Research

The School’s legal research is divided into five research programmes:

• The Prospects of European Private Law;
• Human Rights in a World of Conflict and Diversity;
• Criminal Law and Fundamental Values in a Changing World;
• European Public Law;
• Environmental Law.

Utrecht University has combined its top research into fifteen focus areas. The School of Law participates in three focus areas:

• Coordinating Societal Change: Lifecourse Dynamics, Economic Flexibility and Social Cohesion;
• Conflicts and Human Rights;
• The Origins and Impact of Institutions: Local, National, European.

Research is often strongly interrelated with current social developments, for instance research into problem neighbourhoods, family relations or developments in criminal law and European Law.

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO) funds top researchers and steers the course of Dutch science by means of subsidies and research programmes. The Netherlands Foundation for Legal Research (Nederlandse Stichting voor Rechtswetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NESRO) and the European Union also fund Utrecht legal research projects.
In addition, the School of Law conducts research commissioned by other parties, such as ministries, European Institutions and law firms.

The G.J. Wiarda Institute  (dutch only) accommodates the School of Law’s research, conducted by the School’s research institutes and centres, research schools, and national and international interinstitutional programmes. 

Students are also encouraged to gain experience in research. The School of Law organizes the two-year English-language Master’s programme in Legal Research.