On 22–24 October 2025, Leiden University welcomed scholars, policymakers and higher education leaders for the Una Europa Conference on Academic Freedom. Organised by the AFITE project team and supported by Una Europa Seed Funding 2024, the three-day programme examined current pressures on academic freedom…

Vasiliki Kosta delivered a spoken column on “The ‘freedom of the sciences’ in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights” during the Annual Congress of the Dutch Lawyers Association (Nederlandse Juristen-Vereniging).

On Tuesday 11 January 2022, the new year at the faculty was ushered in with an online event. Dean Joanne van der Leun toasted the new year and of course the annual Meijers prizes and thesis awarded were presented.

From malaria parasites as a vaccine to how top-level bureaucrats reach their decisions: seven researchers from Leiden University have received a Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This 800,000-euro grant will enable them to develop their own innovative line of research over the next five…

On 11 October, the roundtable entitled ‘Academic Freedom – Theoretical Perspectives’ took place at Leiden University's Academy Building. This event was organised as part of the Vidi research project entitled 'The EU fundamental right to 'freedom of the art and sciences': exploring the limits on the…

Olga Ceran was one of the speakers at the SCEUS Young Scholars Workshop on EU studies on 14 and 15 March 2024 in Salzburg (Austria).

On 26 October 2023, Olga Ceran spoke at the inaugural conference of the newly founded ICON-S Benelux Chapter, hosted by Maastricht University, Faculty of Law. The overarching theme of the conference was Crises, Challenges, and the Future of Public Law. Olga joined the panel on Power, knowledge, and…

Dr Olga Ceran has been selected as one of the re:constitution fellows of 2023/24. This distinguished group comprises 15 early-career scholars and practitioners, all set to work on diverse research projects on the rule of law and democracy in Europe. The fellowship will allow her to work on her project…

Dr Olga Ceran has been selected as a 2025/26 Mellon/SAR Academic Freedom Fellow. As one of 11 fellows in this year’s cohort, she will work on a project titled ‘The Linguistic Dimension of Academic Freedom: A Human Rights Analysis of Higher
Education in Europe’.

Vasiliki Kosta spoke at the international conference on ‘La liberté academique dans la démocratie universitaire’, taking place at Nantes University on 17 – 18 November 2025.

Vasiliki Kosta has been appointed member of the board of the Young Academy (De Jonge Akademie) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

On 24 June, Olga Ceran and Vasiliki Kosta, together with Peter Maassen from the University of Oslo, presented the Academic Freedom Monitor 2024 to the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT).

Dr Kosta spoke at the conference entitled 'Academic freedom in action: a step forward in safeguarding democracy', which took place Strasbourg on 13 and 14 November. The conference brought together experts, lecturers and policymakers to underline the democratic mission of higher education and the importance…

On 22 May, Olga Ceran and Vicky Kosta gave a lecture for the Eurodoc Ambassador Programme for Values and Democracy in European Research and Higher Education (ValDem). The lecture focused on discussing the protection of academic freedom in the EU from a legal perspective, including the recent proposals…

On Tuesday 11 January 2022, the Meijers Lecture and the New Year's reception took place at 16.00 hrs.

Vasiliki Kosta presented her research on ‘The EU fundamental right to freedom of the arts and sciences: exploring the limits on the commercialisation of academia' at the Maastricht Centre for European Law on 28 February 2023. The seminar was convened by Dr Annalisa Volpato, and Dr Vigjilenza Abazi acted…

Vasiliki Kosta acted as one of two expert mentors for the working group on academic freedom in the ‘Our Rule of Law Academy’.

Dr. Kosta presented at the Global Forum on Democratizing Work.

Vasiliki Kosta held a fellowship at the Leuven Institute of Advanced Studies in autumn 2025, by invitation of the rector of the University of Leuven, on the occasion of the 600 years anniversary of KU Leuven

The newly established Luxembourg Centre for European Law held its inaugural conference on 10-11 October 2025, exploring the theme of 'European Union law and values in a changing world'.

Vasiliki Kosta gave a presentation during the session ‘Building Academic Freedom’ taking place at Leiden University on 25 November 2025.

On 5 February, Dr Kosta and Dr Ceran spoke at the high-level conference entitled ‘Perspectives on academic freedom in Europe and beyond’, organised in Brussels by the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA).

Vasiliki Kosta has been appointed as a member of the Committee of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) tasked with writing an advisory report on legal safeguards for academic freedom.

On 23 May 2025, Olga Ceran spoke at the ICON-S Benelux Chapter conference dedicated to ‘Public Law in an Age of Contestation and Systemic Change’. This conference was organised by the Université libre de Bruxelles, in collaboration with the Centre de droit européen and the Centre de droit public et…

Vasiliki Kosta acted as a speaker during the Dutch-German Science Days held on 26 and 27 November 2025, on the overarching theme ‘Academia in times of global crises: How to deal with the effects on our systems? What can we learn from each other and what can we do together?’.

Vasiliki Kosta spoke at the Magna Charta Universitatum Observatory webinar on ‘The roots of academic freedom – underlying values and human rights perspectives’ on 16 February 2023.

On 26 June, Dr Vicky Kosta and Dr Olga Ceran visited the University of Bologna, Italy, to present the Vidi research project ‘The EU fundamental right to

As of September 2023, Leiden University is a new host of the Research Network on Academic Freedom.

On 9 June 2023, the workshop on ‘Academic Freedom and its Philosophical Underpinnings in EU law’ took place at the Academy Building, Leiden. It was organized in the framework of the Vidi research project The EU fundamental right to ‘freedom of the art and sciences': exploring the limits on the commercialisation…

Olga Ceran was a speaker at the European Constitutional Law Review (EuConst) Symposium for Young Scholars that took place in Maastricht on 18 June 2024.

The Vidi grant is for experienced researchers who have already spent several years doing postdoctoral research.

Leiden researchers Max van Duijn (Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science) and Vasilika Kosta (Leiden Law School, Europa Institute) will join The Young Academy (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) KNAW)).