Visiting Queen Mary University—Alexandra Lorch is conducting research in London as part of her dissertation project

As part of her dissertation in law and economics, Alexandra Lorch served as a visiting scholar at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) from February through May 2026.
The dissertation examines whether the current European legal framework for data and artificial intelligence (AI) ensures a balanced approach between promoting innovation and managing risk in data-driven AI systems. In doing so, she focuses on resolving existing interpretive issues in favor of responsible openness to innovation by establishing a principle of innovation and integrating global best practices into EU regulation.
The goal is to propose practical improvements to the legal framework to mitigate weaknesses and enhance innovation potential. Since innovation is inconceivable without competition and data flows know no geographical boundaries, the work combines interdisciplinary methodology with a comparative legal analysis of global regulatory traditions. A central component of the research is therefore a research stay in a market-oriented legal system, such as the UK. QMUL provided the opportunity to engage with leading scholars under the supervision of Prof. Johanna Gibson at the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law Institute (TMTI) and the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute (QMIPRI). Through her interactions with scholars in the fields of copyright law, competition law, and internet law, as well as law, economics, and regulation, she gained valuable insights into regulatory practices in the United Kingdom, which helped her refine her comparison with the EU legal system.