Author: Miranda Schaut

How is European tech regulation viewed around the world, and what ethical dilemmas emerge from technological innovation? At our student symposium, we invite law students and recent graduates to look beyond (tech) legislation alone. The programme features a keynote on the origins and future of Europe’s tech regulation agenda, followed by an interactive workshop on technology ethics.

Afterwards, the stage will be set for the three finalists of the Brinkhof Internet Thesis Award 2025. They will present their theses, after which the jury will announce this year’s winner. We will wrap the afternoon with drinks — a great opportunity to meet our colleagues in an informal setting.

Would you like to join us? Register here. The symposium is open to all bachelor’s and master’s students who are currently studying at, or have graduated from, a Dutch law faculty. The symposium will be held in English.

Date: 15 October 2025 | Time: 13:30 – 17:00 | Location: Brinkhof, Amsterdam

Programme
13:00 – Arrival
13:30 – Opening
13:35 – Keynote by Remy Chavannes and Arlette Meiring on the origins and future of EU tech regulation
14:30 – Interactive workshop by Ben Zevenbergen on technology ethics
15:30 – Break
15:45 – Presentations by the three finalists of the Internet Thesis Award*
16:30 – Jury report and award ceremony
17:00 – Drinks

*Finalists will be announced soon

On Wednesday 11 October (13:30 – 17:30), the annual Internet Thesis Award Ceremony will take place at Brinkhof’s offices in Amsterdam. In addition to the finalists’ thesis presentations, this year’s event will include a symposium on (generative) artificial intelligence—a subject of growing importance in the legal sphere (e.g. the upcoming AI Act). The symposium will include the following exciting elements:

• A keynote presentation by prof. Bernt Hugenholtz
• Manel Slokom (CWI – Research institute for mathematics & computer science / AI, Media & Democracy Lab) will provide insights on her research on responsible recommender systems
• Three finalists will present their theses
• Panel discussion with Stefan Kulk (Senior Advisor on Algorithms and AI at the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens), Ben Zevenbergen (Responsible Innovation Ethics & Policy Advisor at Google) and Dorien Verhulst (Brinkhof)
• Finally, the jury (Joris van Hoboken (IViR), Suzanne Teijgeler (Warner Bros. Discovery) and Anke Strijbos (Brinkhof)) will declare the winner of this year’s Internet Thesis Award.

If you are interested in attending the event, please register here. The event is open to all legal and AI enthusiasts, including (but not limited to) students, lawyers, academics, and other professionals. For lawyers, attending the symposium can earn you 2 PO points.

On Wednesday 11 October, the annual Internet Thesis Award Ceremony will take place at Brinkhof’s offices in Amsterdam. In addition to the finalists’ thesis presentations, this year’s event will include a dedicated symposium on (generative) artificial intelligence—a subject of growing importance in the legal sphere (think, for example, of the upcoming AI Act). During the symposium, a keynote speaker and panelists will express their views on this topic from different areas of expertise.

If you are interested in attending the event, please register here. The event is open to all legal and AI enthusiasts, including students, lawyers, academics, and other professionals.

For lawyers, attending the symposium can earn you 2 PO points.

Date: October 11, 2023  Time: 13:30 – 17:00  Location:  Brinkhof Offices, Amsterdam

Symposium program outline:

13:30 – Opening

13:35 – Keynote

14:15 – Interactive workshop

15:00 – Break

15:30 – Presentations by three finalists for the Thesis Award

16:00 – Panel Discussion

17:00 – Jury report, award ceremony, and networking reception

Next year, Brinkhof will again award the Internet Thesis Award for the best legal master’s thesis on the intersection of the internet and law. The prize is intended for master’s students who graduated from a Dutch law school in the year 2022 or 2023.

The €2,000 prize is intended to encourage students to specialise in important current themes, such as the regulation of all kinds of internet platforms (think, for example, of the Digital Services Act), privacy as an instrument of control in the information society, questions concerning artificial intelligence and all other legal questions that interface with internet technology.
Theses can be submitted (to: scriptieprijs@brinkhof.com) by the student or thesis supervisor until 1 June 2023, indicating the following details:
– Student’s name
– Correspondence address
– Name of university, thesis discipline and date of graduation
– A mark sheet or grade list showing the thesis grade
– The master’s thesis as a searchable PDF file
– Optional: a letter of recommendation from the thesis supervisor

The award ceremony will take place in autumn 2023 at a legal symposium in Amsterdam (to be announced later). During the ceremony, three finalists will be invited to briefly present their thesis, after which the jury will determine the winner and award the prize. In the assessment, in addition to the personal presentation, the originality and social relevance of the topic will weigh in, together with the overall quality and depth of the thesis.

For questions, please contact us by sending an e-mail to: scriptieprijs@brinkhof.com