In 1981 Antonie Vos, lecturer at the theological faculty in Utrecht, defended his thesis Kennis en noodzakelijkheid (Knowledge and necessity), in which Duns Scotus takes a crucial place.

In the same time he gathered a group of students to study the work of Scotus. This group first studied Lectura I 39, the key-text of Scotus, in which he develops his fundamental theory of contingency and freedom for the first time. From this commentary the group expanded its interest to other Scotus-texts.

After having been an asset to the Franciscaans Studiecentrum (FSC: Franciscan Study Centre) for more than a decade, the Research Group is now affiliated to the Evangelical Theological Faculty (ETF) at Leuven, Belgium.

In 1992 the research group published its first book (see books and publications); since then a number of articles and books have followed. At present the Research Group John Duns Scotus has internationally been acknowledged and contributes to various congresses and symposia.