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Hylke Dijkstra (H.)

Prof. Dr. Hylke Dijkstra is the Maastricht University Europe Chair and Professor of International Security and Cooperation (Hoogleraar in Internationale Veiligheid en Samenwerking). He is an expert in European affairs, European security, multilateralism and international organizations. He studies how increasing geopolitics affects prospects for international cooperation, and what this means for Europe.

As the UM Europe Chair (from September 2026), Hylke Dijkstra spearheads one of the four strategic research themes "Europe and a Globalising World" of Maastricht University and provides academic leadership to Studio Europa. Until August 2026, he serves as the Director of the Research Programme Europe: Society, Politics and Global Order (ESPO).

Hylke Dijkstra is the Project Coordinator of the Horizon project ENSURED on how the EU and its member states can transform global governance. He is also the Project Coordinator of KNOWSEC-NL about research security in a geopolitical world. He is a member of the Standing Committee on European Integration of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken). 

Hylke Dijkstra was previously Programme Director of the MA in European Studies, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Contemporary Security Policy, and member of the Board of the Dutch Political Science Association, and the Advisory Council of the Netherlands Institute of Governance. He has received seven large research grants. Notably, he was the Principal Investigator of an ERC research project (2019-2024) on the decline and death of international organizations.

Hylke Dijkstra is (co-)author of The Survival of International Organizations (Oxford University Press, 2025), International Organization (4th ed.) (Bloomsbury, 2025), International Organizations and Military Affairs (Routledge, 2016) and Policy-Making in EU Security and Defense (Palgrave, 2013). He has published 40 articles including in Cooperation and Conflict, European Journal of International Relations, Geopolitics Global Policy,  Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, The British Medical Journal, and The Review of International Organizations.

Hylke Dijkstra holds a PhD in Political Science (cum laude) from Maastricht. He read Contemporary European Studies (MPhil) in Cambridge. He previously worked as a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Oxford, where he was also affiliated to Nuffield College. He is a member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen, KHMW). He is the winner of the 2008 prize for best article in European Foreign Affairs Review for scholars under 35. He received the Otto von der Gablentz Academic Prize and the G.A. Van Poelje Prize.

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Professional Experience

  • Maastricht University Europe Chair (2026-date)
  • Professor in International Security and Cooperation (Hoogleraar) (2023-date)
  • Associate Professor, Maastricht University (2019-2023)
  • Assistant Professor, Maastricht University (2012-2019; tenure since 2015)
  • Marie Curie Research Fellow, University of Oxford (2012-2014)
  • Non-stipendiary Research Fellow, Nuffield College (2012-2014)
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Maastricht University (2011-2012)

Education

  • PhD in Political Science, Maastricht University, cum laude (2007-2011)
  • MPhil in Contemporary European Studies, University of Cambridge (2006-2007)
  • BA in European Studies, Maastricht University (2002-2005)
  • BSc in International Economics, Maastricht University (2001-2005)

Honours and Awards

  • Elected member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen, KHMW)
  • G.A. van Poelje Annual Prize for best dissertation in Public Administration (2013)
  • Otto van der Gablentz Academic Prize for best dissertation on European integration (2012)
  • Annual prize for best article published in the European Foreign Affairs Review by a scholar under the age of thirty-five (2009) 

Major research grants

  • Project Coordinator, NWO, KNOWSEC-NL (2027-2031)
  • Co-applicant, EU Horizon Europe, REUNIR (2024-2026)
  • Project Coordinator, EU Horizon Europe, ENSURED (2023-2026)
  • Co-applicant, EU Horizon 2020, Europe in a changing world, JOINT (2021-2024)
  • Principal Investigator, ERC Starting Grant (2019-2023)
  • Co-applicant, EU Horizon 2020 Secure Societies, EU-CIVCAP (2015-2018)
  • Applicant, EU FP7, Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (2012-2014)

Professional activities

  • UM Europe Chair (2026-date).
  • Director of the Research Programme "Europe: Society, Politics and Global Order" (ESPO) (2020-2026).
  • Member, Advisory Council on International Affairs (2019-2027).
  • Member, Advisory Council of the Netherlands Institute of Governance (2021-2023).
  • Member, Steering Committee of OSCE Network (2022-2023).
  • Member, CDA Commissie Buitenland (2022-2026).
  • Board member, Dutch Political Science Association (2019-2023).
  • Editor-in-Chief, Contemporary Security Policy (2016-2023).
  • Board member, Maastricht University Brussels Campus (2017-2021).
  • Director of the MA in European Studies (2018-2020).
  • Member of core planning team developing a new BA in Digital Society (2017-2019).
  • Admissions panel, MPhil in Politics, University of Oxford (2013)
  • Campus Brussels Steering Group FASoS (2010-2011).
  • Co-founder and co-chair of the European Studies alumni platform Brussels (2007-2010).
  • PhD Representative for the Netherlands Institute of Government (2008-2010).
  • Faculty Advisor EuroSim (2008-2010).