We are proud to announce that two new associates from our public law team have each received an award.
The Institute for Philosophical and Social Science Education, Ifese for short, organises the Montaigne competition every year.
This competition seeks the best paper written in any of Ifese’s research areas of law, literature, philosophy and social sciences during the past academic year. The jury eventually chose two of these papers, which managed to stand out from the other submissions while achieving the same level. These two papers demonstrated excellent knowledge and understanding of the subject matter covered. They were particularly entertaining, nuanced, well-written and clearly structured.
Quinten Jacobs won the prize with his paper on the asymmetric exercise of federal powers and Florence Anslot with her paper on “parrhesia” in Foucault.
At both the VUB and ULB, the René Marcq prize is awarded annually to a primus inter pares among law graduates. Someone who has distinguished himself or herself on the basis of study results and a talent for scientific work.
So where does the name René Marcq come from? René Marcq, who was born in 1882 and raised in a humble household, was an outstanding student who later went on to become president of the Brussels Bar, a professor at ULB, and a lawyer at the Court of Cassation. Academically, he was one of the pioneers of public liability in Belgium. During World War II, he assisted in organising the resistance at ULB, which led to its closure in November 1941 and his imprisonment by the Germans. In short, René Marcq symbolises the professional, scientific and social qualities of so many illustrious VUB and ULB graduates since 1834.
The prize is awarded by a jury consisting of the law professors who received the prize themselves. This year (academic year 2021–2022), the prize was awarded to two students, Sophie-Charlotte Gysen and Laure Hendrickx.
