On 10 October, the Hans van Baalen Scholarship selection committee unanimously decided to select Laia Comerma Calatayud as the recipient of the Scholarship on EU-Taiwan Relations. 

The scholarship, led by ALDE Party’s political foundation European Liberal Forum, was established in memoriam of Hans van Baalen, the late former President of ALDE Party, a staunch supporter of Taiwanese freedom and democracy. 

The selection committee was chaired by van Baalen’s spouse Ineke Sybesma van Baalen, and was also composed by representatives of the six contributing organisations.* 

Candidates were evaluated based on their expertise and a project proposal, including a clear statement of the research question, an outline of the methodology to be adopted and an overview of the expected results. 

Comerma Calatayud hails from Barcelona, Spain and is a current PhD candidate and researcher in International Relations, having obtained a Master’s degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics (LSE). 

Find Comerma Calatayud on LinkedIn.

*Full list of contributing organisations: 

• European Liberal Forum (ELF), Foundation and think tank of ALDE party, with 51 member organisations across Europe.  
• ALDE Party: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party 
• LYMEC: The pan-European Liberal Youth of the ALDE Party with more than 60 members across Europe 
• The Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium 
• Taiwan Foundation for Democracy  
• Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the VUB Brussels School of Governance