We’re delighted to share the wonderful news that our colleague Thomas Spijkerboer has been awarded an European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for the next five years for his outstanding research project MIGJUST.

With MIGJUST, Thomas will explore the complex dynamics of migration jurisprudence, with a particular focus on the fundamental conflict within international law. His research will shed light on the divide between the European Court of Human Rights, which emphasises a sovereignty approach that normalises immobility, and the Inter-American and African human rights commissions and courts, which advocate a human rights approach that normalises mobility. This fragmentation is problematic because it undermines the international character of international law and is often unacknowledged in academic discourse. Thomas’s research aims to address this bias by unravelling this complexity. He will study Inter-American, African and UN jurisprudence and link European, Inter-American, African and UN jurisprudence to political theory. Inspired by non-ideal political and legal theory, he will then formulate legal alternatives.

The ERC Advanced Grant is renowned for recognising outstanding research efforts, and Thomas’ achievement adds to the distinguished legacy of VU researchers.

We congratulate Thomas Spijkerboer on this well-deserved recognition and look forward to his academic contribution by ending the presumed European bias, his contribution to legal practice by opening up Inter-American, African and UN jurisprudence, and his contribution to international cooperation between states, IOs and INGOs by making their different normative positions understandable to each other.

Please find further information in Englisch here and in Dutch here.