Our scholars 2020 – Anna Urbanek

What is your legal background, your current occupation and country of work?
I am currently working in Poland and I am a PhD Candidate at the Doctoral School of Social Sciences at the University of Lodz. Apart from that, I am a grantee working on a research project dealing mainly with approaches to artificial intelligence and consumer protection at EU level.

How do you use European law in your current work?
European law is present in my everyday life because, in addition to participating in the aforementioned research project, I am writing my dissertation on consumer protection in the non-bank consumer credit market in EU law. Thus, I prepare publications concerning and participate in conferences on consumer protection, EU financial markets, new technologies, etc.

What was your motivation for attending this particular event?
The scholarship enabled me to attend a course that helped me to familiarise myself with IT Law, which definitely facilitated my work in the initial stages of my research project on AI and consumer protection.

How did you benefit from the scholarship?
Additionally, which I didn't expect when signing up for the course, the knowledge I gained about Blockchain came in handy when I coached a team of students this year during the International Summer School in Nijmegen in Holland (TechLawClinics project funded by Erasmus+). The case study that the students were solving was specifically about Blockchain. The students' task was to first solve a case study they had been working on for several months, and then exchange their thoughts on its solution and the regulation or non-regulation of Blockchain in national law during the Spring School.