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The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.
Till Patrik Holterhus's research focuses on the EU and international law aspects of German constitutional law, the external constitutional law of the European Union, European single market and economic law, institutional international law, international human rights protection and international economic law. Another academic focus is on the theory of the rule of law in state and supranational systems of government. Holterhus has published extensively on these topics, most recently editing the 'Handbuch Europäische Souveränität' (Handbook of European Sovereignty).
His academic work is characterized by strong international networking. Till Patrik Holterhus is the founder and chair of the Interest Group on the European and International Rule of Law at the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and recently gave a lecture on EU Supranational Militant Democracy at the Minda de Gunzburg Centre for European Studies at Harvard Law School in the USA. His studies, teaching and research have taken him to the USA (Berkeley, Yale), China (Nanjing), France (Paris), Ireland (Galway), Hungary (Budapest) and Austria (Innsbruck).
In addition to research and teaching, Till Patrik Holterhus is also involved in the 'third mission' of universities. He regularly appears in various media (radio, newspapers etc.) and as an expert in hearings of the German Bundestag, and advises the federal government, political parties and think tanks. On 1 February 2026, Till Patrik Holterhus will host the interdisciplinary conference 'Economic Security between Strategic Self-Assertion and Geoeconomics' in the Europasaal of the Federal Foreign Office, together with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Foreign Office. In addition, he recently authored the booklet 'Der Rechtsstaat' (The Rule of Law) in the series 'Informationen zur politischen Bildung/IzpB' ('Black Booklets') published by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. The first edition comprises 500,000 copies.
He will take up his post at Saarland University on 1 February.
With the appointment of Prof. Dr. Till Patrik Holterhus, Saarland University gains a renowned constitutional, European and international law expert. As co-director of the Europa-Institut, he will continue its successful work and further develop its content, particularly with regard to current challenges to the European rule of law and democracy, the future of European integration and the resilience of the international legal order. The Europa-Institut is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and has been one of the oldest and most renowned institutions in Germany since its foundation. It has been established for decades as an excellent centre of education and research for European and international law.
Short biography
Till Patrik Holterhus studied law at Georg August University in Göttingen and also completed a master's degree in 'Legal Integration in Europe' at the universities of Göttingen and Galway. Following his doctorate with a thesis on European administrative procedural law at the University of Göttingen and his legal clerkship in the district of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (including a stint at the Federal Constitutional Court), Holterhus completed a master's degree (LL.M.) at Yale Law School, USA. He dedicated his habilitation in 2022 to the topic of 'The Extroverted Constitutional State'. After serving as a visiting professor at the University of Göttingen and Humboldt University in Berlin, he was appointed university professor of constitutional and administrative law, international public law and comparative law at the Law School of Leuphana University Lüneburg in 2023. He has also headed the Centre for European and International Law there since 2023.
