Dr J.M. Schell - Leugers
Dr. Schell-Leugers is an AssociateProfessor of Legal Psychology who has been teaching at the Liberal Arts and Sciences Honours College of Maastricht University for over 12 years. Her research focuses on false confessions and their impact on wrongful convictions. She is particularly interested in examining risk factors for innocent suspects in police custody and the gap between science and practice in the field of Legal Psychology.
Together with two colleagues from Leiden University and Marburg University, she co-founded the website Psychologie im Recht (https://psychologieimrecht.de/english/) to promote interdisciplinary communication between psychology and law in an effort to increase the use of legal psychology research findings in the criminal justice system. Furthermore, they also started the European Registry of Exonerations (EUREX) which will be launched in 2023.
She coordinates and teaches topics in Legal Psychology and a project on Wrongful Convictions. At the Centre for European Studies, she coordinates and teaches a course in Forensic Psychology. Furthermore, she supervises undergraduate research projects, Bachelor and Master Theses in the field of Legal Psychology.
Furthermore, she is invested in working toward a healthy work-life balance for academics. She is a member of the University Council and the Taskforce for Sustainable Employability. Since 2020, she has been the Chair of the Research and Education Committee of the University Council.
In January 2022, she became a member of the Maastricht Young Academy (MYA).
False Confessions and Wrongful Convictions
2023 - present: Associate Professor at University College Maastricht
2017 - 2022: Assistant Professor at University College Maastricht
2014 - 2017: Lecturer and Researcher at University College Maastricht
2009 - 2014: PhD in Legal Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Maastricht University
2007-2008: MSc in Psychology and Law, Faculty of Psychology, Maastricht University
2004-2007: BA in Social Sciences at University College Maastricht

Dr J.M. Schell - Leugers
Associate Professor of Legal Psychology