The LEGIS research project, led by Associate Professor and co-Director of the Erasmus Center of Law and Digitalization Alberto Quintavalla of Erasmus School of Law, has been awarded funding under the call ‘Thematic Digital Competence Centres 2025’ (TDCC 2025) by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The project is one of twelve initiatives sharing more than €3 million aimed at strengthening the digitalisation ambitions of Dutch research institutions.
LEGIS – short for Legal Ecosystem for Governance, Intermediaries and Standards in SSH Research Data – is a consortium addressing the growing legal challenges researchers face when working with personal data, artificial intelligence, and copyright-protected materials. Led by the Erasmus Centre for Law and Digitalization at Erasmus School of Law, the project brings together experts from Delft University of Technology, Tilburg University, and SURF.Top of FormBottom of Form
In practice, researchers often face complex European regulations that can complicate their work. Questions frequently arise about data reuse and sharing in research, such as: can data from one project be repurposed to train AI models for another? Under what conditions is it permissible to share research data? LEGIS aims to offer researchers practical guidance in addressing these issues.
Alberto Quintavalla explains: ‘The project is developing, among other things, a legal roadmap that translates complex legislation into practical guidance for researchers. In addition, an open-access knowledge base featuring decision trees and real-world examples will be created, alongside a national network of experts to ensure legal advice remains up to date. LEGIS supports researchers, universities, and digital research infrastructures in complying with regulations such as the GDPR, copyright law, and AI legislation in a responsible manner.’.
The TDCCs were established in 2022 with funding from NWO and operate as network organisations providing digital expertise and support across three domains: Life Sciences & Health (LSH), Natural & Engineering Sciences (NES), and Social Sciences & Humanities (SSH). LEGIS is part of the TDCC-SSH programme.
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For more information, please contact Ronald de Groot, Communications Adviser at Erasmus School of Law: rdegroot@ese.eur.nl, mobile: +31 6 53 641 846.
