Serge Gutwirth (°1960) is full time Professor of human rights, comparative law, legal theory and methodology at the Faculty of law of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Since October 2003 he became holder of a 5 year research fellowship in the framework of the VUB-Research Contingent for his project: "Sciences and the democratic constitutional state: a mutual transformation process". During this period teaching is limited to one course ("International protection of human rights"). Gutwirth is also a part time lecturer of philosophy of law at the faculty of law of the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Gutwirth carried out research projects in the field of computer law (privacy, EDI, computer crime, intellectual property, ...), environmental law and urbanization, the relationships between law and psychiatry etc. He has a wide experience in the field of computer law. Today the focus has shifted and broadened to analytical, theoretical and prospective legal research in the field of the relationships between science, technology and society, with (among others e.g. environmental law, expertise, psychiatry in law, …) a particular focus - relevant for this project - upon contemporary privacy-related issues and data protection. More specifically the research group around Gutwirth is involved in interdisciplinary and internationally networked research about privacy, profiling, identity, and 'correlated man'.

Gutwirth has written 3 books, of which the last one - Privacy in the information age (2002, Rowman & Littlefield) - was written on behalf of the Rathenau Institute, the Dutch technology assessment body. He is also the (co)-editor of 9 books and he published more than 100 articles in Dutch, French and English. Gutwirth is and has been a member of several editorial boards of scientific periodicals. Gutwirth has founded the VUB-Research group on human rights (HUMR), which he chaired until 2003. He then founded the VUB-Research group Law Science Technology & Society (LSTS) which he currently chairs.

LSTS is devoted to analytical, theoretical and prospective research into the relationships between law, science, technology and society. LSTS focuses upon the integratation of the legal perspective in current Science Technology and Society (STS)-research. The starting point is that notions or principles such as legal mediation between rights and interests, democratic participation, rule of law, transparency, accountability, public interest, human rights and individual freedom should form a part of the constraints of scientific work. Crucial for LSTS is the challenge of conceiving scientific practices in such way that they respond to the demands of the democratic constitutional state.

LSTS is strongly intertwined with the international Interuniversity Attraction Poles (IAP) Phase V.16 research project The loyalties of knowledge. The positions and responsibilities of the sciences and of scientists in a democratic constitutional state (granted by the Federal Science Policy Belgium) of which Prof. Gutwirth is the coordinating promoter.The VUB co-promoter of this project is Prof. J.-P. Van Bendegem (also LSTS, mathematics and philosophy) and the associate partners of this research network are Prof. Koen Raes (U. Gent), Prof. I. Stengers & Prof. Grégoire (U.L.Bruxelles); Prof. M. Mormont and Prof. Fr. Mélard (F.U.Luxembourg) and Prof. Br. Latour (CSI-ESMParis). (see: http//www.imbroglio.be)

LSTS is also a partner in the 6^th Community Framework Programme in Research and Development (FP 6) Network of Excellence (NoE) The future of identity in information society-LSTS involving P. De Hert, K. François, S. Gutwirth, M. Hildebrandt, W. Schreurs and J.P. Van Bendegem;

Prof. Serge Gutwirth

Law Science Technology & Society (LSTS)

Department of Metajuridica - Faculty of Law

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Pleinlaan 2

B-1050, Brussels

Belgium

Tel. Secr. (M. Schierl) : +32 2 629 24 60

Tel. Direct Line : +32 2 629 26 42

Fax : +32 2 629 26 62

Email : Serge.Gutwirth@vub.ac.be or Martine.Schierl@vub.ac.be