Anna-Lena Kirch is a Research Associate at the Centre for International Security at the Hertie School and works on Polish-German relations in the area of security and defence. Further research interests of hers include EU governance and European differentiation processes, Central-Eastern European cooperation formats like the Visegrád Group, and German foreign policy. Previously she worked at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) and the European Parliament. She is currently completing her PhD at Justus Liebig University in Gießen with a focus on “sub-regional cooperation formats in the EU. She studied political science and communications at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.