PhD position in Law, technology and the human body (5 years)

Erasmus School of Law, department Law & Markets, is looking for a fulltime PhD researcher in Law, technology and the human body (5 years with 20% teaching tasks).

Job description
The selected candidate will be embedded within the Law & Markets department, home of a vibrant and diverse academic community. The overarching mission of the Department Law & Markets is to develop and deliver cutting-edge, high-quality research and teaching on legal institutions shaping markets and their implications for socio-economic justice and sustainability. The research group specifically studies legal and societal problems generated in the complex dynamics of international, European and domestic laws regulating technology, trade, industry, investment, money, and more generally markets. The focus is on how to make the law in any form socially, environmentally and financially sustainable, how to deal with technological innovation on an inclusive basis and how to combine private and public interests responsibly. Researchers have different profiles, including law and technology, public law, international and EU law, legal theory, and commercial law. The Department is keen on multidisciplinary research.

The Department is responsible for a considerable part of the bachelor and master curricula of Erasmus School of Law. Specifically, Law & Markets provides bachelor teaching in, constitutional and administrative law, international and European Union law, jurisprudence, legal philosophy and commercial law. Furthermore, Law & Markets is responsible for several master programmes including in law and technology public law, international and European Union law and commercial law. Most of the bachelor teaching is in Dutch, while most of the master teaching is in English.

PhD position: Law, technology and the human body.
The rapid advancement of bio- and data-driven technologies is reshaping the relations between the law and the human body as a regulatory object. Legal systems worldwide are struggling to address the legal and ethical implications of the development and deployment of new technologies: from neurotechnology and human enhancement to AI-driven medical interventions. Underlying most of these developments is the increasing collection and processing of (health) data by public and private actors, raising critical questions about the role of data law and governance in fostering innovation while preventing societal and individual harms.

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of law and technology, examining how the law should understand and regulate emerging technologies that interact with or affect the human body and the vast data ecosystems that depend on it.

This research is crucial in addressing pressing legal and societal questions about data law and biolaw in an age of unprecedented technological and data-driven intervention. As governments, industries, and institutions grapple with the implications of biotechnology and AI-driven healthcare, robust legal scholarship is needed to guide regulation and policy-making in both bio- and data law.

This position is ideal for a researcher passionate about pioneering legal solutions to some of the most complex and evolving challenges at the frontier of law, technology, and data law & governance. We especially encourage theoretically informed legal research. Doctrinal, empirical, socio-legal, comparative, or other methodologies (and combinations of these) are welcome.

Key words: Law & Technology, Data Law & Governance, Human Body, Biolaw.

Co-supervisor: Dr. E. (Enrique) Santamaría Echeverría, supervisor: Prof. dr. L.S. (Leonie) Reins

Requirements:

We are looking for candidates who:

• hold a master’s degree in law or other discipline relevant for this PhD position;
• can demonstrate scientific research skills;
• have excellent oral and written skills in English (requirements: see application format);
• are capable of teaching in Dutch (or willing and able to master the Dutch language throughout the first year of the PhD trajectory).

Teaching activities will take place within the programmes and courses of the Law & Markets Department; the particular teaching tasks will be decided on the basis of the expertise of the candidate as well as the needs of the Department, and may be in the areas of law and technology, Dutch constitutional and administrative law, international and European law, jurisprudence and legal philosophy and commercial law. Teaching tasks will be mostly in Dutch. Teaching in English may also be part of the tasks.

Current master students are welcome to apply. However, appointment will only be possible if the master’s degree has been obtained before the start of the employment contract. You can apply without having proof of obtaining your master’s degree, however, bear in mind that proof of a master’s degree is a formal requirement for employment and has to be delivered at least 3 weeks before the start date of the contract.

Salary Benefits:

An internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with good working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU).

The position is for 5 years fulltime and starts with a temporary employment contract for 18 months. This probationary period consists of an educational programme, offered by Erasmus Graduate School of Law, and individual research and entails an evaluation of the progress of the research after one year. In case of a positive evaluation, the contract will be extended. In the remaining period PhD researchers focus on their research and the completion of their thesis, next to the teaching tasks. In both phases structured guidance is provided by the thesis supervisors and a doctorate committee composed of senior researchers and one of the PhD coordinators of Erasmus Graduate School of Law. Every PhD candidate is supervised by two or three (co-) supervisors.

The start date of this position is 1 October 2025 and you will be based at Erasmus School of Law, Department Law & Markets in Rotterdam. In accordance with the conditions applied at Erasmus University Rotterdam as indicated in the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO NU) of the Dutch universities, the salary is based on the P-scale, with a minimum of € 2901 and a maximum of € 3707 gross per month, on a fulltime basis. Every PhD candidate starts in step 0 of the P-scale.

Next to that, we offer you:

• Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40-hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!
• Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME, QuEUR, or Young Erasmus Academy.
• Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget, foreign exchange opportunities with most costs paid by EUR, and free access to our university library.
• Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.
• Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare.

Erasmus University Rotterdam aspires to be an equitable and inclusive community. We nurture an open culture, where everyone is supported to fulfill their full potential. We see inclusivity of talent as the basis of our successes, and the diversity of perspectives and people as a highly valued outcome. EUR provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, functional impairment, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes them unique. We look forward to welcoming you to our community.

40 hours per week

Burgemeester Oudlaan 50