New leadership for SIM: Brianne McGonigle Leyh and Alexandra Timmer
It is our great joy to announce that as of April 2026, Brianne McGonigle Leyh and Alexandra Timmer will start as co-directors of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM). This newly appointed leadership duo will carry SIM into the future in its 45th year of existence.
Brianne McGonigle Leyh is full professor of Global Justice Studies. Her research focuses on human rights law, international criminal law, transitional justice, victims’ rights, and the documentation and accountability of serious human rights violations. She obtained her PhD in 2011 from Utrecht University, where she wrote her award-winning dissertation on victim participation in international criminal proceedings, building on a multidisciplinary background in genocide studies, law, and international affairs (Boston, Washington DC, Utrecht). McGonigle Leyh believes that in an era of growing challenges to the rule of law and human rights, universities and societal partners play a vital role in advancing justice worldwide. Her chair emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together practitioners, researchers, and students to address complex global justice issues. She currently serves as Director of Master’s Education at the Law School and is known for her contributions to innovative education, including the establishment of the Open-Source Global Justice Investigations Lab. She will deliver her inaugural lecture on 13 April 2026.
At a time when human rights face growing challenges, SIM’s strength lies in bringing together critical scholarship, engaged teaching, and real-world impact—we look forward to building on the strong foundation it has already established
Alexandra Timmer is associate professor in human rights law at SIM. Her research focuses on equality and non-discrimination, in EU law, the ECHR, international human rights treaties, and Dutch law, and on gender and law. With a dual background in history and law (Leiden and New York), she obtained her PhD Ghent University in 2014, entitled Strengthening the Equality Analysis of the European Court of Human Rights: the Potential of the Concepts of Stereotyping and Vulnerability. She currently co-directs the Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe and in the recent past was the programme leader of the Legal Research Master and held a visiting chair at Ferrara University in Italy. She is also a member of the Dutch State Commission against Discrimination and Racism. She has been involved in several impactful European research collaborations, including as senior coordinator gender equality of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination.
We are really excited to take over the baton. The SIM team is wonderful: it is a warm group full of initiatives and with a big heart for human rights. We will make sure it remains a success and Antoine and his predecessors will continue to inspire us
Both McGonigle Leyh and Timmer have been long-standing SIM staff members. With their complementary expertise and networks within the Netherlands, Europe, and globally and their extensive experience in research and teaching leadership, the new co-directors are the perfect fit to lead SIM into a new phase. Both the board of the SIM Foundation and the board of Utrecht Law School fully support this new leadership.
The new leadership team succeeds Antoine Buyse, who has been SIM’s director for twelve years since 2014. He will take on a new position as director of NIAS, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, in Amsterdam. He will also stay connected to Utrecht University and SIM as full professor of human rights in a multidisciplinary perspective, but from now in in a small parttime capacity.
SIM is the key centre of expertise of human rights research and education at Utrecht University. With a rich tradition and a keen eye for current and future developments in the field of human rights, SIM is a leading academic research institute and the home base of a vibrant, interdisciplinary and international group of researchers, lecturers, and PhD students. SIM conducts interdisciplinary research, offers internationally oriented study programmes, and organises a range of activities in the field of human rights. SIM is an active member in a number of leading national and international networks in the field of human rights, including the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research, the Association of Human Rights Institutes, and the Global Campus of Human Rights. It is also the home base of the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights.
McGonigle Leyh and Timmer have been appointed for (renewable) terms of three years.