Some of the questions that applicants could consider in their research projects are the following:

1. Role of Private Enforcement in Data Protection Law and Digital Law:

• • Investigate the effectiveness of private enforcement mechanisms in achieving compliance and protecting individuals’ rights;
  • Explore the interaction between private enforcement and public regulatory actions.

2. Functions of Liability Rules in Data Protection Law:

• • Examine the different functions of liability rules in data protection and digital law, including deterrence, compensation, and corrective justice;
  • Analyze how these functions interact and the implications for effective enforcement.

3. Impact of Collective Private Enforcement of Data Protection Law:

• • Assess the potential and challenges of collective private enforcement in the context of data protection;
  • Study the role of class actions, representative actions, and other collective mechanisms in addressing mass-scale violations of individual rights.

4. Alternative Remedies Beyond Monetary Damages:

• • Investigate the use of remedies other than monetary damages to ensure data protection, such as unjust enrichment, civil penalties, apologies, etc.;
  • Identifying and sharping systemic remedies moving beyond individually focused remedies to foster systemic changes.

Applicants are welcome to propose a topic within the scope of these themes, without the need to address all the listed topics, by adopting a private law perspective. This does not exclude the possibility of extending the analysis comparatively to more specific fields of law, such as consumer law, anti-discrimination law, competition law and intellectual property law, or other important fields of the digital acquis where private law remedies have an important potential. Projects with a comparative focus, both inside and outside the EU, as well as projects with a strong theoretical approach, are strongly encouraged. Interdisciplinary approaches are also welcomed, as are projects based on diverse methodologies.

Your tasks:

• You will be employed as a doctoral researcher at the Private Law Department at Amsterdam Law School with the purpose of completing a doctoral dissertation in a period of four years;
• You will become part of the Amsterdam Centre for Transformative Private Law (ACT), joining a vibrant research community;

• You will have some limited teaching obligations upon arrangement with the Private Law Department at the Amsterdam Law School;
• You will be supported in developing your own original PhD research by a team of academic supervisors, and structured skills and research training and workshops provided by the University of Amsterdam;
• You will have access to some funding for conducting comparative research abroad, and attending conferences and workshops.

• You have a master’s degree in law;
• You are interested in conducting research on a topic related to the broader theme of the project and are committed to completing a doctoral dissertation;
• You have experience with conducting academic research and academic writing;
• You have experience or are interested in conducting comparative research and working with interdisciplinary methodological approaches;
• You have a strong interest in academic research;
• You are willing to contribute to activities related to the project such as the organising of academic events or outreach and communication of research results to relevant communities of practitioners and policy makers.

In addition, you have:

• Ability to carry out academic research within private law;
• Knowledge of and interest in general private law, on the one hand, and Law & Technology (especially protection law) on the other hand, or specific private law subfields, such as tort law, contract law and private law remedies; the theoretical conceptualization of remedies and the transformative power of private law in the digital economy;
• Knowledge of and/or interest in the project theme and related fields, such as consumer law, anti-discrimination law, competition law and intellectual property law, possibly looking beyond the area of data protection;
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work independently;
• Excellent written and oral communication in English. Good knowledge of Dutch is an advantage;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, willingness, and ability to work with others.

We offer an employment contract for four years with a probationary period of one year, preferably starting on 1 September 2026. The employment contract is for 38  hours a week.

Your salary, depending on your relevant experience on commencement of the employment contract, ranges between €3.059 to €3.881 gross per month on the basis of a full working week of 38 hours. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8.3% year-end allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) is applicable.