Grant for PhD research into industrial military security strategies in Europe
The board of the Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 Fund has decided on behalf of the Swaantje Mondt Fund to award a grant to Nathan Meershoek for his PhD research into the EU鈥檚 regulation of public procurement in the military sector and the procurement policies in various EU member states.
The fact that next to law, the research of Meershoek touches upon principles of mathematics resulted in a grant of 鈧 3.020 from this special fund, which gladly supports research with both a legal and a beta background. The fact that he wants to investigate different European countries was also a plus. 鈥淓valuating the tenders is the crucial moment in a public procurement procedure. In preparing a bid, a tenderer wants to know how much it needs to invest in quality-aspects 鈥 while increasing the price 鈥 to come to the most economically efficient bid 鈥, says Meershoek in his application.
The combination of fundamental legal principles and mathematics is at the base of public procurement.
Law and Mathematics in Military Procurement
"In defence contracts, quality and its relation to price become even more complex than in regular procurement, as Defence Ministries seek for all specific contracts to contribute to the overall level of national security.鈥 How do you measure the level of national security, while the EU and NATO also play a role in this?
Collecting data in Europe
With his awarded grant, Meershoek plans to collect data on military industries in Europe. He wants to compare the industrial policies and the procurement policies of different EU member states in the military sector. How does the obligation to organise public tenders as stipulated in the EU Directive for public contracts in the fields of defence and security fit with the constitutional framework of the EU-Treaties? And how does it fit the geopolitical and economic context of procuring military equipment? These are questions he aims to answer in his dissertation. As a researcher Nathan Meershoek is affiliated with UUcEPP (Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 Centre for Public Procurement) and RENFORCE (Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe).
Swaantje Mondt fund
In the fall of 2016, Martine and Jaap Mondt established the so-called 鈥淪waantje Mondt Foundation鈥, in memory of their beloved daughter, who passed away at an early age. The founders have both studied at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视, Mrs. Mondt has a legal background and her husband is a b猫ta scientist. The purpose of the foundation, is to provide the means for Dutch PhD candidates to do part of their research abroad, as well as to provide PhD candidates from abroad to do part of their research in the Netherlands. The foundation mainly focuses on PhD research with the territory of Law on the one hand and mathematical and physics on the other hand. Research that combines both, would be strongly recommended but it is not a necessary condition to be eligible for financial support.