No. While our community consists primarily of early-career scholars, the ELS Academy organizes events and workshops for anybody who is interested in Empirical Legal Studies and is eager to learn methods associated with empirical legal research. It does not matter whether you are a PhD student or a full professor. Everyone is welcome to register and to attend the workshop offered.

Yes, participation in the ELS Academy’s workshops and events is free of charge! The ELS Academy is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science. We find it important to offer research training that is free of charge. We, however, do ask you register for events and workshops.

The ELS Academy offers three types of training events: faculty events, ELS Academy events, and graduate courses. The registration for faculty events takes place through organizers of the respective faculties; for ELS Academy events through our website; and for graduate courses through the respective graduate schools. You can always find the relevant links to register on the ELS Academy website under “Events”.

You do not need to be employed by one of the ELS Academy’s partner universities to be able to participate in the Academy’s events. Staff from all universities in the Netherlands are welcome to participate in the ELS Academy; events. An exception is the graduate school courses for PhD candidates because of limited spots available.

Absolutely. You are very much welcome to join the ELS Academy cohort at any time. Please reach out to our PhD representative, Anne Brekoo.

Yes, you are welcome to attend the ELS Academy’s events and workshops, but some parts of our research training are targeted specifically at PhD candidates or post-PhD researchers.

There are no formal expectations or requirements from PhD cohort members. However, we hope you will attend the ELS Academy’s events. In addition, we hope to see our members taking initiative to get together as a community, bring in ideas for future events and propose speakers that could be relevant for the ELS Academy. If you have some ideas you would like to share with us, please reach out to our research school coordinator, Monika Glavina, via glavina@law.eur.nl.

You can join any ELS Academy event at any time. It is not necessary to attend the kick-off event to be able to register for other events we offer. Our community is continuously growing! You are always welcome.

Absolutely! The ELS Academy is all about collaboration and exchange. Our goal is to make ELS events organized by the various universities accessible to all. Hence, if an event is organized at, say, Utrecht University, it does not mean you need to be employed at or affiliated with Utrecht University in order to attend. In some instances, this may, however, mean that the registration for the event is arranged through the organizing university.

The ELS Academy is a research school for all scholars interested in empirical legal research: both aspiring and more advanced ones. Our events are about learning new skills and methods. We offer both the introductory and more advanced courses. In the case of more advanced courses, this will be indicated in the course description.

Currently, the ELS Academy does not issue certificates or proof of attendance. However, this is our goal for the upcoming academic year (2024/2025).