Hestia grants for talented UM researchers

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) today awarded a Hestia grant to two researchers, who will receive a UM appointment funded by the ‘Hestia – Impulse for Refugees in Science’ pilot, which was launched in 2018.

Hestia funding

Dr Lilian Tsourdi (project leader) and Nasrat Sayed MSc, LAW: External Financial Governance – Migration Management and Solidarity with Non-EU Countries through EU Funding

Although EU grants are increasingly being used to pursue migration management objectives in non-EU countries, global shared responsibility remains problematic in the protection of refugees. The current project analyses the reasons through a combination of legal and empirical research, promotes knowledge about governance and global shared responsibility, and offers proposals for legislative reform.

Dr Vigjilenca Abazi (Project Leader) and Arif Aksu MSc, LAW: Whistleblowing as Private Law Enforcement – Strengthening Public Health, Privacy and Anticorruption

Whistleblowing offers a much-needed instrument to ensure accountability. To strengthen the position of the rule of law in society, we can no longer rely solely on existing institutional control mechanisms. This project promotes knowledge on how whistleblowing can be used to advance law enforcement in the areas of public health, privacy protection and anti-corruption.

 

About Hestia

Through the Hestia programme, the project leaders or main applicants of a research project already funded by NWO or ZonMw can apply for funding to enable a refugee to participate in their project. The researcher must have an academic background (a master’s degree PhD) and be appointed full-time for a maximum of 18 months or part-time for 24 months. The programme was developed in consultation with De Jonge Akademie, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the UAF foundation for refugee students. A total of 47 eligible research proposals were submitted, ten of which have been honoured. Of the ten refugee scientists, eight are men and two are women. Of the project leaders/main applicants awarded funding, two are men and eight are women. A total budget of just over one million euros was available for this round.