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Law and Tech Lab

Research Institute

At the Maastricht Law and Tech Lab, we believe that we can create a better society by combining expertise in law and computer science to study digital transformation. Our interdisciplinary lab fosters a community of researchers who work collaboratively to integrate law and computer science methods.

Explore the Maastricht Law and Tech Lab

Watch the video to learn more about our Lab, the people involved, our research and education.

Our researchers

The Maastricht Law and Tech Lab brings together a vibrant multi- and inter-disciplinary community from the Maastricht University Law Faculty and beyond.

The Lab houses a dynamic and diverse group of researchers, who bring legal and computer science expertise from public and private sectors and various jurisdictions.

Find out more about our research team here.

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Lab Director: Gijs van Dijck

Sectorplan Digital Legal Studies

Within the Sectorplan Digital Legal Studies, the Law and Tech Lab will create a sustainable digital-legal research infrastructure. The research project focuses on:

  • Creating a database (e.g. graph database) that stores and links metadata, initially focusing on publically available judicial and legislative datasets, that is suitable for
  • Testing and developing analytical tools (AI), to
  • Answer selected (empirical) legal research questions.

To achieve high-quality research infrastructures, collaboration is essential. Maastricht University therefore aims to be the initiator of creating a national and international platform that brings together and coordinates the activities for building digital-legal research infrastructures. On a national level, Maastricht University cooperates with Radboud University, Tilburg University and the University of Amsterdam in the Sectorplan Digital Legal Studies.

What is the sector plan?

Through the sector plan in Social Sciences and Humanities, the Dutch government is investing in the expansion of research capacity and the ability to attract and retain new research talent. The sector plans contribute to overarching aims, such as strategic cooperation between universities in the areas of research, education and social objectives. A sector plan grant provides additional funding for a six-year period from 2019-2025.

News from the Lab

Reducing the Digital Divide: Empowering Students to Train, Evaluate, and Use AI Text Models

The Maastricht Law and Tech Lab, together with the Brightlands Institute for Smart Society (BISS), obtained a € 100.000 a Comenius Senior Teaching Fellow grant.
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CoCoDa project receives funding from Swiss National Science Foundation

Konrad Kollnig and Gijs van Dijck , together with partners at the University of St. Gallen, the University of Lausanne, and the Open Data Institute, were awarded a €1.2M project by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) for their research project CoCoDa.
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Virtual companions, real responsibility: call for clear regulations on AI tools used for mental health interactions

Mindy Nunez Duffourc (Assistant Professor of Private Law and member of the Law and Tech Lab) co-authored an article outlining the urgent need for clear regulations for AI characters.
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NWO fund for ‘Am AI Right?’

‘Am AI Right?’, a research project created by an interdisciplinary team of researchers of the Law and Tech Lab and the Brightlands Institute for Smart Society ( BISS ), aims to revolutionize access to legal expertise.
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