Dr. Niels Kirst

Dr. Niels Kirst, LL.M. is an Assistant Professor in European Law at Dublin City University and Deputy Director of the DCU Brexit Institute. His expertise focuses on European law, the rule of law, EU-US comparative law, law & technology, trade law, geopolitics & foreign affairs.

Dr. Kirst completed his PhD in 2023, during which he conducted a groundbreaking comparative study of rule of law backsliding in federal legal systems of the European Union and the United States. In 2026, his monograph Dealing with Rule of Law Crisis in the European Union was published in Hart’s Modern Studies in European law series.

He has published in several prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as the Nordic Journal of European Law, Trinity College Law Review, Fordham International Law Review, European Papers, Irish Journal of European Law, and the Review of European Litigation. Moreover, he teaches undergraduate and master-level courses in EU law, EU Institutional law, Legal Research Methods and the Law and Politics of Brexit.

He previously worked in the German Parliament, researched at the European Court of Justice, and counselled at a leading technology company. In 2021, he won a YERUN Visiting Fellowship at Essex Law School. In 2022, he was awarded a KAS Visiting Fellowship at Cardozo Law School in NYC.

Beyond academia, Dr. Kirst is committed to public engagement, and policy impact. He has commented on European law and politics in numerous newspapers and podcasts such as RTÉ Brainstorm, the European Correspondent, and Legal Tribune Online (LTO).

In addition to his research and teaching, Dr. Kirst actively contributes to the academic community. He is Co-Head of the Young German Council on Foreign Relations EU Working Group, Fellow of the German-Italian Spinelli Forum, Join Politics Fellow, member of Societas Iuris Publici Europaei (SIPE), and a regular contributor and analyst for EU Law Live.