L. Brinkhorst (Laura) MA

Laura Brinkhorst is a PhD candidate in Political History at Radboud University Nijmegen. With her research project ‘To Protect and Serve’, funded by the Dutch Science Association, she is investigating the way in which various municipal police forces in the twentieth century adapted to changing expectations from politics and society regarding the police. She does this for four themes:
- Diversity and inclusion
- Integrity issues and corruption
- The interaction between police and citizens
- Police proximity to citizens
Link: https://www.ru.nl/en/research/research-projects/to-protect-and-serve

After the Bachelor of History at VU University Amsterdam (cum laude) and the Research Master's in Global History at the same university, Laura Brinkhorst worked as a junior researcher on several projects at Radboud University, such as the project on the expropriation of Jewish property and a project on local government during the German occupation with a sub-project on the police.

She was also awarded the research fellowship of the Brabant Historical Information Centre in 2023. During this research period, she researched how specifically the Municipal Police in Oss responded to changing social changes from (local) politics and society in the 20th century. In this sense, the fellowship was a prelude to doctoral research with various forms of output: https://www.bhic.nl/fellowships/fellows-over-hun-onderzoek/brinkhorst-laura

Laura also contributed to the volume ‘Uiterst Vertrouwelijk’ (2024) on the history of Dutch intelligence in Indonesia.

Lastly, she also wrote articles on police history for several local historical journals.