Rebecca Zeilstra

Rebecca Zeilstra is a PhD student and teacher at Utrecht University's law school. From 15 September to 15 December 2025, she will be a recognised student at the Uehiro Oxford Institute at the University of Oxford. She holds an RMA in Philosophy and an MA in Law, graduating with honours in both subjects. Her interdisciplinary PhD project focuses on how we should evaluate the permissibility of nudging, which is a non-coercive tool that influences behaviour through psychological prompts. Her project addresses the key questions of whether and how nudges interfere with autonomous thought processes; and how legal actors, such as courts, should assess the permissibility of how nudges affect autonomy. This is important because the value of autonomy is fundamental to the rule of law and human rights.

Rebecca is affiliated with the Montaigne Centre for Rule of Law and Administration of Justice. She organises national and international interdisciplinary workshops on the evaluation of psychological tools, such as neurotechnology and nudging, for scholars of philosophy, law, psychology, and neuroscience. She also teaches undergraduate courses in philosophy of law and constitutional law. In autumn 2024, she spent 10 weeks working as a visiting scholar at University College London.