Rins Hylkema is a PhD candidate in Public Administration at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB), Erasmus University Rotterdam.

His doctoral research focuses on the responsiveness of intermunicipal collaborations: organizations in which two or more municipalities join forces to deliver services to their citizens. In the Netherlands and beyond, a large share of public service delivery runs through these institutions, yet relatively little is known about how they attend and respond to signals from citizens and municipalities. Rins investigates this responsiveness through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Before joining Erasmus University, Rins completed a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration at Utrecht University (cum laude) and a Master’s degree in Research in Public Administration and Organizational Science, also at Utrecht University (cum laude). His master’s thesis examined the relationship between felt accountability and AI use among municipal social workers, and was awarded the Netherlands Court of Audit Thesis Prize.

Rins teaches in the Bachelor’s Thesis course.