Elke Thurman started in April 2024 as an analyst for the regions and local governance team at Idea Consult. She obtained her master’s degree in socio-economic sciences at the University of Antwerp in 2023, where she was introduced to the policy world and conducting socio-economic research. During her master’s, she immersed herself in European agricultural policy, explored the possibility of a progressive carbon tax in Flanders and wrote her thesis on gender differences in work preferences and differences in job opportunities in collaboration with VDAB.