The Department of Child Law and Health Law considers high quality PhD proposals in the fields of child law, international children’s rights, health law and related areas, subject to available supervision capacity. PhD opportunities within Leiden Law School are highly competitive and only a limited number of candidates can be accepted.

Internal PhD candidates 

Occasionally, we offer openings for internal Ph.D. candidates funded directly by the Department of Child Law and Health Law of Leiden Law School or through national and EU-funded research projects. These positions are linked to specific research initiatives and provide an excellent opportunity to collaborate within our team on key topics in international children’s rights, Dutch child law, health law, and related areas. When available, such opportunities are posted on this website. 

External PhD candidates 

We also welcome applications from external candidates who have secured their own funding or scholarships, or who wish to pursue a Ph.D. alongside professional work in government, NGOs, private practice or international organizations. External candidates may propose their own research topics, provided these are aligned with the Department’s areas of expertise and will benefit from academic supervision and resources offered by our faculty.  
Interested applicants are encouraged to review Leiden Law School’s Ph.D. regulations for application guidelines and program requirements. Please visit the law school's website for details. 

Note: Direct messages to staff members will not be answered; all applications are handled via the Graduate School of Leiden Law School. Only full proposals that meet the application guidelines and program requirements will be considered. For inquiries about a Ph.D. at the Department of Child Law and Health Law you are welcome to send an e-mail to: phdchild-healthlaw@law.leidenuniv.nl  

Visiting scholars 

The Department of Child Law and Health Law also welcomes visiting scholars, including Ph.D. students enrolled at another university, for non-paid research stays of up to three months.* If you are interested in applying, please visit this webpage and follow the outlined process. Due to the high volume of applications, we cannot guarantee acceptance.  

* In exceptional cases, a longer research stay could be considered.