Center for Legal Studies Antoine Favre at University Savoie Mont-Blanc (Chambéry, France) presents a PhD position in Law (3 years, full-time with a possibility of fully funded PhD scholarship).

 “DIGITAL BODY: A LEGAL APPROACH”

Theme:

Look for links between the human body regulation and its digital version or avatars, analyzing Human and, Fundamental rights, Data Protection Law and Artificial Intelligence regulation in Europe.

Description:

Investigate the links between the human body and its digital version or avatars, using Human Rights Law, Fundamental Rights and the EU regulation in Data Law, AI and Digital Health. Dive into the complexities of a new figure in Law: the Digital Body.

Key Questions:

How can AI development change the perception of the human body and its legal status?
What challenges arise from using data to create an avatar? Do Health Data platforms and Digital Medicine have an influence on the human body and its legal protection?

Supervision and information:

Prof Yann Favier, PhD Private and Comparative Law (yann.favier@univ-smb.fr)

Language:

French or English

Description

The aim of this thesis proposal is to examine the status of the human body in the light of this paradigm shift around the materiality of the body, by analyzing the legal corpus and its limits in order to grasp all the implications of these uses of data on the human body.

To do this, the research will first look at the phenomenon of human body data collection and its use by artificial intelligence, comparing it with the European, domestic and international legal framework, and the primary and secondary uses made of it by the main operators (public and private digital platforms, clinical research promoters, the drug and healthcare industry, etc.). The research will then address derivative uses both in forms associated with the digital body, such as avatars, and in representations of the human body, including data-driven diagnostic approaches.

A more global reflection will be carried out on the notion of bodily identity and, more generally, on the rights of the person and personality, as well as on the fundamental rights issues arising from the emergence, in law, of a digital body. The central question is whether the digital body should be accorded a specific legal status, or whether it should be the result of an extension of the current framework, largely inspired by the principles of bioethics, which apply only to the material body?

Application and Scholarship

Please note:

• The strict deadline for application is 31 May 2024.
• Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview mid-June 2024.
• The offer of a scholarships is not a formal offer of a place for PhD.