Prof. Dr. Waltraud Hakenberg Scholarship for Moot Courts and Simulation
The Prof. Dr. Waltraud Hakenberg Scholarship for Moot Courts and Simulations is awarded by the Europa-Institut at Saarland University in honor of an outstanding scholar and dedicated supporter of young legal professionals.
Prof. Dr. Waltraud Hakenberg maintained a special connection to the Europa-Institut for decades as an honorary professor. Her professional career was marked by an extraordinary commitment to European law and European legal scholarship. As Registrar at the European Union Civil Service Tribunal in Luxembourg, she played a central role in European case law. Furthermore, with her textbook on European law, she authored a seminal work that remains significant to this day and has guided generations of students as well as legal practitioners.
Her work epitomized the combination of academic excellence, a European perspective, and practice-oriented legal education. She was convinced that legal competence arises not solely from theory, but is developed primarily through the active application of the law,
particularly in the context of moot courts and legal simulations.
With great personal dedication, she initiated and organized her own moot court, which took place annually at the Court of Justice of the European
Union in Luxembourg and gave students the opportunity to experience European legal practice firsthand.
Against this backdrop, the scholarship supports the participation of teams from the Europa-Institut in moot courts and legal
simulations, thereby offering dedicated and motivated students the opportunity to further develop their analytical, argumentative, and rhetorical skills in an international setting.
Among the formats supported by the scholarship is EuroSim, an annual simulation of European decision-making processes, jointly organized by a consortium of European and American universities. In this English-language simulation, participants assume the roles of European
decision-makers and experience the political and legal processes of the European Union firsthand. The event takes place alternately at universities in Europe and the U.S. and offers an excellent opportunity to apply specialized knowledge in a practical setting, develop negotiation and communication skills, and gain international experience in a cross-cultural environment.
In 2027, EuroSim will take place from January 7 to 10, 2027, at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The Europa-Institut team, consisting of students from the Master’s program in European and International Law who are selected through an application process in mid-October at the Europa-Institut, will receive generous financial support for travel and accommodation expenses through the Prof. Dr. Waltraud Hakenberg Scholarship for Moot Courts and Simulations.
By awarding this scholarship, the Europa-Institut helps keep the memory of Prof. Dr. Waltraud Hakenberg alive and at the same time continues her long-standing commitment to supporting young lawyers in the European context.
