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Practical information
If you’re a PhD candidate interested in law in action—whether you already use empirical methods or want to add them to your toolkit—join the VSR × ELS Academy PhD Days. Over two concentrated days you’ll sharpen your research design, pressure-test your research questions, and learn to communicate findings with impact, guided by experienced scholars and a cohort of peers and senior researchers. We open with a keynote by Prof. Wibren van der Burg, reflecting on what interdisciplinary and empirical legal research demands in practice and how it can reshape your project’s trajectory.
Across the programme you’ll encounter interactive sessions that cover the full arc of the PhD: from framing problems and designing studies to collecting and analysing data (qualitative and quantitative), navigating ethics and reflexivity, and presenting your work inside and outside academia. The emphasis is practical, actionable, and immediately usable—so you leave with tools you can apply the next day, plus an expanded network for feedback and collaboration.
For more information about the programme, click here. To register, click here.
Academic event
Kick-Off Event 2025: A Recap
On 26 September 2025, we proudly kicked off the new academic year together with our community. The programme, focused on (early-stage) research, revolved around two central themes:
- The use of empirical methods in legal research
- The interplay between empirical and normative dimensions in research
We are pleased to share a brief recap of this inspiring day.
The day began with a warm welcome from Prof. Frank van Ommeren, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This was followed by a keynote lecture by Prof. Sanne Taekema (Erasmus University), who addressed the challenges of conducting empirical research in combination with a legal-normative perspective. She also highlighted her co-authored book with prof. dr. mr. Wibren van der Burg, Contextualising Legal Research: A Methodological Guide, which offers further insights into this subject.
Next, Prof. Marc Hertogh and Dr. Paulien de Winter presented their newly published book, Empirical Legal Studies in the Netherlands: Towards a Jurisprudence of Consequences? This volume, developed within the framework of the Law Sector Plan (2020–2025), features contributions from various Dutch universities and applies both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the effects of court rulings and legislation across various areas of law. This book is already the third book in the ELS Academy series published by Boom Juridisch, after the Encyclopedia and Catrien Bijleveld’s research methods book.
After a coffee break, a panel of early-career VU ELS scholars shared their personal experiences—both challenges and successes—in pursuing empirical legal studies. The panelists, Tasniem Anwar, mr. Marin Coerts, mr. Loran Kostense, and mr. Rick Maas, engaged in discussion under the guidance of chair Prof. Jill Coster van Voorhout.
The programme then moved into the first round of parallel sessions, which ranged from qualitative research methods to the discussion of the empirical-normative divide. We then shared lunch together while reflecting on the insights gained from the panels before. After this delicious lunch, we moved onto the second round of panels, consisting of more panels on empirical methods and the empirical-normative divide.
To close off the day, Helen Pluut delivered closing remarks. As she will be stepping down as director of the ELS Academy at the end of the year, her fellow board members surprised her with a heartfelt thank-you gift and speech. The day ended on a festive note with well-deserved drinks.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to making this kick-off a resounding success: speakers, panelist, presenters, and of course the organizing team at the VU. Great work!
Apply now!
Writing retreat organized by ELS Academy, VSR and SLSA
ELS Academy, VSR and SLSA would like to invite you to a writing retreat for PhD students who are in the process of writing substantial parts of their thesis. During this retreat, participants will have the opportunity to completely focus on writing their thesis, away from all distractions, in a picturesque monastery near Ghent. It is available to members of the SLSA or VSR, or attendees of ELS’ previous events (the ELS Academy community) This writing retreat will be from Tuesday 18/11, 12:00h until Thursday 21/11, 12:30h, at the monastery Oude Abdij in Drongen (Belgium). The venue is a 20-minute bus ride away from the centre of Ghent, which is well connected by train. Costs of accommodation and food will be covered; travel expenses have to be covered by participants themselves. The venue will be accessible to wheelchair users and dietary options are available.
- Who it’s for:
Late-stage PhD researchers (year 3+ FT / year 5+ PT) with limited access to external/institutional funding. Applicants must be current members of SLSA/VSR or regular ELS participants. - What’s included:
Accommodation & meals, £100 travel bursary (for 5 SLSA participants), guest speaker session (TBC), walking seminars, networking. - To apply:
Fill out the form by 12 Sep 2025: https://forms.gle/rt2s2B4RSq1UNUYu9. You’ll need:
A 300-word statement on how the retreat supports your research and a brief declaration of funding access. - If oversubscribed, selection will be by lottery (SLSA), with a waitlist in place.Refundable deposit (£35) due by 30 Sep if selected.
If you have any questions, please contact raoul.rombouts@ugent.be or diksha.sanyal.23@ucl.ac.uk.
Don’t miss this!
Registrations open
Registrations for the ELS Kick-off event on 26 September 2025 are now open and closes on 15 September. More information and the form can be found by clicking the button below.
We want to highlight you!
ELS Summer Readings on LinkedIn
Are you working on empirical-legal research or have a recent publication, blog post, or article you’d like to share? We’re spotlighting the work of ELS researchers this summer!
Submit your piece to be featured on the ELS LinkedIn — a great opportunity to boost your visibility, share your insights, and connect with a broader academic and professional audience. Publications will be grouped based on similar topics, offering an amazing opportunity to get in touch with scholars from other universities in your same niche.
Filling in the form only takes a few minutes. We take care of the rest!
PhD Event
ELS Midseason Event 2025: A Recap
On the 20th of March, ELS Academy organized a successful Midseason Event themed around funding grants at Leiden University.
The event began in a relaxed manner with an informal lunch, providing participants with an opportunity to mingle and get ready for the day. The event was named Funding Forward, and that is what the panel discussion was all about. Panelists Matthew Canfield, Jaroslaw Kantorowicz, Vanessa Mak and Jekaterina Savicka delved into the challenges of funding, gave tips and tricks, and shared their personal experiences, including rejections. The audience had plenty of time to question them about subjects such as the challenge of securing a position post PhD, selling the empirical component in your research, collaboration in grant writing, developments in the funding landscape, and the types of grants and funding bodies out there.
After some coffee and tea, presentations were given by grant receivers on their projects which received funding from the ELS Academy. These included Aylin Aydin Cakir (How does Court-Curbing affect Public Attitudes Towards the Judicial Institutions?); Loran Kostense and Sofia de Jong (Comparing Legal Research Methods); Marie-Therese Sekwenz (Empirical Systemic Risk Evaluation in Political Advertising under the Digital Services Act) and Sarah Vahed (The Neuroscience of Digital Justice).
Afterwards, we finished up with drinks and a borrel. We were happy to see so many scholars from Leiden University and other universities present and are thankful to our speakers!
Midseason Event 2025
Programme & Registration
On March 20, 2025, we’re bringing together researchers and experts for another engaging edition of the ELS Academy’s midseason event, this time on the topic of research funding. This is your opportunity to gain valuable insights into securing grants, navigating funding opportunities, and learning from other’s experiences, including rejections. Because let’s be real—funding success doesn’t come without setbacks. That’s why we’ll also discuss the challenges of rejections, what we can learn from them, and how to turn them into future opportunities.
This event is free of charge. More information and sign up here.
News
Small grants scheme closed, budget has been allocated fully
The entire budget allocated to the Small Grants Scheme has now been awarded, reflecting the high demand and strong interest in this initiative. We wish all grant recipients the best of success in the coming months as they carry out their empirical-legal studies!
For more updates and information, you can check out the small grants scheme page and keep up to date through our newsletter and LinkedIn.
PhD Event
ELS Kick-off Event 2024: A Recap
On 10-11 October, we organized two incredible, informative and community-building days at the Kick-off event at Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam. From thought-provoking presentations by Prof. Lee Epstein, to a broad range of panels from our community, we had a productive event! Here’s a quick rundown of the days:
We started off the first day with a warm welcome from Jessie Pool (ELS Academy, ELS Lab @Leiden) and Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko (Organizing Committee). Prof. Lee Epstein followed by delving into her empirical legal research on judicial politics, political polarisation in the US, and the US Supreme Court.
After energizing with coffee and cookies, Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko guided the group in a workshop through ethics and data in empirical legal research.
Over a delicious lunch, attendees had the chance to meet other PhD cohort members and connect and exchange ideas. We continued the discussions by splitting up into several panels on pre-analysis and research papers. These consisted of:
- Session 1A led by Nina Holvast, comprised of Marleen Kappe, Serkan Yolcu and Pablo Pizarro Zuniga.
- Session 1B led by Peter Mascini, comprised of Luuk de Boer, Tabea Krauss and Anastasiia Panicheva.
- Session 1C led by Jessie Pool, comprised of Amarilys Abreu and Federica Casano.
After more coffee, we continued with more panels, consisting of:
- Session 2A led by Arno Akkermans, comprised of Vladimir Belev and Eduardo Silva de Freitas
- Session 2B led by Elena Kantorowicz-Recnichenko, comprised of Gijs Custers, Prateek Jain and @Iris Meiejer
- Session 2C led by Lieselot Bisschop, comprised of Sophie Melchers and Jerome Yves Vanwelde
As the first day came to an end, we wrapped up the productive day on a high note with drinks and dinner.
The next day, we were once again treated to a talk by Prof. Lee Epstein, this time in the form of a workshop on how to conduct empirical legal research.
After a coffee break, the last research panel took place led by Rowie Stolk, comprised of Jessica Kluger and Inessa Sakhno.
The event finished with a collaborative research design group work, followed by presentations, jury deliberation, and the announcement of the winner. We’d like to congratulate Loran Kostense, Anne Verboom, Sofia De Jong and Rieneke Stelma-Roorda for winning €5000 ELS Academy Small Grant to conduct research on comparing (the outcomes of) different case law reviews.
A huge thank you to all our speakers, organizers, and attendees for making this event a resounding success!
