K. (Katja) Zimmermann

Dr. Katja Zimmermann is an assistant professor in private law. 

Her research focuses on the prevention and combat of power abuse from a private law angle.

During her Niels Stensen Fellowship, she developed an ethical framework for property rights in outer space to prevent extraterrestrial power abuse. This project built on her previous interdisciplinary research on sustainable property law, which, inspired by Catholic social teaching, aims to re-think property rights to foster human dignity, solidarity, and the common good.

Moreover, she researches the prevention and combat of power abuse in the Catholic Church. Herein, she is particulary interested in spiritual abuse and the abuse of adults.

To facilitate her interdisciplinary research on power abuse, she completed:

• a Bachelor's degree in (Catholic) theology at Tilburg University in August 2022 (cum laude)
• a Master's degree in 'Society, Law and Religion' at KU Leuven (Faculty of Canon Law) in September 2024 (summa cum laude)
• the postgraduate program 'advisor in canon penal law and canon penal process law' at KU Leuven (Faculty of Canon Law) in September 2024.

She now continues her studies at the University of Münster (Germany), where she is enrolled in the Magister Theologiae and the Licentiate of Canon Law.

In addition, she holds an LL.B. (European Law School – Regular Track) and two LL.M. degrees (European Law School –Ius Commune Track; Dutch Law – Private Law Specialization) from Maastricht University. During her studies, she participated in the MaRBLe for excellence program and the Masters Honors Research Track. She held two student assistantships and took part in four different (international) moot court competitions. In 2012, her team won the Draft Common Frame of Reference International Arbitration Moot.

Her Ph.D thesis on European cross-border real estate transactions was defended on 2 June 2021. The thesis was co-supervised by Prof. Dr. Sjef van Erp (Maastricht University) and Prof. Dr. Reiner Schulze (Universität Münster). In addition to her Ph.D research, she worked as a legal researcher and advisor for the Netherlands’ Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, where she built up additional expertise in the European Succession Regulation.