1. Videogames and Law
The research line on Videogames and Law investigates videogames as one of the most complex cultural, economic, and technological artefacts of contemporary society, deserving full legal and interdisciplinary scrutiny.
Videogames are not merely entertainment products but socio-technical systems in which narrative, code, market structures, user behaviour, and algorithmic governance converge.
This area of research explores the legal implications of game design, virtual worlds, and online communities, addressing issues such as intellectual property, authorship, and creative reuse, as well as platform regulation, contractual asymmetries between publishers and players, and the legal nature of in-game assets, currencies, and economies.
Particular attention is devoted to emerging phenomena such as live service models, loot boxes, virtual labour, e-sports, and the increasing role of artificial intelligence in procedural generation, moderation, and player profiling.
The line further examines videogames as spaces of political discourse, social conflict, and cultural memory, analysing how law interacts with questions of representation, violence, addiction, misinformation, and ideological influence.
By treating videogames as laboratories of future legal problems, this research area offers innovative insights into digital sovereignty, governance of virtual environments, and the evolving boundaries between reality and simulation.
2. Geopolitics, Global Affairs and Human Rights
This research line focuses on the profound transformation of geopolitics and global affairs under the pressure of technological acceleration, digital interdependence, and systemic crises.
It analyses how power, sovereignty, and influence are reshaped by data flows, digital infrastructures, artificial intelligence, cyber operations, and information warfare, with particular regard to their impact on fundamental rights and democratic institutions.
The research investigates the legal and ethical tensions between security, innovation, and human rights in areas such as surveillance, border technologies, autonomous systems, and digital authoritarianism.
A central concern is the protection of human dignity in a fragmented global order, where international law, humanitarian principles, and human rights frameworks are increasingly challenged by asymmetric conflicts, hybrid warfare, and algorithmic decision-making.
The line adopts a global perspective, integrating legal analysis with political theory and international relations, while paying close attention to vulnerable regions and populations disproportionately affected by technological power imbalances.
Its innovative contribution lies in bridging classical human rights discourse with emerging forms of technological domination, proposing normative frameworks capable of responding to twenty-first-century geopolitical realities.
3. AI and Health
The AI and Health research line examines the transformative role of artificial intelligence in healthcare systems, biomedical research, and public health governance.
It addresses the legal, ethical, and social implications of deploying AI-driven tools in diagnosis, prognosis, personalised medicine, and clinical decision support, with a particular focus on accountability, transparency, and patient autonomy.
This area of research explores the redistribution of responsibilities among physicians, healthcare institutions, developers, and regulators, questioning traditional models of medical liability in light of algorithmic mediation.
It also investigates data governance in health contexts, including issues of consent, secondary use of data, bias, and the protection of sensitive information.
Special attention is devoted to the impact of AI on health inequalities, access to care, and the risk of technological exclusion.
By integrating legal analysis with medical and technological perspectives, this research line contributes to the development of trustworthy, human-centred AI in healthcare, capable of enhancing innovation while safeguarding fundamental rights and public trust.
4. New Technologies and Vulnerable Groups
This research line is dedicated to analysing the interaction between emerging technologies and individuals or groups exposed to heightened risks of exclusion, discrimination, or harm.
It investigates how digital platforms, automated decision-making systems, biometric technologies, and data-driven governance can disproportionately affect children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, migrants, minorities, and economically disadvantaged communities.
The research addresses structural biases embedded in technological systems, the opacity of algorithmic classifications, and the erosion of effective legal remedies for those most in need of protection.
At the same time, it explores the emancipatory potential of technology when designed and regulated with inclusivity and social justice in mind.
Innovative aspects of this line include the development of vulnerability-aware regulatory models, the rethinking of consent and capacity in digital environments, and the integration of human rights impact assessments into technological design.
The ultimate aim is to contribute to a legal framework in which technological progress does not amplify existing inequalities but becomes a tool for empowerment and inclusion.
5. The Augmented Jurist
The research line on the Augmented Jurist is devoted to rethinking the identity, skills, and responsibilities of legal professionals in an era of pervasive digitalisation and artificial intelligence.
It explores how technologies such as generative AI, legal analytics, automation, and decision-support systems are reshaping legal reasoning, professional judgment, and institutional practices.
Rather than framing technology as a substitute for human expertise, this line conceptualises augmentation as a critical partnership between human intelligence and computational tools.
The research investigates new forms of legal knowledge, hybrid competences, and ethical responsibilities arising from this transformation, as well as the risks of cognitive delegation, deskilling, and over-reliance on automated outputs.
It also addresses the impact of technology on legal education, access to justice, and the balance of power between legal professionals, clients, and technological intermediaries.
By articulating a rigorous and reflective model of the augmented jurist, this research line contributes to shaping a future-oriented legal culture that is technologically literate, ethically grounded, and socially responsible.