Dr Vera Spyrakou is a Visiting Fellow at the LSE European Institute and a former Postdoctoral Researcher at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Department of Political Science and Public Administration (Oct. 2021- Dec. 2024). She publicly presented and successfully concluded her postdoctoral research, examining the institutional and political dynamics of the European Union (EU). She holds a PhD (summa cum laude) in European, International and Area Studies from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences and an MA in European Citizenship and Euro-Mediterranean Integration from Roma Tre University. She has been an Adjunct Lecturer at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences where she taught undergraduate courses on International and European Law and Governance at the Department of International, European and Area Studies, and is a Member of the Audit Committee of the EU Scientists Association (EEES) in Greece and a Member of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) in the UK. Her research focuses on the typology of patriotism and the evolving demands of a new EU institutional architecture. She is currently working on a monograph on political identity, democratic participation, EU-UK post-Brexit relations and the broader trajectory of the future of Europe.