Andreea Maria Andrieș, a PhD Candidate at Babeș-Bolyai University, The Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, participated in the ENPA–NIG Doctoral School 2026, held at Ghent University, Belgium, from 14 to 16 September 2026.
The Doctoral School, jointly organized by the European Network for Public Administration (ENPA) and the Netherlands Institute of Governance (NIG), brought together PhD researchers and scholars from across Europe for an intensive programme focused on the theoretical foundations and contemporary challenges of public governance. The programme provided participants with an opportunity to critically reflect on governance theories, strengthen the theoretical positioning of their doctoral research, and exchange perspectives with researchers working across different areas of public administration and governance.
During the Doctoral School, Andreea Maria Andrieș presented and discussed her doctoral research, “The Digital Transformation of Local Government Tax Administration: Impact on Administrative Efficiency and Taxpayers’ Perception.” Her research examines the digital transformation of local tax administration by connecting two dimensions that are often analysed separately: administrative efficiency and citizens’ trust and perceptions of digital public services.
Activating in the ENPA–NIG Doctoral School offered an opportunity to position the research more explicitly within the broader field of public governance, particularly in relation to institutional change, democratic legitimacy, coordination, collaboration, and digital innovation. Discussions during the programme also contributed to refining the theoretical foundations of the doctoral project and its connection to contemporary debates on the transformation of public administration.
The participation in the ENPA–NIG Doctoral School represents an important step in the international development of the doctoral research, providing both specialised academic feedback and opportunities for exchange with the European public administration research community.