The Executive Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam has appointed Professor Dirk-Jan Koch in the first professorial Network Chair in International Development Practices at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS).
Starting on 1 January 2025, Professor Koch will work at ISS for one day a week.
He will combine this new role with his position as Director of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV), an independent body which advises the Dutch government and parliament on foreign policy. The AIV's main areas of expertise are European cooperation, human rights, development cooperation and security policy.
'Close relations and collaboration with the government, other universities, politicians, NGOs, international organizations like the UN and the private sector are crucial for the impact of our academic activities', explains Professor Ruard Ganzevoort, Rector of ISS. 'With the establishment of the ISS Network Chairs we will further strengthen our knowledge partnerships in the coming years. We are very happy that Dirk-Jan Koch has accepted this position. Given his rich background and expertise we are very confident that he will add to the scope and effectiveness of our networks.'
About Dirk-Jan Koch
Koch previously served as the Chief Science Officer of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as its Special Envoy for Natural Resources. Until very recently he was also Special Professor of International Trade & Development Cooperation at the Radboud University, the university where he also completed his PhD (cum laude) in 2009.
Dirk-Jan Koch was based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for 5 years and in Kenya for 2 years. In this period he worked, amongst others, as a regional director at Search for Common Ground, as a professor at the Catholic University of Kinshasa and as a diplomat of the Netherlands to the DRC.
Dirk-Jan Koch’s current research focuses on the unintended effects of foreign aid. In 2023 he published Foreign aid and its unintended consequences, also available as an Open Access publication.
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