Dr Shanya Ruhela

Email:
s.ruhela@reading.ac.uk
Job title:
Lecturer/ Assistant Professor in Commercial Law

Responsibilities:

Module Convenor
Lecturer
Academic tutor
Designate Director of Mooting and Advocacy

Areas of interest

Commercial and company law
Banking and financial regulation
Narrative analysis
Corporate governance and accountability
Artificial intelligence and digital technologies
Financial technology (FinTech), regulatory technology (RegTech) and digital finance
Comparative and international economic regulation

Postgraduate supervision

Shanya welcomes PhD supervision in commercial law, banking law and financial regulation.

Teaching

Shanya teaches on the following modules:

Commercial Law
Banking Law
English Legal Skills and Systems
Research and Writing Skills

Background

Dr. Shanya Ruhela joined the University of Reading in September 2026, after working at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, where she held doctoral and postdoctoral research positions. Her doctoral thesis, Multi-level Banking Regulatory Landscape: Crisis and Opportunities to Lobby for Trade Associations, examined the role of banking trade associations within the multilevel banking regulatory landscape. Before beginning her doctoral research, Shanya obtained an LL.M. from the University of Cambridge, specialising in Commercial Law. She previously completed her undergraduate legal education at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, India, graduating with a Gold Medal in Business Laws.

Shanya takes an interdisciplinary and empirical approach to research. She is interested in the relationship between law, institutions and systemic changes. She collaborates with legal scholars, policymakers and researchers from different disciplines.

Her professional experience includes work in commercial and securities law at law firms. She has participated in international research conferences and has held visiting research appointments in the United States and Switzerland.

In addition to her academic work, Shanya is interested in creative writing. Her short fantasy story, History Shall Bleed Anew, won the Fantastic Stories Competition at Dutch Heroes Comic Con in 2025, a national-level writing competition.

Academic qualifications

PhD in Law, Tilburg University, Netherlands (2023)
LL.M. in Commercial Law, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (2017)
BA LL.B., Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, India (2016)

Awards and honours

2026: First Runner-up, Research Impact Award, Tilburg University, The Netherlands (awarded to the research team).
2025: Winner, Fantastic Stories Competition, Dutch Heroes Comic Con, The Netherlands.
2022: Coach of the Winning Team, Comparative Law In Action (Moot Court) Competition, IE Madrid, Spain.
2022: Special Data Collection Fund for PhD Research, Tilburg University, The Netherlands.
2018, 2016: Tata Educational Scholarship for Higher Education, India.
2016: K.C. Mahindra Scholarship for Higher Education, India.
2016: Gold Medal (Class of Business Law), Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, India.

Selected publications

Forthcoming

Ruhela, S. and Ashok, P. (2027). ‘Boardroom in an Age of Console: Rethinking Corporate Governance in Light of the New UK Online Safety Act’. European Business Law Review.
Ashok, P. and Ruhela, S. (in press). ‘Corporate Chameleons: A Typology of Big Tech’s Adaptive Strategies’. In Handbook on Regulating Big Technology in the Era of Sustainability. Edward Elgar.

2026

Ruhela, S. and Hrynkiv, O. (2026). ‘Good Governance in the Green Transition: Evaluating Dutch Green Subsidies’. European Energy and Environmental Law Review, 35(1), 22–39.
Ruhela, S., Hrynkiv, O. and S. Lavrijssen (eds) (2026). Regulatory Strategies for Energy and Finance: Sustainability in a Digitalised World. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ruhela, S. and Lavrijssen, S. ‘Navigating the Financial Landscape of the Dutch Green Energy Transition’. In P. Delimatsis and G. Monti (eds), EU Law and Regulatory Spaces: Essays in Honour of Leigh Hancher. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ruhela, S. (2026). ‘Financial Conduct Authority's Approach Towards Supervision and Enforcement: Impact of RegTech and Digital Disruption’. In S. Ruhela, O. Hrynkiv and S. Lavrijssen (eds), Regulatory Strategies for Energy and Finance: Sustainability in a Digitalised World. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hrynkiv, O., Ruhela, S. and Lavrijssen, S. (2026). ‘Introduction: Technological Innovation Requires Legal Innovation’. In Regulatory Strategies for Energy and Finance: Sustainability in a Digitalised World. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hrynkiv, O., Ruhela, S. and Lavrijssen, S. (2026). ‘Conclusion’. In Regulatory Strategies for Energy and Finance: Sustainability in a Digitalised World. Bloomsbury Publishing.

2025

Ruhela, S. and van der Valk, W. (eds), with Wickramanayake, S., Wodak, D. and Aben, T. (2025). Cross-Sectoral Collaboration: Challenges and Opportunities of ‘Joint’ Action. Open Press Tilburg University.
Ruhela, S. (ed.) and Vijay, S. (author) (2025). The Great Book of Rules of India: For Toddlers and Young Curious Minds. Published 18 July 2025.

2023

Ruhela, S. (2023). Multi-level Banking Regulatory Landscape: Crisis and Opportunities to Lobby for Trade Associations. PhD Thesis, Tilburg University.
Ruhela, S. and Wickramanayake, S. (2023). Comments on Nationaal Plan Energiesysteem or National Energy System Plan (NPE): For the Mining Council (De Mijnraad). Research report.

2020

Ruhela, S. (2020). ‘Bombay's Tryst with the City on Rhine’. RGNUL Financial and Mercantile Law Review, 7, 85.

2014

Ruhela, S. and other (2014). ‘Status of Indian Domestic Industries Vis-à-Vis MNCs in India: A Comparative Analysis’. Transnational Corporations Review, 6(2), 132–146.

2013

Ruhela, S. and ors. (2013). ‘Law and Morality: Cessation of Conflict or a New Era of Contradictions?’. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, 2(2).

For a fuller list of publications and research activities, please visit Shanya Ruhela's Tilburg University Research Profile.

ORCID: 0000-0003-2653-8469

Fellowships and Visiting Researcher Appointments

July 2026: Zug Institute for Blockchain Research, Switzerland.
March 2026: Information Law Institute, New York University, USA.
September 2022: University of Basel, Switzerland.

Presentations in 2026

‘Human-Centered AI and Smart City Governance in Urban Context: Comparative Evidence from Low-Income, Lower-Middle-Income and High-Income Countries’ (with Pratiksha Ashok). 23rd N-AERUS Conference, The Role of Partnerships in Development: Knowledge, Power, and Urban Futures, University of São Paulo and Erasmus University Rotterdam.
‘Boardroom in an Age of Console: Rethinking Corporate Governance in Light of the New UK Online Safety Act’ (with Pratiksha Ashok). Company Law Issues in Gaming Workshop, University College London, United Kingdom.
‘AI Ethics and Safety Office: A Model for Law Schools of the Future – Project AEGIS’ (with Pratiksha Ashok). The Law School of the Future Symposium, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom.
‘Unique Academic Experience: ENCHANTED (Economic Networks of Celebrities, Hyper-engaged Audiences and Networked Transactions in Entertainment Domains)’ (with Pratiksha Ashok), TILTing Conference, Tilburg University, Netherlands.
‘We Are All Stories in the End: Narrative Jurisprudence, the Rule of Law and Climate Finance in the UK’, University of Lüneburg, Germany.
‘From Compliance to Camouflage: Big Tech’s Global Regulatory Survival Playbook’ (with Pratiksha Ashok), Information Law Institute, New York University, United States.
‘Corporate Chameleons: A Typology of Big Tech’s Adaptive Strategies’ (with Pratiksha Ashok), Sewanee: The University of the South, Tennessee, United States. March 2026.