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In order to excel, EGSL will, in the upcoming years, focus on a) institutionalising international exchange, b) empowering PILAR, c) integrating external PhD researchers in the educational programme via blended learning and d) offering trainings to supervisors. 

Professor Heine started off with telling about how EGSL is intending to develop into an excellent graduate school. The 2016 research assessment was quite positive on the curriculum, the academic outreach & internationalisation, impact & relevance, the employability of ESL’s graduates, several co-operations and the way EGSL has good standing within the faculty. In order to excel, EGSL will, in the upcoming years, focus on a) institutionalising international exchange, b) empowering PILAR, c) integrating external PhD researchers in the educational programme via blended learning and d) offering trainings to supervisors. 

Following these opening words, professor Heine gave the floor to professor Liesbeth Enneking, the Legal Aspects of International Corporate Social Responsibility. Professor Enneking gave a lecture about the challenges she encountered during her PhD. She started off by telling about her PhD-topic and how she experienced her time as a PhD researcher. She elaborated on the deadlines in the project, the creativity, the interaction with other PhD researchers and she stood still with some of her proudest moments.  She rounded up by giving some tips and tricks, such as:  “Celebrate each and every accomplishment”, “Learn to put things into perspective, and last but not least: don’t forget to have a life!”

After her lecture, the new PhD researchers were invited by Dr. Wouter to introduce themselves to their peers and ESL colleagues: 

• Yihua (Howard) Chen. “Third-party Funding: Impacts on International Arbitration and Proposed Corresponding Measures”. Supervisor: professor Gerard Meijer.
• Marilena Drymioti. “The Greek ‘polis’ under attack. Unravelling top-down and bottom-up political violence in terms of crisis.” Supervisor: professor René van Swaaningen
• Maurits Helmich. “Constitutional Law, Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Argument. How Legal Scholars and Theorists Can Contribute to Normative Constitutional Debates.” Supervisor: professor Wibren van der Burg.
• Georgia Antonopoulou. “Building EU civil justice: challenges of procedural innovations bridging access to justice”. Supervisor: professor Xandra KramerEmma van Gelder. “Online Dispute Resolution”. Supervisor: professor Xandra Kramer
• Priskila Penasthikia. “Contractual Choice of Law Approach Amidst the Cross-Border Commercial Transactions: The Case Study of Indonesia”. Supervisor: professor Xandra Kramer
• Adam Pasaribu. “FinTech and money traffic”. Supervisors: professor Kleis Broekhuizen and professor Hélène Vletter-van Dort.
• Marlies Blesgraaf. “Regulation, regulatory burden and room for directing in education”. Supervisor: professor Pieter Huisman.
• Sophia Paulini. “The Precautionary Principle in the EU’s Trade Agreements”. Supervisor: Dr. Alessandra Arcuri.
• Nathan de Arriba-Sellier. “Financial supervision under the principle of home state supervision”. Supervisor: professor Fabian Amtenbrink.
• Elif Yilmazlar. “Corporate Conscientious Objections: an analysis of the right of corporations to invoke religious rights under the European Convention on Human Rights”. Supervisors: professor Jeroen Temperman and professor Ellen Hey.
• Sarah van Os. “Diversity in justice? A comparative, interdisciplinary, and empirical study into legal culture”. Supervisor: professor Harriet Schelhaas.
• Melanie Theisinger. “Persistence and Change of Regulatory Cultures”. Supervisor: professor Klaus Heine.
• Fransesco Pennesi. “The Finance Exception in TTIP.” Supervisor: Fabian Amtenbrink.
• Jie Wang. “The Study on the Proposal of Destination-based Cash-Flow Corporate Tax: A perspective from China”. Supervisors: professor Arnaud de Graaf and dr. Maarten de Wilde.

The introduction of the new PhD researchers, was followed by a discussion led by Dr. Wouter Verheyen about several issues that may come up throughout the PhD project. Second year PhD researcher Eleonora Di Molfetta and final year PhD candidate Erlis Themeli were interviewed about the position of empirical research in their research, dealing with cultural differences and how to stay on track in your research.

After the discussion, Dr. Karin van Wingerde awarded the EGSL (course) certificates to the class of 2016-2017Du Du, Léa Massé, Eleonora Di Molfetta and Michelle de Vries, Wanli Ma, Femke Ruitenbeek-Bart, Melih Erol and Roderick Chalmers Hoynck van Papendrecht. Hereafter Dr. Karin van Wingerde announced that the prize money of this year’s Call for Ideas goes to PILAR and their idea to organise a PhD-conference next year April.

Lastly, the floor was given to the new PILAR board with Michelle de Vries acting as next year’s chair of PILAR. She introduced the current and new board: Mieke Kox – Chair, Titiaan Keijzer – Treasurer, Marta Kolacz – Secretary, Alberto Quintavalla – General board member & Michelle de Vries, Du Du, Eleonora di Molfetta, Maria Fernanda Caporale Madi and gave a brief explanation on the tasks and goals of PILAR.

The Kick off was closed by inviting all new PhD researchers and guests for refreshments.