The role of EU agencies in the management and guarding of borders in the EU

Cluster 1: Mobility of persons

This PhD project will investigate the role of EU agencies in the management and guarding of EU borders, which is the explicit mandate of FRONTEX, the EU’s Coastal and Border Guard Agency. But, also other agencies such as the EASO, the European Asylum Support Office, Europol, and Eurojust are concerned with issues of border management. One of the challenges within the EU border management is the legal demarcation between competences and the coordination amongst the EU institutions and the national authorities. It involves diverse interests and resources among the Member States, which often hinders coordination. At the same time, the Member States are not able to provide adequate responses to border control and thus transnational solutions are required. To this end, EU agencies are asked to provide responses based on expertise, knowledge and depoliticisation. This, however, depends on their resources, social organization and authority, which this PhD project aims to investigate. Equally, this leads to an intricate interplay between national and European authorities. This raises questions in relation to the division of legal tasks and responsibility and the corresponding accountability of EU institutions and agencies and the national authorities. This project will take on both a legal and social sciences analysis. 

Candidates will be judged on the basis of the requirements outlined below. Candidates should make sure that their application letter demonstrates how they meet these requirements:

• Master degree in European law, European studies and/or social sciences;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Outstanding writing skills;
• Show an obvious interest in academic research;
• Have the capability of autonomously conducting original research as well as working in a team;
• Fluency in English; 
• The PhD candidate must relocate to Denmark, Roskilde University for one year.

The researcher will be based at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University, and undertake a 12-month secondment at the Department of Social Sciences and Business, University of Roskilde, Denmark.

Supervision team:
Supervisor: Prof. Ellen Vos, Professor of European Union Law, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University  
Co-supervisor: Associate professor Dr. Sevasti Chatzopoulou, MSc & PhD, Department of Social Sciences and Business, University of Roskilde, Denmark
Both supervisors have researched widely the agencification of EU executive governance.
External supervisor: to be determined

Any inquiries about the position or the project may be addressed to the supervisor.

Requirements

You are invited to apply for a PhD position in the project “LIMES – the hardening and softening of borders”. The duration of the research project will be three academic years with an opportunity of seeking an extension for up to one year[1]. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 847596 and is co-financed with Department of Social sciences and Business (Roskilde University).

Because the PhD candidates work in a larger research project, team work is essential. In addition to individual work on their dissertations, the PhD candidates will contribute to regular project team meetings and joint academic publications. The PhD candidates will receive extensive training, including regular supervision, training by the Graduate Schools of the relevant faculties, and the partner organisations, where they can benefit from a secondment.

[1] In the Netherlands, the nominal duration of a doctorate is four years. 

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

This project concerns a double PhD degree of Maastricht University and the University of Roskilde. 

We offer a dynamic and challenging job in an internationally-oriented organisation where people receive an advanced education and scholars conduct exciting research. You will be part of an international network of top universities and renowned scholars within the field.

We offer a 4-year full-time appointment as PhD candidate in one of the 13 research projects under the umbrella of LIMES.

The first year will be a probation period, after a positive assessment the position will be extended with another 3 years.

Remuneration will be according to standard salary levels for PhD students starting with a salary of € 2.325,- with a yearly growth to € 2.972,- gross a month in year 4 (based on a full-time appointment.) 

Each year the standard salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%. 

You have to be willing to move to (the vicinity of) Maastricht, the Netherlands and for a period of one year to Roskilde, Denmark. You will be eligible for an allowance for moving costs. You may also be eligible for an allowance for alternative housing. Other secondary conditions include e.g. a pension scheme and partially paid parental leave.

You will be provided with shared office space and a PC. 

Maastricht University’s Terms of Employment are laid down in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local university provisions apply as well. For more information please see the website: www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/support/UM-employees.

Starting date: preferably July 2020 Further information is available on the website: https://limes.maastrichtuniversity.nl/

• Selection process, application form and instructions
• Host institution, partners involved, employment conditions
• Set-up of the Programme, staff and contact points
• Training and secondment programme
• Information on the ethical and legal standards
• FAQs

[2] 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol.

[3] GPAs are represented on a 1-4 scale, with 4 being the maximum score. The minimum thresholds are in line with the requirements of the major Dutch PhD funding schemes in the SSH sector (Research Talent / PhD in the Humanities). NUFFIC is referred to for any translations of grades between countries.

Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 18,000 students and 4,300 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.