prof. dr. D.J. Koch (Dirk Jan)

Dirk-Jan (1980) is serving as the Chief Science Officer of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is Special Professor of International Trade & Development Cooperation. Dirk-Jan finished his PhD (cum laude) at the Radboud University in 2009 and focused on geographic choices of international development NGOs. He was based for 5 years in the DRC and 2 years in Kenya, where he worked amongst others as a regional director at Search for Common Ground, as a professor at the Catholic Univeristy of Kinshasa and as a diplomat of the Netherlands to the DRC.

Thematic & geographic focus areas: Intended and unintended effects of international cooperation. Aid & trade, NGOs, Central-Africa, natural resources, policy coherence for development
Theoretical interests: Poverty, Inequality, Sustainability.