Julia Röhrig wins Daniël Heinsius prize for master’s thesis about states’ responses to EctHR rulings
Julia Röhrig, a graduate from Universiteit Leiden’s Political Science master’s programme, has won the 2026 Daniel Heinsius Prize of the Flemish and Dutch Political Science associations. Her thesis about the impact of populism on state compliance with European Court of Human Rights rulings, according to the jury, stands out for its ‘clear problem formulation, strong empirical design, and sophisticated quantitative analysis’.
Originality, scholarly quality, and analytical depth
The jury, consisting of Saliha Metinsoy (Erasmus University Rotterdam, chair), Kamil Bernaerts (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Jasper Praet (Universität Bremen), Tanja Schweinberger (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) and Floris Mansvelt Beck (Universiteit Leiden) received 10 nominations and carefully read each thesis.
On balance, the jurors found that ‘The Politics of Compliance: How Populism Shapes States’ Responses to EctHR Judgments’ most convincingly meets the criteria of originality, scholarly quality, and analytical depth. The author is Julia Röhrig, who wrote the thesis during her master’s studies at Universiteit Leiden’s Institute of Political Science, under the supervision of Gisela Hirschmann.
Röhrig examines how populism affects state compliance with European Court of Human Rights rulings. According to the jury, her thesis stands out for its ‘clear problem formulation, strong empirical design, and sophisticated quantitative analysis’. The jury was impressed by the ‘strong command of quantitative methods and methodological reflexivity’ on display in this ‘well written, concise, and clearly structured’ and ‘socially relevant’ work, which ‘guides the reader effectively from research question to findings, and integrates results well into the broader literature’.
About the Heinsius Thesis Prize
The Daniël Heinsius Thesis Prize is awarded annually by the Flemish Association for Political Science (VPW) and the Dutch Association for Political Science (NKPW) to a student who, in their thesis from the previous academic year, ‘has addressed a politically relevant research question in the most compelling manner, drawing on social science theories and/or methods.’ Both lecturers and students may nominate master’s theses (provided they have been awarded a grade of 8 or higher).
The prize is named after Daniël Heinsius, who can be regarded as the first professor in Europe to hold a teaching post in the field of political science: Heinsius was appointed Professor of Politices at Leiden University in 1612. In keeping with tradition, the prize is awarded during the Politicologenetmaal, the annual meeting of the NKWP and VPW.