Launch of our Maastricht Law Series

It has appeared in several cases already: PhD candidates with a scholarship who do not receive childcare allowance. Recently, Minister Van Engelshoven of Education, Culture and Science answered parliamentary questions about the right to childcare allowance for PhD candidates. The answers she gives are in line with the well-known arguments of the Dutch Tax Administration. Expertise centre ITEM questions these arguments on the basis of European law.

Although things have improved for people with disabilities in Europe in the past decades, the work is far from done. Professor Lisa Waddington coordinates Maastricht University’s involvement in a new project: Disability Advocacy Research in Europe (DARE). This new Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) provides funding for 15 early-stage researchers to conduct their PhD research.

In September, Ruben Tans, Florentina Pircher, Alexandra Nadasan and Emilia Klebanowski were selected to represent Maastricht University in the ELSA European Human Rights Moot Court Competition (EHRMCC). The aim of this moot court competition is to simulate litigation during the trial of the European Court of Human Rights. As part of the competition, in February they had the chance to participate in the official pre-round of the EHRMCC in Odessa, Ukraine.