Dr Patricia Zivkovic

Biography

Patricia holds the position of Senior Lecturer in Law, specialising in international commercial arbitration and technology and law.

Patricia joined the School of Law at the University of Aberdeen in 2019. Prior to this appointment, she held teaching positions at the International University of Sarajevo and gained professional experience in legal practice and industry.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Zagreb, School of Law, and a Master of Laws (LLM) from the Central European University (CEU), where she specialised in International Business Law. Patricia completed her doctoral studies at CEU and is currently under contract with Edward Elgar Publishing to develop her doctoral dissertation into a monograph, Costs in International Commercial Arbitration, which is forthcoming in 2026.

Her research in technology and law focuses on emerging challenges relating to biometric data, emotion detection, and neurotechnology, with particular attention to their legal, ethical, and societal implications.

Due to her commitment to interdisciplinarity and law and humanities, Patricia co-leads projects under the theme of Death and Law – Interdisciplinary Explorations. Her principal contribution examines a technological posthumanist critique of personhood, with particular emphasis on post-mortem digital avatars.

To support sustained multidisciplinary collaboration, Patricia founded and currently leads the Humanity and AI Research Group.

Within the wider research community, she co-convenes the Private International Law Section of the Society of Legal Scholars Conference and has co-organised numerous national and international research projects and events in partnership with other institutions. Patricia is currently part of the team awarded an Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Chair for a project on Fair Digital Transition.

Prizes and Awards

Students' Union and University of Aberdeen Excellence Award for Best Undergraduate Supervisor (2023)

Research Overview

Patricia's teaching and research focus on technology & law and international dispute resolution.

Patricia has just finished her monograph on Costs in International Commercial Arbitration (forthcoming in 2026), and her technology-focused scholarship examines regulatory and conceptual challenges relating to biometric data, emotion detection, and neurotechnology.

Current Research

Patricia is currently working on the following papers:

'Unlocking Human Minds: The Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Neurotechnology', to be published in Future Frontiers of Law and Technology, Volume 2: Regulation and Governance in an Age of Future Risk, Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming in 2026.

'Biometric Afterlife: When You Are Neither Person nor Thing' to be published in The Legal Distinction Between Persons and Things: Changing Perspectives, Law and Philosophy Series, Springer, forthcoming in 2026.

Funding and Grants

Current funded projects:

• Co-Investigator, Death and Law: Interdisciplinary Explorations, Royal Society of Edinburgh (2026-27)
• Team Member, Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Chair for a project on "Fair Digital Transition" (2026-29)

Past funded projects:

• Co-Investigator, Laying the Foundations for a Restatement of Scots Private International Law, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh
• Co-Investigator, DIGINLAW Project – Time to Become Digital in Law, funded by the European Commission 

Teaching Responsibilities

Postgraduate

• LS5083 International Commercial Arbitration (Course Coordinator)
• LS553N Regulation of Biometric Data and Profiling: Social, Ethical and Legal Implications Honours (Course Coordinator)
• LS551X Negotiations Skills (online) (Course Coordinator) 

Undergraduate

• LS452M Regulation of Biometric Data and Profiling: Social, Ethical and Legal Implications Honours (Course Coordinator)
• LS4011 Law of Sales Honours (Course Co-ordinator)
• LS402T AI and Law
• LS401Q Private International Law of Commercial Law Honours

 Taught before:

• LS1026 Case Studies on Law in Society (Interim Course Co-ordinator) (2019/20)
• LS2026 EU Institutions and Law (2019/20)
• LS503B/LS553B International Sale of Goods (online) (Course Co-ordinator 2019/20, 2020/21)
• QL5502 International Sale of Goods (Course Co-ordinator 2020/21)
• QL5005 International Commercial Arbitration (Course Co-ordinator 2021/22)
• LS5905 Professional Arbitration Skills (Course Co-ordinator 2021/22)
• LS402Q Privacy and Data Protection Law (2021/22, 2022/23)

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

Guest lecturer at the Summer School of International Arbitration at the International University of Sarajevo