On 22-24 October 2025, Leiden University welcomed scholars, policymakers and higher education leaders for the Una Europa Conference on Academic Freedom.
Organised by the AFITE project team and supported by Una Europa Seed Funding 2024, the three-day programme examined current pressures on academic freedom and explored ways forward through research, teaching and stakeholder engagement.
Keynote Speech
The conference opened in the Academy Building with a keynote by higher education scholar Peter Maassen (University of Oslo) on the erosion of academic freedom in Europe. Drawing on recent comparative work, he highlighted overlapping pressures - from government and the private sector to institutional governance and wider society - and pointed to practical remedies: stronger legal and institutional safeguards, systematic monitoring and better coordination at the supranational level.
Research & Teaching
Sessions that followed over the next two days explored both de facto and de jure protection of academic freedom as well as different approaches to teaching academic freedom across disciplines. Participants included Janika Spannagel (Freie Universität Berlin), Peter Maassen (University of Oslo), Koen Lemmens (KU Leuven), Maria Kronfeldner (Central European University), Vicky Kosta and Olga Ceran (Leiden University), Bruno de Witte (Maastricht University), Corrado Caruso, Alberto Arcuri and Chiara Valentini (University of Bologna), Katarzyna Eliasz and Maciej Próchnicki (Jagiellonian University), Katja Brøgger (Aarhus University), and Ester Gallo (Trento University).
Engaging Stakeholders
The final day featured an open panel with voices from government, the national academy and the academic community: Janneke Gerards (Council of State & Utrecht University), Koen Lemmens (KU Leuven), André Nollkaemper (University of Amsterdam & Chair of the KNAW Committee on the Freedom of Scientific Pursuit), and Mandy Molenaars (Director of Legislation and Legal Affairs, Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science). In a wide-ranging exchange with the audience, panellists discussed EU- and national-level legal developments, the relationship between institutional neutrality and academic freedom, as well as researchers' ethical responsibilities and the "grey zones" of day-to-day academic work and public engagement. The discussion was moderated by Tarlach McGonagle (Leiden University & University of Amsterdam).
About the UnAF Seed Funding Project
