Maria Nowak

Prof. Dr. Maria Nowak is a full professor at the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bamberg, Germany, working on the ERC Consolidator Grant project 'AntCoCo' since October 2023. Her academic journey spans extensive research in Roman legal history, papyrology, and Graeco-Roman Egypt, with a focus on social and legal status in Late Antiquity.

Her educational background includes a magister juris (2008) and doctor juris (2012, cum laude) from the University of Warsaw, followed by a habilitation (2021, cum laude) on illegitimacy in Roman Egypt. Her research integrates papyri, legal codes, inscriptions, and literature to analyze family law, testamentary practices, and social status.

Maria Nowak's research interests center on legal history, papyrology, Roman law, and Graeco-Roman Egypt, with a particular focus on extramarital children, wills, monastic legal practices, and Coptic documents from the Theban region and Aphrodite. Her work bridges legal formalism with social reality, examining how law functioned in diverse communities across the Roman Empire.

The 15 most recent publications reflect a consistent trajectory in Late Antique legal practice, especially in Roman Egypt. They demonstrate deep engagement with papyrological sources, testamentary law, social status, and religious transformations. Her work spans monographs, edited volumes, peer-reviewed articles, and digital scholarship, showing interdisciplinary reach across law, history, and philology.

• Distinction for habilitation work by the journal Państwo i Prawo (2022)
• DAAD Doctoral Scholarship (2010)
• Foundation for Polish Science Research Stay at Oxford (2010)
• Swiss SCIEX Postdoctoral Fellowship at Geneva (2013–2014)
• Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship at Heidelberg (2017–2019)
• National Agency for Academic Exchange Postdoc at Leiden (2020–2021)
• University of Bamberg Visiting Professorship (2021)

Maria Nowak has been principal investigator (PI) on major research projects funded by the National Science Center (Poland), including 'Legal and social status of extramarital children' (Sonata 2015/17/D/HS3/00376) and 'Law in social networks of late-antique Aphrodito' (Opus 2019/35/B/HS3/02301). She has advised no listed students but has collaborated widely across Europe. She co-developed the Roman Bastards Database, a digital research tool. She is actively involved in academic teams and workshops, particularly within the AntCoCo project.

She is a core member of the AntCoCo research team at the University of Bamberg, contributing her papyrological and legal expertise to interdisciplinary studies on late antique legal and social networks. Her ongoing collaboration with international scholars reflects her integration into a dynamic research environment focused on connectivity and cultural transformation in Late Antiquity.