[SatNews] A new appointment has been made at the University of Luxembourg for the SES Chair...

Global satellite operator SES S.A. (Paris:SESG)(LuxX:SESG) and the University of Luxembourg have announced that Professor Dr. Mahulena Hofmann has been appointed as the SES Chair in Satellite Communications and Media Law. Her term began on September 1, 2011. Prior to her appointment at the University of Luxembourg, Professor Dr. Mahulena Hofmann, a German and Czech national, was the holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Law and Transition Studies at the Faculty of Law, Justus Liebig University of Giessen. At the same time, she served as a Senior Research Fellow at the renowned Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, where her research activities were in the field of International Space and Telecommunications Law, as well as the public law of Central and Eastern European countries. Member of the European Centre for Space Law and an Expert Committee of the Council of Europe dealing with regional and minority languages, she has a rich scientific profile encompassing all aspects of Satellite Communication and Media Law (International, European and comparative). Professor Hofmann holds a PhD on Remote Sensing of the Earth from Space - Legal Aspects from Charles University, Prague and a ‘habilitation thesis’ on The Position of International and European Law in the Legal Systems of the Transformation Countries of Central and Eastern Europe from the University of Cologne. She is a full member of the International Astronautical Academy.

The mission of Professor Hofmann as the SES Chair at the University of Luxembourg will be to develop a highly competitive research and teaching programme in International and European telecommunications, space and media law and spectrum regulation, with a particular focus on satellite communications. She will contribute to the design of and teaching in a new track within the Master’s programme in Law at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance on these areas and also contribute to relevant research conducted by the University’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT). The need for a chair of Satellite Communications and Media Law in Luxembourg reflects the growing importance of this area, ranging from issues such as the regulation of debris in space to the liability issues surrounding navigational satellites to the effective use and regulation of radio spectrum.