ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing a dissertation is a transformative process, which – for me – could not have resulted in this book without the help and support of many people. Given the length of my PhD trajectory, a lot of inspiring people have crossed my path, and the list below may therefore be incomplete. To all of those who are not mentioned explicitly: I am very much obliged to you for any kind words or feedback, and genuine interest in me and my project! First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisors: Professor Ernst Hirsch Ballin and Dr Laura van Waas. Ernst, I have always very much enjoyed our collaboration, whether that was in the context of my dissertation, or with regard to education and other research. Assisting you with some of your research has been an eye-opening experience, and provided an important background to further developing my thoughts on nationality and statelessness. I am really grateful for your encouragement, insightful comments and for our in-depth discussions on these topics! Laura, honestly, I am not even sure where to start. It has been more than ten years since we started to work together on the topic of statelessness, which has allowed me to understand statelessness as a phenomenon in ways that I could not have imagined when I first heard about it as a law student. Throughout it all, I have really appreciated your positive spirit, guidance and eye for opportunities. I am so thankful for your practical, clear and critical comments on my work, and our continued fantastic cooperation. During my time at Tilburg University, I have met amazing colleagues, who have been supportive in many ways. I remember the lovely chats over tea – still reminded of Karin’s words about my tea: “Caia, dat is geen thee.. Dat is water met een kleurtje!” – or helpful conversations about course development, teaching, research, that article deadline, and so on. My thanks go to Anna, Anne, Annelieke, Conny, Eva, Gerhard, Giel, Han, Helen, Hervé, Jurgen, Karin, Loet, Maria, Maurice, Michiel, Paul, Philip, Tjebbe, amongst others. Teaching different courses through the years and supervising various research conducted by students, I have also drawn insights from the discussions with them. I am appreciative of the work of Eline and Simone in particular, whose research as part of their Top Class-program was directly relevant to this project. I am indebted to my colleagues at the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion for their constant support as well. Dear Amal, Alena, Deneisha, Georgia, Mark, Natalie, Stefania and Vera, you are an absolute inspiration and star team. I cannot wait to see to what new and exciting level we will be able to take our work together next! The field of statelessness research has been growing in the past years, and during that time, I have met many wonderful people and experts in the field. I am so pleased that Intersentia ix