Junior Fellows

These are pre-doctoral Fellows whose proposed research closely aligns with one of the current projects at LCHL, in order to ensure adequate scientific supervision for the Fellow. Examples of Junior Fellows may be:

• Master’s graduates developing a research (i.e. PhD) proposal
• Master’s or doctoral students conducting their own research activities

Senior Fellows

These are post-doctoral (Visiting) Fellows who may be (for example):

• Post-doctoral researchers conducting their own research activities or developing a research/grant proposal
• (Visiting) professors (i.e. a faculty member from another institution)

Senior Fellows operating with more autonomy may propose research that is distally aligned with LCHL’s research lines, in order to promote their expansion and deepening.

The Directors of the Law Centre for Health and Life will evaluate each (Visiting) Fellowship application using these five selection criteria.

1. Clear bioethical and/or fundamental (human) rights lens. 

The Law Centre for Health and Life’s foundation is rooted in a bioethical and fundamental (human) rights perspective.

Candidates’ current or proposed research should also advance knowledge through the lenses of bioethics and/or fundamental (human) rights.

2. Advancement of LCHL’s research lines.

The Law Centre for Health and Life is founded on curiosity-driven research along four lines (see here).

Candidates’ proposed research should tangibly contribute to at least one of LCHL’s four research lines, with Junior (Visiting) Fellows aligning their research closely with one of the current projects at LCHL.

3. Free of financial conflicts of interest.

The Law Centre for Health and Life safeguards its credibility, legitimacy, and academic freedom as a research centre of excellence by remaining independent of economic actors in the field of health. Examples of economic actors include but are not limited to the food, pharmaceutical, medical device, and/or medical technology industries. Economic actors are also considered to be philanthropic entities that are established and/or significantly financed through equity in companies selling health-related products. There may be a conflict of interest when a candidate’s other appointments or activities are financed by economic actors, or have been financed by those actors in the last three years.

Priority will be given to candidates without financial conflicts of interest. Candidates who can show that a potential financial conflict is unrelated to the activities the candidate will pursue at LCHL may also be considered. The Law Centre for Health and Life will not pursue a Fellowship with candidates who have financial conflicts of interest related to their primary area of expertise that they wish to contribute to the Law Centre for Health and Life.

4. Inclusion of underrepresented researchers.

The Law Centre for Health and Life strives to foster an inclusive academic environment that reflects the diversity of the societies we are living in.

Priority will be given to candidates who come from backgrounds and communities that are underrepresented in academia in Europe.

5. Diversity of methodological approaches.

The Law Centre for Health and Life seeks to generate new knowledge by using multi- and interdisciplinary research approaches. LCHL strives to promote a diverse disciplinary research environment and to draw from the skill sets from a range of fields. Those fields may be from within law (ex. public, economic, human rights, criminal…) or they may be external to law, such as (bio)medicine, environmental sciences, public health and epidemiology, governance andpolitical science, anthropology, sociology, and/or economics, to name a few.

Priority will be given to candidates who apply methodological approaches that diversify and enrich the existing research practices at the Law Centre for Health and Life.

Visiting Fellowships are for a period of at least one month. Fellows should be based in Amsterdam for the duration of the appointment and plan to work from the office for at least two days a week.

During their residence at our Amsterdam office, Fellows will have access to a common working space at the Law Centre for Health and Life, and the facilities of the University of Amsterdam (e.g. libraries, seminars and events, social activities etc.). Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in the scholarly networks that the Law Centre participates in (e.g. ACELG, AIGHD, ACES, AI & health decision making, ...). If desired and on their initiative, Visiting Fellows may present their ongoing work at a research seminar.

At a minimum, Fellows are expected to:

• Informally speak about their research at one LCHL lunch during their fellowship;
• Affiliate themselves with LCHL on their social media profiles (i.e. LinkedIn and Twitter);
• Produce one ‘output’ on which their affiliation with LCHL is acknowledged.

Possible outputs include but are not limited to a journal manuscript, book chapter, report, working paper, grant proposal, blog, commentary/editorial, or other publication, or in a conference/public presentation, interview, or speaking engagement on a public platform. Fellows should provide the Law Centre for Health and Life with a copy of and link to the output.

To apply for a Fellowship position at the Law Centre for Health and Life, please email at lchl@uva.nl to dr. Anniek de Ruijter (a.deruijter@uva.nl) and dr. Katrina Perehudoff (s.k.perehudoff@uva.nl) the following:

• CV including publication list
• Motivation letter explaining in no more than 1-2 pages:
  • what your proposed research project is during your Visiting Fellowship
  • why an appointment at LCHL would be beneficial for you
  • how you could contribute to the academic environment at LCHL.

We strive to handle applications within one month of receipt.