ADAPTED fellow María Moraga Fernández has successfully defended her PhD thesis titled "Labour Regulation and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa" on April, 10, 2026. She has been awarded a joint degree of a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.) from the Universities Paris 1 and Ruhr-University Bochum.

The defense took place at the University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne and the examination committee consisted of the two supervisors Prof. Rémi Bazillier (Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne, University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne) and Prof. Wilhelm Löwenstein (RUB) as well as Prof. Anthony Black (University of Cape Town), Prof. Jose Maria Labeaga Azcona and Ms. Eliane El Badaoui. María's defense marks the third officially completed joint PhD project in the context of the ADAPTED programme and was part of the work package "validating pathways towards poverty eradication."