This vacancy is now closed.

Cluster 1: Mobility of persons

Finding ways to fathom what Europe is (and should be) in the emerging realities of the twenty first century is an urgent matter for today’s research agenda. Consequently, scholarly research that focuses on contemporary Europe’s past, present and future is in high demand. In many ways this societal demand is inter-linked with the unprecedented enlargement of the EU that unfolded as of the 1990s, softening many (internal) borders in a ‘pan-European’ way, yet at the same time hardening other borders (for instance EU’s external) borders. From a contemporary history perspective, this enlargement-process has been puzzling and triggering uncertainty. This uncertainty sets the tone in current debates on, and in, the Europe of integration, often translated into questions about the borders and boundaries of European integration (geographically, societally, legally, institutionally, culturally, economically, (geo)politically, spiritually, morally, in terms of identities, etc.). Up till now, however, analysists and scholars alike, have been unable to find the conceptual and empirical tools to fathom the implications (including the policy and societal implications) of the EU-enlargement process. Moreover, it is only since the EU launched its overwhelming post-Cold War enlargement policy towards the Central Eastern European Countries, that enlargement has become a serious topic of scholarly debate. The aim of the present project is to counter these shortcomings in the existing research on the enlargement of European integration by developing a comprehensive approach to the phenomenon, informed by historical reconstruction of the (political) process that drove EU-enlargement (i.e. with a focus on the 1990s and the evolution of European integration since the Treaty of Maastricht). The candidate will undertake multinational research in governmental archives and European Community archives. This may include delving into issue-linkages between enlargement and other (economic) policies.

The researcher will be based at Studio Europe, the home base of the UM-wide research programme Maastricht, Working on Europe and/or University College Maastricht, one of the leading liberal arts programs in Europe, and undertake a 6-month secondment at the de Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid (WRR), The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy.

Supervision team:
Supervisor: Prof. Mathieu Segers, Professor of Contemporary European History and European Integration, University College Maastricht, Faculty of Science and Engineering
Co-supervisor: Dr. Bart Stol, Researcher at the CPG (Centrum voor parlementaire Geschiedenis) and Maastricht University
External supervisor: Prof. dr. Frans Brom (WRR, Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid) and/or Prof. mr. Corien Prins (WRR)

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