration, University of Amsterdam

- Average Grade 8 out of 10

- Key Courses: Advanced Methods in Public Administration, Political Discourse Analysis, Advanced Quantitative Research Methods for Social Science

- Two-Trimester Group Research Project: Tax Policy in the 21st Century. Individual contribution to project: Tax Competition in the European Union; Does Integration Cause a Race to the Bottom?

 2001                    European Summer School, HEC Paris (France), Bocconi Milan (Italy), WU Wien     Vienna (Austria)   

- Average Grade 87 out of 100    

1991 - 1997          VWO (Dutch Secondary School), Sprengeloo, The Netherlands

- Average 8 out of 10  

- Subjects: Dutch, English, Applied Mathematics A, Applied Mathematics B, Physics, Chemistry, Economics and Law, Art and Art History  

Recent teaching posts

 

2009-2010           LSE Fellow responsible for:

  • Lectures undergraduate course GY200, Economy, Society and Space
  • Course manager GY350 Independent Research Project

2008-2009     LSE Fellow responsible for:

  •  Lectures undergraduate course GY103, Contemporary Europe
  • Lectures undergraduate course GY200, Economy, Society and Space
  • Lectures and seminars postgraduate course GY453 Geographical aspects of urban and regional planning: regional development and policy

2008             Lecturer International Training Centre of the ILO Course: Strategies for Local Economic Development

2006- 2008     Occasional Lecturer undergraduate course GY103 Contemporary Europe

2006-2008     Occasional Lecturer Geography and Environment open day taster sessions

2005-2007     Class Teacher undergraduate course GY103 Contemporary Europe

 

Recent consultancy work

07/2008 – 09/2008     Development of LED training materials, International Labour Office (ILO)

07/2005 – 12/2005     Local Economic Development (LED) in Africa, World Bank

08/2005 – 11/ 2005    Development of LED Sensitisation Module, International Labour Office (ILO)
 10/2004 – 01/2005     Economic Development Consultant, GHK Consulting
 

Scholarships/ Achievements / Positions of Responsibility  

2005 - 2007    Research students representative (Geography and Environment)

 

2005 - 2007    London School of Economics Research Studentship

 

2003 - 2005        Nuffic Scholarship                           

 

2002                  Winner of the Daniel Heinsius Thesis Award for the best Master Thesis of 2002, awarded by the Dutch Political Science Association

                         Thesis title: Binding the New Leviathan? On the Political Legitimacy of Economic and Monetary Union.  

2002                  Student Representative in the Faculty Selection Committee, University of Amsterdam  

1998 - 1999        President of the Student Union for Political Science, University of Amsterdam

                         I received a University Scholarship towards this function                      

Publications

Journal articles

Forthcoming “Uniquely Scottish? Placing Scottish devolution in theoretical perspective”, Environment and Planning C

2009 “Fiscal decentralisation, efficiency and growth” (with Andrés Rodríguez-Pose), Environment and Planning A

2007 “Local economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa” (with Andrés Rodríguez-Pose), Environment and Planning C

 

Conference papers

2009 “Quantifying the de-territorialisation and re-territorialisation of the vote in the UK; the Gini coefficient as a measure of regionalisation” The 5th ECPR General Conference, Potsdam, 10-12 September 2009

2009 “Regional assemblies in England; Enriching the democratic scene or a waste of resources?”, ‘Excavating the Political Geographies of UK Devolution: Ten Years On’ session, RGS-IBG Annual Conference, Manchester, 26-28 August 2009

2008 “Devolution or constitutional deadlock; explaining the different experiences in Canada and the United Kingdom.”, PSA South-West conference, Bristol, 1 March 2008

2008 “Asymmetric devolution vs. constitutional deadlock; explaining the different trajectories in the United Kingdom and Canada”, peer-reviewed session at the fourth TransAtlantic Dialogue (4TAD) on ‘The status of Inter-Governmental Relations and Multi-Level Governance in Europe and the US’, Milan, 12 - 14 June 2008

2008 “Asymmetric devolution vs. constitutional deadlock; explaining the different trajectories in the United Kingdom and Canada”, peer-reviewed session at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference, London, 27-29 August 2008

2007 “Fiscal decentralisation, efficiency and growth” (with Andrés Rodríguez-Pose), peer-reviewed session at the European Regional Science Association Congress, Paris (France), 29 August – 2 September 2007

2006 “The process of devolution; the Scottish case”, peer-reviewed session at the European Regional Science Association Congress, Volos (Greece), 30 August - 3 September 2006

 

Computing Skills

Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, Access), SPSS, Lisrel, Lotus Notes, Adobe PageMaker, and CorelDraw!

Language Skills

                           Reading / Comprehension                 Writing / Speaking

 

                           Dutch                      Mother Tongue                              Mother Tongue

                           English                   Fluent (Toefl: 293/300)                   Fluent (Toefl: essay 6/6)

                           French                    Working Knowledge                      Intermediate Level

                           German                   Working Knowledge                      Intermediate Level