Evelien Campfens is lecturer of cultural heritage law and, at UvA, developed and teaches courses on restitution of looted artefacts and on the legal and ethical frameworks for the protection, trade and possession of cultural objects.

Evelien's field of expertise is the emerging field of (international) cultural heritage law, at the intersection of (public and private) law, heritage studies and archaeology. She published widely on contested heritage and restitution, and consults museums and organisations such as the European Parliament - for which, in 2023, she authored studies on Cross-border claims to looted art and on Protection of cultural heritage from armed conflicts in Ukraine and beyond. Her current research focusses on changing notions of ownership of cultural objects.

Prior to joining the University of Amsterdam (2024) she held research positions at Leiden University's Museums, Collections and Society research group (2020-2024) and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies. In November 2021 she defended her dissertation "Cross-border claims to looted art. Property or Heritage?", comparing and analyzing various categories of looted art. Before switching to academia, Evelien was general secretary to the Dutch Restitutions Committee for Nazi-looted art (2002-2016). 

Since 2019 she is an elected member, on behalf of the Netherlands, of the Cultural Heritage Committee of the International Law Association and sits on the Ethical Committee of the Dutch Museums Association.