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 border management. One of the challenges within the EU border management is the legal demarcation between competences between the EU and the Member States and the coordination amongst the EU institutions and the national authorities. 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 mandate, resources, social organization, governance 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 competences, tasks and responsibility and the corresponding accountability of EU institutions, EU agencies and national authorities; possibly leading towards a shared or composite administration. 

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
Secondment: 12 months at the University of Roskilde.

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

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 be willing to relocate to Denmark, Roskilde University for one year.

You are invited to apply for a PhD position on "The Role of EU agencies in the management and guarding of borders in the EU" (see above for the description of this PhD project). This PhD project will be carried out within the framework of 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).

The PhD candidate will receive extensive training, including regular supervision, training by the Graduate Schools of the relevant faculties, and the Department of Social Sciences and Business at Roskilde University.

[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. 

Estimated starting date: September 2020 (if the COVID-19 crisis allows)

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

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 4,400 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.