My name is Tom Verhelst and on 1 January I joined the Department of Political Science to work as a part-time (50%) postdoc on a research project on local governance under supervision of Professor Klaartje Peters (end of contract: September 2021). The project will investigate how Dutch local councils are able to effectively control their executive. Next to this, I work at Ghent University on a part-time basis (50%) as a postdoctoral researcher.
After my studies at Ghent University (Ma Communication Science and Ma Political Science), I conducted a PhD research on the role and position of local councils and councillors in Belgium. My subsequent postdoc project dealt with a totally different topic, namely the Europeanisation of local government (and the question as to how local authorities can influence EU decision-making). My new assignment in Maastricht thus feels like returning to an old academic love, and I’m very much looking forward to starting this new phase of my career!
