This series tracks the working lives of our part-time PhD fellows. Many work at the highest of levels, both nationally and internationally, including for other parts of the UN system. Every year they come to Maastricht from all over the world for our unique PhD Dual Career Training Programme in Governance and Policy Analysis (GPAC²).
Dual Focus
PhD alumni tips: Make consistent progress, keep your connections, and have regular reality checks
20 November 2020
As director of a PhD programme with part-time professional participants who actively choose to study, I often hear myself saying that I have the best students. A programme with adults who re-enter education for the sake of learning and joy brings a student population that is mature, d...
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How to help vulnerable communities prepare for climate change? New funding lessons and implications
16 November 2020
Our ‘Dual Focus PhD’ series tracks the working lives of our part-time PhD fellows. Many work at the highest of levels, both nationally and internationally — and in normal times they come to Maastricht in person for our unique PhD Dual Career Training Programme in Governance and Policy...
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Teaching online: A steep learning curve with some success – but missing the personal passion
26 June 2020
By June 2020, teaching online has become second nature for most of us at Maastricht University – or so you would think. We’ve done it for three months now. Teachers have been trained on how to deal with the various platforms, while students have been explained why we had to move onlin...
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A living interface between science and policy: PhD alumni share their experiences
05 June 2020
The PhD was a process of transformation: to validate my skills and research while becoming a part of a community. I wanted to have that sense of purpose, that discipline and that network – these were all-important to me on my PhD journey. For me it was different when I started from wh...
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Empowering people with disabilities: Lessons from the German labour market
21 November 2019
After having experienced great excitement working on my Masters’ thesis, I felt a strong drive to work in research afterward, which made me choose to do a PhD. Becoming somewhat of an expert in a topic is certainly challenging, but at the same time very rewarding way to spend your tim...
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Learning & teaching in West Africa: The importance of partnerships
15 November 2019
There are many challenges that can arise when collecting data in developing countries: from heavy rain that stops your data collection for a few days, to arriving at a remote school in your sample just to find out that it is closed for the day due to some local festivities, to challen...
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Turning knowledge into sustainable growth: Are entrepreneurs the missing link?
11 November 2019
Recent economic theories posit that entrepreneurs are the missing link between abundant knowledge stocks and economic growth. Knowledge is uncertain; therefore, every entrepreneurial idea tested by a new firm is, in fact, market experiment. Innovative entrants introduce new products, ...
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Show me the money: How cash transfers impact child nutrition
02 July 2019
In my dissertation, I am looking at the link between a popular form of social protection – cash transfers – and child nutrition. Previous research has shown a mixed effect, sometimes positive, sometimes no effect, so I was interested in investigating this issue in more detail. I was a...
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Working with the World Bank to boost food security in Ethiopia
14 January 2019
I have always been interested in pursuing a PhD. After working for a number of years and having a family, I felt that I needed a programme that would allow me to pursue my PhD and my career, while not having to interrupt either in any way. GPAC2 was the programme that appeared to fit ...
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