Student Research Assistant

Job description
How do individuals and civil society organisations take platforms and data-driven companies to court? And what can litigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) learn from collective data protection actions under the GDPR? We are looking for a student assistant to help us investigate.
Join us!
How do individuals and civil society organisations take platforms and data-driven companies to court? And what can litigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) learn from collective data protection actions under the GDPR? We are looking for a student assistant to help us investigate.
This project, funded through UvA DDT seed funding, connects two ongoing research projects at the Amsterdam Law School. The first maps the
private enforcement of the DSA
before national courts, including a DSA case tracker published through the DSA Observatory. The second,
APPLIED
, examines the collective private enforcement of the GDPR through a systematic analysis of case law across Europe. Together, we compare why and how (collective) private enforcement is pursued in both fields: who brings claims, on what legal basis, and with what remedies and results. The project is a collaboration between the Department of Private Law (Amsterdam Centre for Transformative Private Law, ACT) and the Institute for Information Law (IViR).
What you will do
Identify, log and code new DSA private enforcement cases for the DSA case tracker (to be launched shortly), keeping it up to date as a public resource
Write and review case summaries for the tracker, based on judgments, filings and other primary sources
Update the APPLIED case law analysis of collective GDPR actions with recent developments, including new national case law, representative actions and CJEU judgments
Support the comparison between the two fields, which feeds into a co-authored academic article and a DSA Observatory blog post
Help maintain a shared literature library and assist with organising an online expert workshop with litigators and academics
Your profile
You are a Master's student in Law, for instance in Information Law or Private Law; students from other programmes with a solid legal background are also welcome to apply
You have a strong interest in platform regulation, data protection, collective redress and access to justice
You work precisely and systematically, write clearly and concisely, and are comfortable with spreadsheets or databases
You have excellent English and can read legal texts in at least one other EU language; German, Dutch or French are especially valuable
You are available for the full contract period and can work flexibly in consultation with the team
What we offer
Hands-on experience in comparative and empirical legal research at the intersection of private law and information law
A place in a small, collaborative team spanning ACT, IViR and the DSA Observatory, with room for your own initiative
Co-authorship of a DSA Observatory blog post presenting the project's findings
A temporary contract of 10 hours per week from 1 November 2026 to 30 June 2027. Your salary is € 3.230,00 to € 3.288,00 gross per month on a full-time basis (38 hours per week; salary scale SA, depending on your year of study), plus 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end bonus. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities applies.
You will work in this team
The
University of Amsterdam
is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 39,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.
With over 5,000 students and more than 500 staff members, the
Amsterdam Law School
is one of the larger law faculties in the Netherlands. We educate lawyers who know how to apply the law effectively with the aim of making a real contribution to solving social problems. The Amsterdam Law School stands for progressive and trail-blazing education and research, for stronger legal institutions, solutions to social problems and a better and juster society.
Please apply through the red button, uploading your CV, a short motivation letter (max. one page) and a recent grade list. The deadline for applications is 13 November 2026. Interviews will take place in the week of 16 November 2026.
For questions about the position, please contact Dr Anna van Duin (Department of Private Law) at
j.m.l.vanduin@uva.nl
.