Postdoc Position: Legal Aspects of Online Tracking and Privacy-Enhancing Technologies

Radboud University; Netherlands; On-site; EUR 42,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

8% holiday allowance

8.3% end-of-year bonus

Extra days off: 30 or 41 days annual/2

Job summary

Radboud University invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher in law, joining the interdisciplinary REAL-PETS project. The candidate will operate at the intersection of legal scholarship and computer science to address privacy challenges and contribute to privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs).

The role emphasises GDPR expertise, collaboration with technical teams, and the ability to present complex concepts clearly in English.

Qualifications

• PhD in law and technology or related field, to be completed soon.
• Strong interest in data protection law and privacy.
• Experience with GDPR and ideally DSA, DMA, ePrivacy Directive.

Responsibilities

• Analyse the legal landscape regarding privacy and online tracking.
• Apply GDPR and related regulation to tracking techniques.
• Analyse legal requirements for PETs developed in the project.
• Collaborate with computer scientists on detection of tracking techniques and PETs.
• Engage in interdisciplinary work with researchers from other disciplines.

Skills

English proficiency

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

PhD in law and technology or related field

Job description

Organisation/Company Radboud University Research Field Juridical sciences » Informatic law Juridical sciences » European law Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Application Deadline 8 Nov 2026 - 22:59 (UTC) Country Netherlands Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Not Applicable Hours Per Week 38.0 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Are you a lawyer with a strong interest in privacy, data protection and emerging technologies? Join the REAL-PETS project, a European research collaboration bringing together researchers from nine partner institutions. As a postdoctoral researcher, you will work at the intersection of law and computer science to address privacy challenges and contribute to the development of innovative privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs).

REAL-PETS will generate long-lasting technological, societal and industrial impact: strengthening EU's technological sovereignty, enabling regulators to enforce privacy rules through empirical evidence, technology standardisation, fostering privacy-resilient products and services, and empowering citizens with usable, transparent and trustworthy privacy protections.

As a postdoctoral researcher in law in the interdisciplinary REAL-PETS project, your main tasks within this larger project objective are the following.

• Analysing the legal landscape regarding privacy and online tracking.
• Applying the GDPR and related regulation to newly discovered tracking techniques.
• Analysing legal requirements for the privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) developed in this project.
• Cooperating with computer scientists who detect known and new tracking techniques and develop privacy-enhancing technologies.
• You hold a PhD degree in law and technology, data protection law, or a related legal field in Europe, or will obtain such a degree within a few months from now.
• You have a strong interest in data protection law and privacy.
• You have expertise on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ideally also on other EU regulations relevant for privacy and personal data, such as the Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA) and ePrivacy Directive.
• You are interested in – and ideally have experience in – interdisciplinary work with computer scientists or researchers from other disciplines.
• You are proficient in English (Dutch is not required) and have good communication, presentation and writing skills.

If you do not meet all the above-mentioned requirements, please feel free to reach out to ask whether you should apply anyway.

Additional Information

• We will give you a temporary employment contract of 2 year(s).
• Your salary within salary scale 10 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. The amounts in the scale are based on a 38-hour working week.
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Additional employment conditions

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions . You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

Additional comments

The first interviews will take place on Wednesday 18 November. Any second interview will take place on Tuesday 1 December. You will preferably start your employment on 1 March 2027.

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