Franca König is a PhD candidate at the Hertie School. She has a background in international relations and security politics with a focus on the European Union. Having studied in interdisciplinary, policy-oriented environments in Maastricht and Oxford, Franca has worked among others at the German Permanent Mission to the UN Office in Geneva and the European Police Office. These experiences reinforced her interest in European security governance and ultimately led her to embark on a dissertation exploring the dynamics underlying cooperation on internal security matters in the EU. In her dissertation, Franca seeks to explain the institutional design and evolution of this policy area, with a particular focus on state preferences and differentiated integration.