DOC Fellowship Programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

The DOC Fellowship Programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences offers fundings for highly qualified doctoral candidates in all areas of research.  The fellowships make it possible for young researchers to focus on completing their doctoral thesis within a clear timeframe. 

Within the scope of the DOC Fellowship, Klaudia Kwiatkowska pursues her doctoral project in law titled: ‘A Legal Perspective on the (Mis)use of Data on Femtech Apps and Devices: Looking Beyond the General Data Protection Regulation’ under the supervision of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Forgó. 

Women and people with a uterus have been underrepresented and not accounted for in clinical research leading to a gender data gap in healthcare and health research. This unmet need has been recognised by the femtech industry, which develops and markets various innovations and digital health technologies seeking to address women’s health and wellbeing. Klaudia’s doctoral research examines the European Union's (EU) legal framework governing femtech products. Her research aims to identify and describe the applicable EU legal framework for these technologies, focusing on data protection, cybersecurity, use of AI, product safety, and the secondary use of health data. Through adopting a feminist lens, Klaudia aims to analyze the existing EU legislation that regulates femtech with a focus on existing power imbalances. The goal is to identify potential regulatory gaps and develop policy and industry recommendations to ensure that legal frameworks and data use practices in the femtech industry effectively serve and protect users.

 

Experts of the Department working on this project: