Professor

Prof. Dr. Dr. Patricia Wiater

Professor

Institute for German, European and Public International Law
Chair for Public Law, Public International Law and Human Rights

Patricia Wiater holds the Chair of Public Law, Public International Law, and Human Rights at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU). She is a member of the Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (CHREN) and the Director of the CHREN Human Rights Clinic. Before joining academia, Patricia Wiater was admitted to the German bar and worked as a government official for the Bavarian Ministry of Science and the Arts in the field of European Union law.

As part of a cotutelle de thèse, Patricia Wiater completed a Franco-German doctorate in law at the Universities of Strasbourg and Leipzig, focusing on cultural pluralism and European human rights protection. She subsequently obtained a doctorate in political science from the University of Freiburg with a dissertation on the protection of critical infrastructure. Her Habilitation thesis, completed at LMU Munich, examined access to justice in international economic law and the procedural empowerment of natural and legal persons.

Patricia Wiater’s research and teaching cover constitutional law, public international law, European Union law, and legal didactics. Within her research on general international law, she has a particular interest in the law of state immunity. Her expertise in human rights spans a broad range of topics, from traditional liberal freedoms to contemporary debates on the right to a healthy environment and the Rights of Nature. Another key focus of her research lies in security law and security policy, particularly in the context of counterterrorism measures, sanctions, and the protection of critical infrastructure. Furthermore, her expertise extends to regional economic integration systems, WTO law, and investment protection law, with a current emphasis on the intersection between business and human rights, as well as sports and human rights.

Patricia Wiater is one of the coordinators of the International Doctorate Programme on Business and Human Rights and a member of the Human Rights Advisory Board of the German Olympic Sports Confederation. Additionally, she is a co-editor of the Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Rechtswissenschaft.

Professor Wiater (born 1982) is married and mother of two daughters and a son.

06/2019 Habilitation at the Faculty of Law of LMU Munich (Venia legendi for Public Law, European Union Law, Public International Law, Legal Theory and Comparative Law)
08/2012 Doctorate in Political Sciences, Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg
10/2004 – 02/2011 Master Studies in Political Sciences, German Literature, Public and Public International Law, University of Augsburg
10/2008 – 10/2010 Legal clerkship at the regional court of Freiburg
10/2008 French-German Doctorate in Law (Cotutelle de thèse), University of Strasbourg, France, and University of Leipzig, Germany
10/2001 – 02/2005 Certificate of Legal English and Legal French, University of Augsburg
10/2001 – 01/2006 Law studies at the University of Augsburg

since 08/2021 Chair for Public Law, Public International Law and Human Rights at Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nürnberg
10/2018 – 07/2021 Tenure Track Professor for Public Law, in particular Fundamental Rights and Human Rights at Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nürnberg
10/2016 – 09/2018 Academic Councillor (“Akademische Rätin/Oberrätin“) at the Institute for Politics and Public Law (“Institut für Politik und Öffentliches Recht”), Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Faculty of Law
since 04/2012 Lecturer at Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Faculty of Law
 2012/2013 Lecturer at „Hochschule für Politik“ Munich
10/2011 – 10/2016 Councillor at the Bavarian State Ministry for Education, Sciences and the Arts
09/2008 – 07/2010 Research Assistant at the Chair of Constitutional and Administrative Law (Professor T. Würtenberger) at Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg, collaboration in multidisciplinary research projects on security technologies and civil security (“AISIS” and “ILOV”)
04/2008 – 08/2008 Research Assistant at the University of Strasbourg (Professor C. Grewe), France
04/2007 – 06/2007 Traineeship at the European Court of Human Rights (Research Division)
09/2006 – 10/2006 Traineeship at the European Court of Human Rights (German Division)

The main research interests of Professor Wiater are Constitutional Law, EU Law and Public International Law as well as the Didactics of Law Teaching.

Professor Wiater is co-publisher of the “Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Rechtswissenschaft” (ZDRW).

The magazine is available via the Nomos eLibrary here.

2023 Awarded the “Preis für gute Lehre” by the Bavarian Ministry of Science for outstanding teaching
2020 DFG publication grant for the printing of the habilitation „Internationale Individualkläger“
2019 FAU Teaching Innovation Fund (funding of the “FAU Human Rights Talks”)
10/2013 – 12/2016 Habilitation scholarship funded by “Bayerische Gleichstellungsförderung”
since 2012 Habilitation scholarship funded by the Excellence-Programme “LMU Mentoring”
12/2009 Dissertation prize „Marc Otto“ by „Fondation Saint-Thomas“ (law thesis)
11/2008 Dissertation prize by Dr. Feldbausch- Stiftung (law thesis)
2008 Funding for printing costs by VG-Wort (law thesis)
06/2007 – 10/2008 Doctoral scholarship by European Doctoral College, Straßburg
03/2007 – 09/2007 Doctoral scholarship by Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst
02/2007 – 10/2008 Doctoral scholarship by Deutsch-Französische Hochschule