Berenike Schott studied International Relations, Conflict Resolution, and Arabic at University College Maastricht, University of California at Berkeley, and Georgetown University. She has worked in Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania with the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), and the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) among others. As a Mercator Fellow, Berenike will focus on effective and sustainable ways of external support to civil society groups in Egypt and Tunisia.