This proposed project aims to contribute to excellence in the field of feminist political science by developing methodologies which help us to understand the gendered political dimensions of recent EU macro economic policies to the Eurozone/financial crisis. Gendered research on this policy area is under developed and difficult to undertake on account of well documented methodological shortcomings in feminist political science.The fellow brings an innovative methodology developed in their recently competed thesis which tackles these shortcomings and will apply it to these under researched policy areas. Activities during the IEF include a period of training and learning on this policy area, which the fellow is not yet expert in and a period of fieldwork in Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN). This data will provide insights into the processes leading to the implementation, or rejection of gender mainstreaming within DG ECFIN. Empirical findings will be published in specialist EU studies and gender academic journals, as well as in pamphlets for the policy community around DG ECFIN, including policy consultants.The workplan includes several incremental steps to build capacity around this presently very under researched field and to thus achieve maximum benefit for the ERA. These include the production of a methodological article illustrating techniques to undertake gendered analysis in these areas; an initial workshop to explore these methods and themes at the host institution; and a joint edited special edition on the gendered implications and policy making processes of the EU's policy responses to the Eurozone/financial crisis. This will be followed by an ECPR Joint Sessions Workshop a year later. Papers from this workshop will be edited into a a book after the completion of the IEF. These publications and activities will build capacity in the ERA and will help the fellow establish a leading position within this emerging field.