Jan Hupkens is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) of Maastricht University. He also works as a senior policy advisor for internationalisation at Maastricht University. His research looks at the EU’s response to crises, with a particular focus on explaining the different levels of integration that have been achieved. He holds an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and an MA in International Relations and EU Studies from the Central European University in Budapest.

Sophie Vanhoonacker is a professor of administrative governance at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) at Maastricht University. Her research focuses on the institutional aspects of EU external relations and administrative governance in the area of foreign and security policy. In her latest work, she particularly focused on the emerging EU-level system of diplomacy and the EU’s response to the changing international geopolitical context.