Dr. Ansley Tullos Gilpin is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Alabama's College of Arts & Sciences, where she directs the Knowledge in Development (K.I.D.) Lab. Her primary research examines cognitive development in children, with specific focus on executive functions, fantasy orientation, and socioemotional learning. She holds secondary affiliations with the Center for Youth Development & Intervention. Her research program investigates: The relationship between pretend play and executive function development Children's understanding of fantasy/reality distinctions Emotion regulation strategies in early childhood School readiness interventions for at-risk populations Therapeutic applications of play for ASD Recent publications demonstrate strong foci on: preschool cognitive assessment, play-based interventions, and socioemotional development. Her methodological approaches incorporate experimental psychology, longitudinal designs, and community-based interventions. Dr. Gilpin mentors graduate students in developmental psychology and regularly involves undergraduate researchers through the K.I.D. Lab. She teaches courses spanning introductory psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive development, and experimental methods at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Dr. Bihani Sarkar is a Senior Lecturer in Comparative Non-Western Thought at Lancaster University's Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion. Her expertise spans early Indian politics, religions, and literature (2nd–15th centuries CE), with a focus on Sanskrit and Prakrit sources. She holds a First Class BA (Hons) in English from the University of Oxford, followed by an MPhil and PhD in Classical Indian Religions under Alexis Sanderson. Research Interests: Goddess traditions (Śākta), Sanskrit poetry/drama aesthetics, North Indian classical music, gender studies, and the intersection of religion with power/kingship. Recent projects include reinterpreting classical Sanskrit heroines and analyzing Śākta epigraphy. Awards & Grants: £99k AHRC Research Fellowship (2022-2024), Leverhulme Fellowship (£64,995), and election to the Royal Historical Society (2023). She has published two major books and contributed to over 20 invited lectures/seminars globally. Teaching: Currently teaches courses on Indian philosophical traditions, South Asian goddesses, and religion-state dynamics. Supervises PhD students in Sanskrit literature, comparative religion, and South Asian history.
Nikolas Jaspert is a Professor of Medieval History at Heidelberg University's Department of History, affiliated with the Faculty of Philosophy. As a HCIAS Joint Professor, he contributes to the HCIAS Research Focus 2 on Ibero-America and bridges the university's 'Cultural Dynamics in Globalized Worlds' research focus. His work emphasizes the Mediterranean region, transcultural relationships, and medieval Iberian language/literature. Research interests include medieval Mediterranean history, transcultural exchange, and material culture's role in cultural memory. Notable projects explore Jerusalem's symbolic presence in medieval Europe, Mediterranean ruler imagery, and the global dimensions of medieval history. He has authored/co-authored over 50 publications since 2016, focusing on themes like maritime history, crusade studies, and cross-cultural mediation. Teaching responsibilities include medieval history modules within Heidelberg's history degree programs. His academic network connects the Department of History with interdisciplinary initiatives in global history and cultural studies.
Petra van den Bos is an Assistant Professor at the University of Twente, affiliated with both the Digital Society Institute and the Formal Methods and Tools department. Her research focuses on advancing software engineering through formal methods, model-based testing, and automated testing techniques. She has contributed to integrating Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) with model-based approaches, as well as developing tools like VeyMont for choreography-based concurrent programming. Her work emphasizes practical applications in video game development, web testing, and user story-driven methodologies. Notably, she received the FORTE 2023 Best artefact award for outstanding contributions to formal techniques. Petra collaborates on datasets archived on Zenodo, showcasing reproducible research in testing frameworks and formal verification. Research Interests: Formal Methods, Model-Based Testing, Automated Testing, Concurrent Programming, and Software Verification. Awards: FORTE 2023 Best artefact (2022). Advising & Grants: No formal advisees listed; contributions focus on collaborative research projects and open-source tool development. Labs/Teams: Active in the Formal Methods and Tools research group, advancing software reliability through interdisciplinary approaches.
Dr. Asolina Braun is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Monash University. She actively supervises PhD students and contributes to research in Skin Immunology Psoriasis Pathogenesis Immunopeptidomics Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells . Education : Biology, Hannover Medical School Doctoral Degree in Immunology (Hannover Medical School, Germany, 2011–2014) Postdoctoral Fellowship with Francis Carbone and Thomas Gebhardt (Germany, 2014–2018) Research Focus : Her work explores HLA-Cw6-dependent antigen presentation and TRM cell survival factors in psoriasis, aiming to develop tolerization strategies for autoinflammatory skin diseases. She also pioneered tactile science communication methods for psoriasis outreach. Key Projects : Leading Psoriasis Antigen Triggers (2023–2025) Investigating Influenza Immune Cross-Protection (2024–2027) Validating HLA-Cw6 Antigen Presentation (2020–2022) Awards & Roles : DFG Fellowship Treasurer, Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (2018–2022) Executive Committee Member Collaborations span institutions in Australia, Germany, and Denmark, with expertise in flow cytometry , mass spectrometry , and MHC-peptide interactions .
Roby Rajan is a Professor of Quantitative Methods in the Business Department at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (India), an M.A. in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech. His research spans interdisciplinary areas including disaster management, sustainability, globalization, corporate governance, and knowledge management. Dr. Rajan has published extensively across academic disciplines, with notable contributions to postcolonial theory, economic critique, and institutional reform. His work frequently integrates quantitative methods with cultural and political analysis. Education: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India M.A., Economics, Virginia Tech Ph.D., Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Virginia Tech Research interests emphasize systemic approaches to global challenges, including planetary-scale disaster management frameworks and critiques of neoliberal economic policies. His recent work explores intersections between cultural studies and economic systems, particularly in postcolonial contexts. Earlier publications address corporate ethics, environmental management, and institutional knowledge systems. Advising and grants: No formal advisees listed. His research funding sources are not detailed in available records. Labs/teams: No specific research groups or laboratories mentioned in profile.
Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black is Professor in the Department of History and Director of the Dietrich College Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University. She has been a faculty member since 2001 and serves as Faculty Advisor for Carnegie Mellon's African and African American Studies Minor. Her work bridges academic research with public engagement, bringing untold stories of enslaved Africans and their descendants to broader audiences through innovative interdisciplinary collaborations. Dr. Fields-Black earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Her academic journey has focused on connecting historical research with contemporary social issues, particularly through the lens of African diasporic experiences and the legacy of slavery in the United States. Dr. Fields-Black specializes in the trans-national history of West African rice farmers, peasant farmers in pre-colonial Upper Guinea Coast, and enslaved laborers on rice plantations in the antebellum South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry. Her research employs interdisciplinary methods to recover the voices of historical actors who left few written records. She examines how enslaved Africans' technological expertise in rice cultivation shaped both the economies of the American South and cultural practices that persist in the Gullah Geechee communities. Her work challenges conventional narratives about pre-colonial Africa and the African Diaspora, revealing dynamic, diverse societies with specialized agricultural knowledge. Dr. Fields-Black's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on uncovering previously marginalized perspectives in American history, particularly regarding slavery and the Civil War era. Her work increasingly integrates environmental history with social history, examining how enslaved people interacted with and transformed coastal landscapes. The 2024 publication 'COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War' represents the culmination of this trajectory, using Civil War pension files to reconstruct the experiences of freedom-seekers in their own words. Dr. Fields-Black has received numerous prestigious awards for her scholarship, including: 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize 2025 Tom Watson Brown Book Award 2024 George C. Rogers Jr. Award 2024 Marsha M. Greenlee History Award Honorable Mention - 2025 James A. Rawley Prize Finalist - 2025 Mark Lynton History Prize Finalist - 2025 ASALH Book Prize Dr. Fields-Black has secured significant research funding from major foundations including Ford, Mellon, Woodrow Wilson, and Annenberg Foundations, as well as the Smithsonian Museum and Fulbright-Hays. She currently leads an interdisciplinary team of scientists studying 'Queen Rice': How Enslaved Labor Transformed Wetland Landscapes and America,' examining the 300-year impact of enslaved labor on coastal wetlands. Her work extends beyond traditional academic boundaries through collaborations with artists, filmmakers, and museum curators to bring historical narratives to wider audiences. Dr. Fields-Black leads the 'Requiem for Rice' project, an innovative collaboration with composer John Wineglass and filmmaker Julie Dash that transforms historical research into a symphonic work memorializing enslaved Africans on rice plantations. She also serves as principal investigator for a team of scientists studying the environmental impact of enslaved labor on coastal wetlands, integrating archaeology, conservation, digital humanities, and ecological studies. Her work with museums includes advising for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Senator John Heinz History Center, and the International African American Museum.
Sharon Marcus is the Orlando Harriman Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, specializing in 19th-century British and French culture. Her work examines cultural value assignment in architecture, social relationships, and performance. Education: B.A. in Comparative Literature, Brown University Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, Johns Hopkins University Her research interests include Victorian literature , gender and sexuality studies , performance culture , and celebrity theory . She co-founded the public scholarship magazine Public Books and has written extensively on feminist theory and textual interpretation. Her publications explore narrative structures , cultural hierarchies , and identity performance , with consistent focus on historical contexts and media evolution. Awards include: Guggenheim Fellowship ACLS Burkhardt Fellowship Mark Van Doren Teaching Prize (2024) She co-edits a Columbia University Press series and mentors graduate students. Her current project addresses academic presentation techniques.
Dr Marcus Chin is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford's Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, affiliated with the Faculty of Classics. Previously, he served as a non-stipendiary lecturer in Roman history at Lady Margaret Hall (2020–2021). He holds a BA and MRes from Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia, 2014 and 2016), and a DPhil in Classics from Oxford (2021). His research explores the cultural and economic dynamics of the Hellenistic and Roman Mediterranean, particularly interactions between local communities and imperial powers. Current projects under the CHANGE initiative include a book on pre-Roman Asia Minor dynastic rulers and an electronic index of monetary data from pre-Roman epigraphy in Asia Minor, to be published via linked open data frameworks. Teaching experience includes Roman history modules for Mods and Greats (e.g., Cicero and Catiline, Tacitus and Tiberius, Augustan Rome), as well as tutorials on Roman History 5/6 and Nero to Hadrian. Research keywords encompass Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman history; epigraphy; numismatics; historiography; and Asia Minor studies. Future work includes articles on specific inscriptions, coinages, and a study of gift-giving in Diodoros Siculus, alongside an edited volume on Hellenistic monetary economies. No scientific awards are explicitly mentioned. Advising and grants sections remain underdeveloped in the provided text. He is affiliated with the CHANGE Project and collaborates with institutions like the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents and teams including Simon Glenn and Leah Lazar.
Professor John Rink is a leading scholar in music performance studies, 19th-century music (particularly Chopin), and digital musicology. He holds the position of Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Music and is a Fellow at St John's College. His research bridges historical analysis, performance practice, and digital innovation, with notable projects like the Chopin's First Editions Online and the Online Chopin Variorum Edition . He directed the AHRC-funded Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice (2009-2015) and serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Complete Chopin – A New Critical Edition . Education includes studies at Princeton University, King's College London, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge on Chopin's tonal structures and improvisation. He also holds performance qualifications from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Notable awards include the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Bene Merito distinction (2019) for contributions to Poland's international cultural standing. His work emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, evidenced by roles in global research networks (e.g., with the Universidade de São Paulo and institutions in China, Singapore, and the UK). Active in performance evaluation, he has served on the jury of the International Chopin Competition since 2015. His teaching focuses on performance studies, music analysis, and digital methodologies. Research outputs include monographs like Chopin: The Piano Concertos (1997) and edited volumes such as Cambridge Companion to Recorded Music (2009). Current projects explore digital editions, performance creativity, and cross-cultural choral development. He leads Cambridge Digital Humanities and has advisory roles in journals like Music & Letters and Musicologist .
Kyle J. M. Bishop is Professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (Columbia Engineering), where he leads research at the intersection of active matter, soft materials, and micro-robotics. Appointed in 2016 after serving as Assistant Professor at Penn State and postdoctoral fellow with George Whitesides at Harvard, his work focuses on non-equilibrium assembly of colloidal systems. Education: BS in Chemical Engineering (highest distinction), University of Virginia PhD, Northwestern University Professor Bishop's research pioneers strategies for directing colloidal assembly outside thermodynamic equilibrium, with emphases on magnetic micro-robot navigation, synchronization phenomena in active matter, and electrochemical control of soft materials. His lab develops fundamental principles for programming collective behavior in synthetic systems, bridging chemical engineering, physics, and robotics to create materials with lifelike functionalities. Recent work explores biomolecular condensates, field-driven transport, and non-equilibrium information processing. Analysis of his 2023-2025 publications reveals a cohesive trajectory toward autonomous control of active systems: magnetic micro-robots navigate complex landscapes through field programming, enzymatic coacervates implement biological feedback loops, and oscillator networks achieve emergent synchronization. These studies span soft matter physics, electrochemistry, and microfluidics, consistently targeting applications in programmable materials and environmental engineering while advancing non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Scientific Awards: 3M Non-tenured Faculty award NSF CAREER award for 'Contact Charge Electrophoresis for Mobile Microfluidics' Professor Bishop secures substantial research funding including his NSF CAREER grant developing contact charge electrophoresis for microfluidic applications. While current students aren't listed in source materials, his lab trains graduate researchers in experimental soft matter physics and micro-robotics. His group collaborates across disciplines to translate fundamental discoveries into technologies for targeted delivery and environmental remediation. The Bishop Lab at Columbia Engineering operates as an interdisciplinary hub where chemical engineers, physicists, and materials scientists develop experimental platforms for manipulating colloids at fluid interfaces, with recent work focusing on magneto-capillary dynamics and field-programmable micro-robot swarms.
Nathan Arrington is a Professor of Art and Archaeology and Hellenic Studies at Princeton University, serving as Chair of his department. He is affiliated with the Department of Classics, the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, and Mathey College. His research focuses on ancient Greek material culture, particularly the intersection of art history, archaeology, and classics. Key projects include the Molyvoti, Thrace Archaeological Project (MTAP), investigating domestic archaeology in a trading port, and his work on haptics in Greek art. Arrington holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (2010). His teaching emphasizes archaeological methods, cultural heritage, and critical analysis of primary sources, often utilizing museum collections. He has excavated at sites including Corinth, Nemea, and Mycenae, alongside co-directing MTAP. His research explores themes like funerary practices, materiality, and cultural memory. Recent work addresses tactile engagement with art and its implications for perception and power. Awards include grants from the Gates Cambridge Trust and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Arrington founded Princeton’s Program in Archaeology and collaborates on initiatives such as the PITHOS program for Greek archaeology. His publications include Ashes, Images, and Memories (2015) and Athens at the Margins (2021), alongside numerous articles on Greek art, archaeology, and cultural exchange.
Ditlev Rindom is a Visiting Research Fellow at King's College London's Department of Music within the Faculty of Arts & Humanities. He previously held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019–2023). His education includes a BA in English Literature from Oxford University, piano studies at the Royal College of Music and RNCM, and a PhD in Musicology from Cambridge University with a visiting fellowship at Yale University. His research focuses on 19th–20th century opera, modern Italian studies, film music, and voice studies. Key projects include his monograph Singing in the City: Opera, Italianità and Transatlantic Exchange (1870–1918) , a critical edition of Puccini's La rondine premiered at La Scala, and a co-edited Cambridge Opera Journal special issue on Italian operetta. Current work explores material cultures of 19th-century Italian opera and transnational opera-cinema links. Teaching expertise covers 19th–20th century music history and musicological methodologies. He contributes to institutions like the Royal Opera House and Wigmore Hall through programme notes and talks. His publications span peer-reviewed journals ( 19th-Century Music , Journal of the Royal Musical Association ) and edited volumes on Puccini and Italian opera contexts. Research projects include the British Academy-funded 'Staging Italy: The Theatrical Imagination in the Italian Peninsula, 1837–1871' (2019–2023). He actively engages in public scholarship through reviews in Opera magazine and Times Literary Supplement , maintaining interdisciplinary connections between music, performance studies, and cultural history.
Yannick Bosc is a Lecturer specializing in modern history and the French Revolution at the University of Rouen. He holds affiliations as an Associate Researcher at Paris Diderot University (ICT laboratory) and the University of Barcelona's GREECS laboratory. He co-edits the Révolution Française.net platform and contributes to the Thomas Paine Collected Works Project . His research focuses on the French Revolution, republicanism, natural law, and the intersection of property/commons with revolutionary thought. Education includes a Master’s in History and Geography from ESPE and a Master’s in Epistemology of History from Paris Diderot University. Research interests emphasize republican political economies, the historiography of the French Revolution, and the legacy of key figures like Robespierre and Thomas Paine. His recent publications include analyses of Bonaparte’s Consulate, Hannah Arendt’s revolutionary thought, and the Directory’s political structure. Editorial work spans academic journals and book series, including the Kimé collection. He actively participates in seminars on Enlightenment and revolution themes.
Aušra Navickienė is a Professor and Head of the Department of Book Science and Publishing at Vilnius University's Faculty of Communication. She holds a doctoral degree and has served as Chair of the Communication and Information PhD Studies Committee. Her research focuses on the history of documentary communication, publishing media, manuscript heritage, and book science theory. She has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles, monographs, and edited volumes, with recent work emphasizing Lithuanian publishing history and international scholarly collaboration. Key projects include organizing conferences on Francysk Skaryna and leading initiatives under the National Programme for Lithuanian Studies. Navickienė has received multiple awards, including the Vilnius University Rector's Award (2011) and a Ministry of Education prize for her textbook *Book Science* (2008). She actively participates in global scholarly networks like SHARP and serves on editorial boards of international journals. Her academic leadership roles include chairing PhD committees, managing research projects, and promoting interdisciplinary studies in book and communication history. She has conducted research in Poland, Sweden, and the UK, enhancing Lithuania's international academic profile.
