(born 4 August 1962) studied law at the University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven) and became Licentiate of Law in 1985.

In 1993 she obtained her doctors degree at the same University (K.U.Leuven). Her doctoral thesis dealt with termination of Contracts in Belgium, The Netherlands and France. This bestseller was granted in 1994 with the F. Collin Award, one of the most famous awards for research in law. In 1993 she was appointed professor at the University of Brussels (K.U.B.) and in 1994 at the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven). Both at the K.U.Leuven and at the K.U.Brussel she teaches the Law of Obligations (including Contract and Tort Law). She is also one of the responsible promotors of the Master of Cooperation Law organized by K.U.Brussel and K.U.Leuven. At the K.U.Leuven she also teaches French texts in a comparative perspective. She was visiting professor at the Université Catholic de Louvain in 1998-99.

Prof Dr. S. STIJNS is author, co-author and co-editor of several books on Contract law. In 2000 she edited a book on Contractual Remedies in Belgium and the Netherlands (co-edited with a colleague of the University of Maastricht) and in March 2000 she published the work "Strict Liability between Neighbours" (Troubles de voisinage), written with her colleague and husband, Hendrik Vuye.

She also wrote several articles on different aspects of the law of Obligations. She is a member of the editorial board of "Revue Générale de Droit Civil Belge - Tijdschrift voor Belgisch Burgerlijk Recht), a Belgian journal on private law. She is also member of the editorial board of "Recente arresten bij het Hof van Cassatie", a Belgian journal that publishes important reactions of doctrinal writers on decisions of the Belgian Cour de Cassation. She is also the responsible author of a review of jurisprudence about the law of Obligations in the Journal des Tribunaux and of the review of jurisprudence about Contracts in the Belgian journal Tijdschrift voor Privaatrecht.

Sophie Stijns is the Belgian member of the Coordinating Group of the "Von Bar Commission", a group that is working on a European Civil Code.