HIGHLIGHTS 2020 HIGHLIGHTS 2020

Promoting five new PhD graduates

2020 was a very fruitful year at the IES regarding new PhD degrees: Antonios Nestoras, Alexandra Mihai, Klaudia Majcher, Laura Westerveen and Malasree Neepa Acharya all successfully submitted and defended their doctoral thesis. The series of doctoral defenses was kicked off by Antonios Nestoras who was promoted in February 2020 on the subject of “Belonging to the West? Geopolitical Mythmaking in Modern Greece from the Enlightenment to the Euro-crisis.” It was a double doctoral degree from the Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and University of Antwerp, promoted by Prof. Luis Simon (Institute for European Studies) and Prof. David Criekemans (Universiteit Antwerpen).

Five months later, in July 2020, Alexandra Mihai obtained her doctorate. Her dissertation explored the way technology is integrated in the teaching practice and institutional structures at European universities in the case of political science as a teaching discipline - a very timely topic in these pandemic times. It was supervised by Prof. Dr. Frederik Questier & Prof. Dr. Chang Zhu (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel).

On 4 September Klaudia Majcher defended her PhD on Coherence between EU Data Protection and Competition Law in the Digital Market. The thesis explored the ways how competition and data protection could positively interact and reinforce each other in the EU’s digital market.” and was co-promoted by IES Profs. Ben Smulders and Harri Kalimo.

One month after Klaudia’s PhD defence, in October 2020, Laura Westerveen successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Ethno-racial (In)equality in Belgium and Germany: Understanding Policy Frames”. Laura’s dissertation explored the framing of inequalities along ethno-racial lines in policy discourses. Her Promotor was IES Prof. Dr. Ilke Adam.

And last but not least, Malasree Neepa Acharya was promoted in November 2020, on the topic of ‘Anchoring Circulation of India’s Diaspora Entrepreneurs: Creating Cosmopolitan Home and Work Lifeworlds in Bangalore’s Interconnected Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.’ Neepa's co-promotors were IES Prof. Dr. Ilke Adam and Prof. Dr. Alison Woodward.

IES contributes to study set to direct Flanders' industrial transformation policy

On 10 November the results of the study “How can we transform the Flemish industry, to ensure it can thrive in a climate-neutral Europe by 2050?” were presented to over 200 stakeholders in the presence of the Flemish minister of innovation Hilde Crevits. This study was performed by Climact, Deloitte, the Antwerp Management School and

Highlights

As the global balance of power shifts to Asia, Europe has been stepping up its ambition to play a more proactive role in regional political and security affairs. The Programme aims to accompany this dynamic by providing a unique platform for research, education and dialogue for the academic community, policypractitioners and the broader public in Europe and Asia. To this end, it plans to organise a range of activities, including an executive course, public events and policy dialogues, as well as issue a series of policy-oriented publications.

Highlights

Prof. Florian Trauner awarded Jean Monnet Chair

Prof. Florian Trauner was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair for the project ‘EXPAND: Explaining Resilience in EU Justice and Home Affairs’. Jean Monnet Chairs are funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme and aim at achieving research-led excellence in teaching and learning. The objective of the Chair ‘EXPAND’ is to contribute to the understanding of the changing nature of the European integration policies in and beyond the EU with regard to Justice and Home Affairs Policies.

Migration, Diversity and Justice Research centre secures four prestigious research projects

the Institute for European Studies (VUB). The study presents options to achieve deep emission reductions towards climate neutrality by 2050 by Flemish industry, a roadmap towards this goal, and the enabling policy framework.

IES initiates Japan Programme

On 1 October 2020, the newly established Japan Programme officially star ted its activities at the VUB’s Institute for European Studies (IES). Set up with the support of the Japan Foundation, the Programme aims to enhance awareness of Japan’s foreign and security policy, steer the European debate on current security issues in East Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region, as well as to promote Japan’s cooperation with the EU and NATO.

The Programme is par t of the new Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) at the IES and is headed by Dr Eva Pejsova, Senior Japan Fellow, and Celine Pajon, Senior Research Fellow of the project. Its activities are supported by Prof. Luis Simon, Maaike Verbruggen and Fabio Figiaconi.

Dr Eva Pejsova commented: ‘In February 2019, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement entered into force, creating the world's largest open economic area covering a third of the global economy. This has obviously opened up a vast number of collaboration opportunities between the two parties. In a century commonly known as the Asian Century, we believe that, in addition to the KF-VUB Korea Chair also hosted at the IES, our new Japan Programme is a very timely project that will be beneficial to a diverse range of stakeholders in Europe, Asia, and beyond.’

With two new H2020 projects on migration and immigrant integration, one FWO postdoctoral project on immigration policies, and a European research project on the BLM movement, the IES’ Migration, Diversity and Justice research centre has had a particularly successful year with respect to research grants.

The H2020 project ‘BRIDGES’ will study the production and impact of migration narratives. In this project, the IES will lead a Work Package on the (non-)impact of awareness-raising campaigns on potential migrants’ decisions in West-Africa. A second H2020 research project, WHOLE-COM, will research post-2015 immigrant settlement policies in small and medium-sized towns in Europe: which policies do they develop, and why? What is the impact of these policies? And how do local authorities interact with national policy makers? The VUB participation in this project is realized via BIRMM, the VUB’s interdisciplinary Centre of Expertise on Migration and Minorities and is at the crossroads of political science (Ilke Adam, Laura Westerveen) and social geography (Nick Schuermans).

The MDJ cluster also kicked off a new FWO post-doc project on sub-national immigration policies in federal states. It has been awarded to Cathérine Xhardez (currently Concordia University), who joined the IES in October. Furthermore, PhD researcher Folashade Ajayi has been selected as a project partner for a new European research project on the impact of the Black Lives Matter Movement in Germany, Italy, Denmark and Poland. This German government funded research project is a collaboration between the German Centre of Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), Scuola Normale Superiore, University of Copenhagen and the Polish Academy of Sciences.

IES further enhances reputation as frontrunner in teaching and learning innovation

For many years, the Institute for European Studies has built a solid reputation in teaching and learning innovation. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, blended and online learning was part of its educational portfolio. Now, with the establishment of an Office for

Teaching and Learning Innovation (OTLI) in the Spring of 2020, the Institute has taken the next step in this essential development towards the ‘education of the future’. The OTLI serves as a knowledge hub for the IES' teaching staff and focuses on pedagogical innovation and the use of technology to enhance learning. Concretely, its dedicated team works on the design and implementation of sustainable teaching and learning policies that aim to improve the student learning experience for all course formats, from face-

Educational innovation is truly key for us. Along with personalised attention for our students, it is what sets us apart. Already back in 2016, the Flemish educational authorities labelled our institution as a pioneer in developing on-line learning methods in European law and policy. That was the past, now we look to the future. OTLI will be a cornerstone of our educational strategy in years to come. With this in-house experience, we want to pass a clear message to our current and future students: no matter what type of learning experience you have with us, face-toface, blended or online, it will always be personal, flexible and high-quality!

Sven Van Kerckhoven IES Vice-Dean for Education

Highlights

to-face to blended to fully online. In doing so, the OTLI team attaches great impor tance to student par ticipation through continuous student feedback, in a spirit of co-creation, leading to the best result for all concerned. In the months following the star t of the lockdown in Belgium in March 2020, OTLI has successfully provided training, advice and support for professors during the state of ‘emergency remote teaching’ as a result of the pandemic. As a result of this, we could ensure the continuity of more than 90% of the planned lectures. In parallel, OTLI has been working on the transition to a more sustainable model for building courses that will be implemented as of the academic year 2021-2022.

Jonas Lefevere co-authors extensive survey "De Stemming van Vlaanderen"

For a study commissioned by the Flemish public broadcaster (VRT) and the newspaper De Standaard, Jonas Lefevere (Vesalius College / Institute for European Studies) and Stefaan Walgrave (UAntwerp) conducted an extensive survey of Flemish voters in an effort to track evolutions in political opinion since the 2019 general elections in Belgium. Because the survey was fielded in the middle of the Corona pandemic, it was decided to also include extensive measurements of attitudes towards the lockdown, government performance, and the ongoing political crisis that culminated in the formation of the minority government Wilmès.

EU climate policy project COP21: RIPPLES presents 6 key findings

In December 2016, the Horizon 2020 project “COP21: Results, Implications, Pathways and Policies for LowEmissions European Societies (COP21-RIPPLES)” officially star ted. The project was running for three years, until November 2019 and it was coordinated by the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris. The project aimed to provide interdisciplinary analysis of the conditions of EU climate policy in the strategic context of the Paris climate change agreement concluded in 2015. The VUB’s Institute for European Studies (IES) was among 17 leading universities and institutes that joined forces to produce climate policy guidelines and the IES was one of the main partners of the project. Under the lead of Prof. Sebastian Oberthür, and with valuable contributions of IES Project researchers Tomas Wyns and Gauri Khandekar the IES cluster on Environment and Sustainable Development was in particular co-coordinating Work Package 4 of the project that assesses the adequacy of the Paris outcomes for effective international climate governance and the EU’s role. As the Project comes to an end, project members published the key messages to contribute to evidence-based decision making.