Dr Başak Bak
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+44 (0) 118 378 5641
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Associate Professor in Data Protection and Intellectual Property Law
- Module Convenor of Intellectual Property Law (LW3IP), Emerging Issues in Data Protection and Copyright Law (LWMDPC), and Ethical GenAI for Law (LW1AI)
- Lecturing and teaching on the undergraduate LLB and postgraduate LLM programmes
- Founder and Convenor of Law School GenAI Working Group
Building location
Foxhill House (2.07), Whiteknights Road, PO Box 271, Reading RG6 6EPAreas of interest
My research spans Intellectual Property Law and Data Protection and Privacy Law, with a particular emphasis on the regulation of AI.
I welcome expressions of interest from prospective doctoral students, particularly in the following areas:
- Copyright law, trade mark law, and AI
- Genomic data, biometric data, and big health data
- International data protection and privacy law, particularly data processing and cross-border data transfers
- Bioethics and consent
Please include a draft research proposal when contacting me about potential PhD supervision. You may find the University of Reading’s guide to writing a research proposal helpful when preparing your proposal.
Teaching
I convene and teach the following modules:
- Intellectual Property Law (LW3IP) — undergraduate level
- Ethical GenAI for Law (LW1AI) — undergraduate level
- Emerging Issues in Data Protection, Privacy and Copyright (LWMDPC) — postgraduate level
I also teach the following modules:
- Law and Technology (LW3LT) — undergraduate level
- Art and Cultural Heritage Law (LW2ART|) — undergraduate level
- English Legal System and Skills (LW1ELS) — undergraduate level
- Tort Law (LW1TOR) — undergraduate level
Research centres and groups
- Law School GenAI Working Group
- University of Reading AI in Research Steering Group
- Centre for Commercial Law and Financial Regulation (CCLFR)
- Law, Justice & Society (LJS)
- Global Law at Reading (GLAR)
- Synthetic Media Research Network
- University of Reading GenAI Community of Practice
- University of Reading AI Community of Practice
- University of Reading Public Engagement with Research Community of Practice
- Open and Robust Research at Reading
- Reading Education Research Network
- Law School Legal Education and Pedagogy Group
Background
Dr Başak Bak is a senior legal academic with over 20 years of experience in the UK and internationally, and a qualified lawyer admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association (not currently practising). She specialises in data protection and intellectual property law. She holds two PhD degrees in these fields, both of which were awarded without corrections. Dr Bak is also a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM), a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E), an active member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), and a Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA). Since 2020, she has been a full-time academic at Reading Law School, where she leads the Intellectual Property, Data Protection, and Ethical GenAI for Law modules.
Academic qualifications
PhD (University of Reading), MA (King’s College London), PhD (Ankara University), LLM (Ankara University), LLB (Ankara University), Lawyer (Istanbul Bar Association), CIPP/E, CIPM, FHEA
Awards and honours
- The Society of Legal Scholars (2024-2025)
- Modern Law Review (2020-2021)
- British Council (2017-2018)
Professional bodies/affiliations
- International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
- The Society of Legal Scholars
- Association of Law Teacher
- The Socio-Legal Studies Association
- Institute of Medical Ethics