mr. dr. L.M. (Michelle) Bruijn

Dr. Michelle Bruijn is an Associate Professor at the Department of Legal Methods at the Faculty of Law, University of Groningen. Her main fields of research are public order, safety, and health, with a particular focus on the regulation of cannabis and tobacco, the fight against drug-related (organized) crime, drug-related evictions, and the protection of the right to housing. She is fascinated by the interaction between different areas of law (e.g., private, criminal, and administrative law). She combines traditional doctrinal legal research with (quantitative) empirical methods and data science techniques to study these interactions.

Bruijn received her PhD in 2021 with distinction (cum laude) and has since worked in the ERC-funded (interdisciplinary) research group EVICT. Here, she studies the meaning and impact of the international right to housing. Furthermore, she analyses the reciprocal relationship between government initiatives promoting safe and healthy living and the concurrent protection of individuals' rights to housing and property.

Bruijn's research is strongly focused on bridging the gap between academic knowledge and societal issues. To influence policy and practice in the area of safe and healthy living, she works closely with NGOs, such as the 'Centrum voor Criminaliteitspreventie en Veiligheid' (CCV), municipalities, Public Health Departments (GGD), and health and research institutions such as the Trimbos Institute. Together with the CCV, she created a platform for mayors and legal practitioners to aid them in tackling drug-related crime while upholding human rights. She developed a monthly updated interactive case law database and an interactive document to guide mayoral decision-making. She received the Ben Feringa Impact Award for the societal impact of her research (2022).

In 2023, Bruijn was appointed as a member of the Young Academy Groningen (YAG), "a group of talented, enthusiastic, and ambitious early career researchers from various disciplines at the University of Groningen (UG) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)". She is also network coordinator of the Scientific Network on Evictions and Housing Research (SNEHR),  a board member of the Dutch Lawyers Association (Nederlandse Juristen Vereniging), and a board member of the Department of Legal Methods and Legal History at the Faculty of Law.

Beyond her scholarly pursuits, Bruijn is actively involved in education and is the founder and chair of the Groningen Centre for Legal Skills. This is a knowledge and expertise centre in the field of skills education. The centre caters for both students and teachers through, among other things, student workshops, an online database with knowledge clips, and teach-the-teacher meetings for teachers.