Schedule

Below you will find the calendars of the inaugural lectures and PhD defences in the University Hall.

Livestream

Interested parties can watch the ceremonies live. The links to the livestreams can be found via the calendar items below.

Schedule PhD defences
PhD Defense: Leaving No One Behind: Normative and Empirical Explorations in Knowledge Production for Societal Change
22 January 2026 from 10:15 to 11:15
PhD Defense of A.M.R. van der Harst (Faculteit Medische Wetenschappen /Julius Centrum)

PhD Defence: Keeping Our Humanity
22 January 2026 from 12:15 to 13:45
Jessica Dorsey will defend her PhD thesis 'Keeping Our Humanity: Ensuring the Legitimacy of Military Targeting Operations Through Civilian Harm Mitigation in Increasingly Autonomous Warfare.'

PhD Defence: From model to medicine: The horse as a natural and translational model for osteoarthritis drug development
22 January 2026 from 14:15 to 15:15
The PhD defence of A.S. Scheike will take place at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine on January 22, 2026.

PhD Defense: Fetal fraction and beyond Expanding the scope of noninvasive prenatal testing
22 January 2026 from 16:15 to 17:15
PhD Defense of E.C. Becking (Faculteit Medische Wetenschappen /Vrouw & Baby)
RSS All PhD defences

Schedule inaugural lectures
Inaugural lecture: The Social Rule of Law
Thursday 5 February 2026 from 16:15 to 17:30
Marc Hertogh, distinguished professor of Social and Institutional Dimensions of the Rule of Law at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, delivers his inaugural lecture.

Inaugural lecture Ernst van den Hemel: Religion adrift. The many meanings of religion today
Tuesday 24 February 2026 from 16:15 to 17:15
Professor by Special Appointment of Religion in Heritage and Popular Culture Ernst van den Hemel will give the inaugural lecture.

Inaugural lecture Willemijn Ruberg: Het recht op lichamelijke integriteit ontleed: Een cultuurgeschiedenis van mens en recht
Thursday 26 February 2026 from 16:15 to 17:15
Professor of Cultural History of the Body Willemijn Ruberg will give her inaugural lecture.
RSS Inaugural lectures