OUR TEAM
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Academic research and education at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is characterised by a high level of ambition, and encourages free and open communications and ideas. In 2017, VU hosted 22.867 students and 3.507 FTE staff members. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam comprises 9 faculties. Research is divided into four themes, reflecting a strong level of involvement in current societal issues: – Governance for Society; – Human Health & Life Sciences; – Connected World; – Science for Sustainability. The total research output in 2017 translated to approximately 7.022 scientific publications and 406 doctoral theses (both VU and VUmc).
Role in ASILE
VU Amsterdam will be the lead partner for WP5 on the EU Arrangements with Third Countries, concretely leading Task 5.1, together with Aarhus University, and Task 5.3 on the Impacts of EU Arrangements with Western Balkans and Turkey.
Prof. Spijkerboer has published widely on the European refugee crisis and the Balkan route, which will add a great value to the consortium. Furthermore, he counts on an interdisciplinary team encompassing the security and economics dimensions.
Team Members
Thomas Spijkerboer
ASILE Work package Leader –WP5 EU Arrangements with Third Countries
Thomas Spijkerboer is Professor of Migration Law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Raoul Wallenberg Visiting Professor (2017-2020) of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Lund University. He has published extensively on the European refugee crisis, the Balkan route and the EU-Turkey statement, both in international academic journals and in blogs (Den Heijer, Rijpma and Spijkerboer 2016; Spijkerboer 2016; Spijkerboer 2016a; Spijkerboer 2016b; Battjes, Brouwer, Slingenberg and Spijkerboer 2016; Spijkerboer 2017; Spijkerboer 2018).
Orçun Ulusoy
ASILE Researcher
Short biography
Orçun Ulusoy is PhD Candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Law. He has been a central figure in Turkish asylum law and NGOs. He has published on Turkish migration and asylum law and policy in both Turkish and in English and has an extensive network of contacts among the NGOs and international organisations working in the migration and asylum field throughout the Balkan Route countries Greece and Turkey. Before joining the VU, he was working as a contracted lawyer for the UNHCR in Turkey. (Ulusoy and Battjes 2017; van Liempt et al. 2017; Wissink and Ulusoy 2016; Ulusoy 2016).
Joris van Wijk
ASILE Researcher
Short biography
Dr Joris van Wijk is associate professor in criminology at the Vrije Universiteit. He has over the years published widely on irregular (asylum) migration and related security issues. Trained as a lawyer and criminologist he has expertise on quantitative as well as qualitative research.
Gerard van der Meijden
ASILE Researcher
Short biography
Dr. Gerard van der Meijden is Assistant Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics at the Department of Spatial Economics of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research interests are in Resource Economics, Climate Change Economics, Economic Growth, and Sustainability. His work has been presented at international conferences and is published in leading scientific journals.
Erik Verhoef
ASILE Researcher
Short biography
Erik Verhoef is professor in Spatial Economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and a research fellow at the Tinbergen Institute. He has been Vice (Research) Dean of the School of Business and Economics, and is currently Head of Department of Spatial Economics, both at VU Amsterdam. His research focuses on efficiency and equity aspects of spatial externalities and their economic regulation, in particular in transport, urban and spatial systems. He is co-author of this tender and remains involved in an advisory capacity, but is not formal part of the research team.
