Staff profile

Guanqun is a full-time PhD candidate at Durham University, where she is the deputy director of the Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law. Since 2024, she has been a tutor in company law and the PGR representative for the Law School.

Before coming to Durham, Guanqun completed her master’s degree with distinction in International Commercial Law at Newcastle University, where she also served as course representative and secretary. She graduated from Shandong University of Political Science and Law (SDUPSL) with an LLB degree, having won three scholarships and a GPA in the top 3.4% during her undergraduate studies. She has also been active in various student organizations throughout her education, for example, as an assistant in publicizing the School of Civil and Commercial Law. She was awarded the honor of Outstanding Organizer and Outstanding Student Leader.

Guanqun has also gained some experience in legal practice, having interned in the commercial trial division of a Chinese court, where she was exposed to insurance and other cases. She has experience in case file organisation and recording court information, and also undertook an internship at a legal services office, where her job was to help clients gather evidence and attend court.

Current research

Supervised by Mr Chris Riley and Dr Clara Martins Pereira, she is interested in corporate law and technology regulation. Her current research addresses the legal issues arising from the deployment of artificial intelligence within companies, and especially on the use of artificial intelligence by boards of directors, with a specific focus on technological regulation and directors’ duties. Her research also examines likely reforms and changes in corporate law as more emerging technologies, especially artificial intelligence, are being or will be applied to companies.

Guanqun welcomes any questions and relevant research related to her thesis.

Research interests

Corporate law

Corporate governance

Commercial law

Technology law

Laws on artificial intelligence

Research groups

Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law (ICCL)

Publications

Response to the Institute of Directors consultation on the Code of Conduct for Directors

Conference Paper

Guanqun Qin (2024). Boards of Directors and AI: Towards an Effective Regulatory Regime. 2024 Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law PGR Conference, Durham University, 19 June 2024, Durham.