Johanna Chamberlain receives the Stig Strömholm Prize for Humanities-oriented Research in Law and Social Sciences
Stig Strömholm, former Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University, in front of the painting that was painted when he resigned as President of the Royal Society of Science in Uppsala. Photo: Tommy Westberg (2003)
Johanna Chamberlain, Associate Professor at Uppsala University, is the 2024 recipient of the Stig Strömholm Prize for Research in the Humanities, Law and Social Sciences.
Johanna Chamberlain. Photo: Tobias Björkgren
Motivation:
Johanna Chamberlain's research focuses on tort law, privacy protection, artificial intelligence, and European law. In her doctoral thesis “Integritet och skadestånd” (Privacy Torts: On the Protection of Personal Information in Swedish Law, 2020), she deals with the protection of personal data and privacy in Swedish law in a digital era. She presents how the elusive concept of privacy has been treated not only in law but also in philosophy and social science research. The main issue of tort law is related to how it should be regarded in constitutional, administrative, criminal, and European law. It is a very comprehensive and difficult task that Johanna Chamberlain skilfully carries out here with her detailed treatment of the internal Swedish legal source material combined with European law practice. With her well-conceived analytical model, she has been able to specify the tasks and possibilities of tort law concerning the stronger protection of personal data and privacy that is needed in a new social landscape characterised by digitalisation. In conclusion, we believe that Ms Chamberlain has handled this demanding and important research project with impressive skill. Through her thesis and subsequent research, she has promoted law as a cultural expression in the spirit of Professor Stig Strömholm.
Johanna Chamberlain received her PhD in 2020 at the Faculty of Law, Uppsala University, with the thesis "Privacy Torts: On the Protection of Personal Information in Swedish Law". Since then, she has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University, within the project "AI and the Financial Markets: Liability and Legal Risk Management".
The Stig Strömholm Prize for Humanities-oriented Research in Law and Social Sciences
Stig Strömholm, Professor Emeritus of Civil Law and International Private Law, was Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University between 1989 and 1997. In connection with his 90th birthday, the University decided on 16 September 2021 to establish a prize in the spirit of Stig Strömholm’s work. The prize will be awarded to a young scientist working in the Nordic region as recognition for having promoted law as a cultural expression. ‘Young scientist’ refers to a person who has taken their doctoral degree in law or another relevant subject no later than five years before the decision is taken to award the prize.
The Faculty of Law selects the recipient of the prize following considerations by a prize committee. That committee consists of the Faculty of Law’s Vice-Dean of Research, Professor Strömholm and five other members appointed for a specific period.
Faculties and departments of law throughout the Nordic region entitled to issue doctoral degrees will be invited to nominate candidates for the Stig Strömholm Prize.
The prize was awarded for the first time in connection with the University’s anniversary on 9 October 2023.