Prof. Dr. Michael Bosnjak leads the Department for Psychological Research Methods at the University of Trier, Germany, focusing on research synthesis methods, theory-driven machine learning, survey methodology, and experimental designs applied to personality psychology (HEXACO model), consumer behavior, and public health. His team includes Dr. Henning Silber (GESIS), Dr. Bernd Weiß (GESIS), and international collaborators at Utrecht University. Affiliation: University of Trier (Department of Psychology) Editorial Roles: Zeitschrift für Psychologie (Editorial Board), Social Science Computer Review (Associate Editor), Frontiers in Psychology (Review Editorial Board) Grants: DFG SFB 884 (co-applicant), DFG Project PaCO (2019-2024, principle investigator), BMBF-funded GESIS Panel Campus His recent publications analyze panel conditioning effects in longitudinal studies, e-commerce privacy dynamics, personality-trait interactions, and psychosis proneness measurement. Scientific awards include the 2016 BMBF infrastructure grant, 2011 Isaac Manasseh Meyer Fellowship, and 2003 Karin Islinger Award. Current projects address data quality in probability-based and opt-in panels, with experimental designs across eight groups testing measurement error mechanisms. He serves as a co-editor for multiple special issues on survey methodology and tourism psychology.
Muhammad Ali Gulzar is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at Virginia Tech and an Amazon Scholar at Amazon Web Services. His research focuses on improving developer productivity through automated debugging and testing for applications in emerging domains, including data-intensive software such as dataflow programs, ML/AI applications, and computational notebooks. Education Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of California, Los Angeles (Google Ph.D. Fellow 2017-2020) Research Interests Gulzar's research spans three primary areas: (1) automated tracking-code localization techniques in web applications, (2) re-engineering testing and debugging for data-intensive applications, and (3) advancing current testing and debugging practices in Federated Learning Applications. His work addresses the challenges of debugging in complex systems where traditional approaches fail due to the scale and distributed nature of modern applications. His research has significant implications for improving software quality, developer productivity, and accessibility in web applications. Research Trends Recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on debugging and testing challenges in emerging application domains. His work bridges traditional software engineering with machine learning, data-intensive systems, and web technologies. Notably, he has made significant contributions to Federated Learning debugging (FedDebug), accessibility challenges in ad-driven web applications, and semantic caching for Large Language Models. His approach often combines novel algorithmic insights with practical implementations that address real-world challenges in software development and maintenance. Scientific Awards Google Ph.D. Fellow (2017-2020) $1.1 million NSF award for Federated Learning research ACM CCS 2024 Distinguished Artifact Award Advising and Grants Gulzar leads a productive research group with multiple students contributing to publications in top-tier venues. His NSF-funded research on Federated Learning demonstrates his ability to secure competitive funding for innovative projects. His advising style appears to emphasize practical impact alongside theoretical contributions, with students often taking lead roles in publications. Current research directions include debugging techniques for Large Language Models, accessibility challenges in modern web applications, and novel testing approaches for distributed data processing systems.
Jun Li is a Full Professor in the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Notre Dame's College of Science. He specializes in developing statistical and computational methods for big data, with a focus on interdisciplinary applications in bioinformatics, machine learning, and data mining. His career includes tenure as an Assistant Professor (2012–2017) and promotion to Associate Professor (2017) before becoming Full Professor (2020). Dr. Li holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from Stanford University (2012), supervised by Robert Tibshirani, and earlier degrees from Tsinghua University: a B.E. in Automation (2004) and an M.S. in Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Systems (2007). Research Interests : Dr. Li’s work centers on advancing computational frameworks for handling large-scale datasets, integrating statistical rigor with algorithmic innovation. Recent themes include AI-driven code improvement, ethical LLM applications in HCI, and GUI automation. His methodologies emphasize human-AI collaboration and transparency in algorithmic systems. Publications : His 2025 work explores LLM vulnerabilities in GUI agents, AI-assisted education tools like GLITTER, and ethical challenges in HCI research. Earlier studies (2024–2023) address topics such as natural language database queries, privacy-preserving app promotion analysis, and multimodal task learning. Lab/Teams : Affiliated with Notre Dame’s computational statistics research groups, focusing on interdisciplinary projects bridging statistics, computer science, and applied mathematics. His work often involves collaborations with industry and academic partners to translate theoretical advancements into practical applications.
Kevin Chenchuan Chang is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), affiliated with the FORWARD Data Lab and the Data and Information Systems Laboratories. His research focuses on bridging structured and unstructured data through natural language processing, data mining, machine learning, and information retrieval, with applications in web search, social media analytics, and knowledge acquisition. He co-founded Cazoodle and developed GrantForward.com, a funding discovery platform used by leading institutions globally. Education: Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University (2001), B.S. from National Taiwan University. Professional roles include service on program committees for SIGMOD, VLDB, KDD, and NeurIPS, as well as editorial roles for PVLDB, TKDE, and the Encyclopedia of Database Systems. His awards include the ICDE 10-Year Test of Time Award (2022), NSF CAREER Award (2002), and multiple UIUC teaching excellence recognitions. He teaches courses such as CS 411 (Database Systems), CS 598 KCC (Understanding LLMs), and CS 511 (Advanced Data Management). Research contributions span graph algorithms (e.g., Geom-GCN, SimRank), social network analysis (ROSE), and NLP (DEER, Open Relation Modeling). The FORWARD Lab emphasizes real-world impact through systems like GrantForward and tools for analyzing large-scale data.
Stefano Leonardi is a Full Professor in the Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering Antonio Ruberti at Sapienza Università di Roma. His research focuses on Algorithm Theory, Algorithms and Data Science, and Economics and Computation. He leads the ERC Advanced Grant project AMDROMA, exploring algorithmic mechanisms for online markets. He has held roles as Conference Chair for STOC 2021, WWW 2015, and FUN 2018, and coordinates the Sapienza School of Advanced Studies (2016-2018). His work spans approximation algorithms, online algorithms, and mechanism design. Awards include the ERC Advanced Grant and EATCS Fellowship. His research interests emphasize foundational algorithmic problems in web-based markets, leveraging rigorous design and large-scale data analysis. Recent projects include ALGADIMAR (PRIN 2019-2022) for digital market algorithms. He chairs the Highlights of Algorithms conference series and serves on program committees for top venues like EC, ICALP, and SODA. His lab focuses on web algorithmics and data mining, addressing challenges in online labor markets and fair division. Leonardi's academic contributions include over 100 publications, with recent work on fair algorithms, prophet inequalities, and mechanism design in auctions. He has pioneered methods for submodular optimization, online learning, and multi-agent systems. Grants and awards reflect his leadership in bridging theory with real-world applications, particularly in digital economies. Grants: ERC Advanced Grant (2018-2023), PRIN ALGADIMAR (2019-2022) Leadership: Chair of ACM STOC 2021, WWW 2015, and 9th FUN Conference Labs/Teams: Laboratory on Web Algorithmics and Data Mining Key Projects: AMDROMA (algorithmic mechanisms), ALGADIMAR (digital markets)
Jeremy Blackburn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Binghamton University. He co-founded the International Data-driven Research for Advanced Modeling and Analysis Lab ( iDRAMA Lab ) and leads its Binghamton satellite. His research focuses on large-scale measurement and analysis of social media, particularly the behavior of malicious actors and disinformation campaigns.
Chinmay Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute, where he leads the Expertise@Scale lab. His research integrates large-scale data and automation to transform learning, work, and mentoring systems. Education : Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University (recipient of the Arthur P Samuel Award) Previous Affiliations : Microsoft Research, Barcelona Supercomputing Center His research spans: Human-Computer Interaction design for massive collaboration Voice-controlled interfaces and AI tools Future of work in remote/hybrid environments Behavioral economics through tech interventions Creative entrepreneurship support systems Algorithmic feedback in education Recent publications with AI and education focus show strong trends in voice technology, peer feedback mechanisms, and scalable learning platforms. His lab's systems have been used by >100,000 users across 150 countries. Scientific Awards : Arthur P Samuel Award (Stanford thesis award) Advising & Grants : NSF grant recipient US Department of Education funding Office of Naval Research support Departmental fellowship Labs : Directs Expertise@Scale lab developing systems adopted by Coursera and edX. Current research group includes PhD students Yasmine Kotturi, Julia Cambre, Pranav Khadpe and Masters student Sayan Chaudhry.
Jelena Mirkovic serves as Principal Scientist at USC Information Sciences Institute (USC/ISI) and Research Associate Professor at the University of Southern California's Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science. She has held faculty positions at USC since 2010, progressing from Research Assistant Professor to her current role as Research Associate Professor since 2017, while also serving as Project Leader at USC/ISI. Her educational background includes: PhD in Computer Science from UCLA (2003) MS in Computer Science from UCLA (2000) B.Sc. in Computer Science from University of Belgrade, Serbia (1998) Mirkovic's research spans network security, human-centered attacks, and cybersecurity experimentation infrastructure. Her work focuses on critical security challenges including botnets, denial-of-service attacks, IP spoofing, vulnerability scanning, and user-centric privacy. She has pioneered methodologies for security experiments and led major infrastructure projects including the DETER testbed and SPHERE (Security and Privacy Heterogeneous Environment for Reproducible Experimentation). Analysis of her recent publications reveals consistent innovation across multiple security domains. Her work demonstrates strong technical depth in DDoS defense systems (particularly DNS protection), binary vulnerability analysis, privacy-preserving systems, and security experimentation infrastructure. A notable trend is her focus on bridging theoretical security concepts with practical implementation through large-scale testbeds and real-world data analysis. Her significant scientific achievements include: IEEE Senior Member distinction Best paper award at IEEE COMSNETS 2023 for DNS DDoS defense research Mirkovic has secured substantial research funding as Principal Investigator or Co-PI on numerous grants from NSF, DHS, and other agencies. Current major projects include SPHERE (Security and Privacy Heterogeneous Environment for Reproducible Experimentation), DISCERN (Datasets to Illuminate Suspicious Computations), and modernizing DeterLab education infrastructure. She has successfully led multiple REU sites focused on cybersecurity education and workforce development. She directs the STEEL (Security Research Lab) at USC/ISI, which develops innovative security solutions through interdisciplinary research in network security, human factors in security, and cybersecurity experimentation infrastructure. The lab emphasizes practical implementations that address real-world security challenges while advancing theoretical understanding of security systems.
Seth Frey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Davis, with affiliate status at Indiana University's Ostrom Workshop and as Research Director at Metagov. His research focuses on computational social science approaches to understanding self-governance in complex social systems, particularly through the lens of online communities as model institutions. Education: Ph.D. in Cognitive Science and Informatics (complex systems), Indiana University, 2013 B.A. in Cognitive Science, UC Berkeley, 2004 Research Interests: Frey specializes in computational approaches to institutional analysis and the cognitive science of strategic behavior . His work examines how communities design governance systems to overcome collective action problems, with emphasis on: Emergent institutional structures in digital commons Policy-as-data through NLP and institutional grammar frameworks Cognitive mechanisms underlying cooperative behavior Design principles for participatory change in online platforms His methodology integrates large-scale data analysis, web-based experiments, and computational modeling across diverse contexts including Minecraft, Reddit, and professional sports ecosystems. Publication Trends: Recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a cohesive trajectory toward computational institutional analysis, with increasing focus on NLP-driven policy analysis (e.g., NLP4Gov), decentralized governance architectures (DAOs, multi-level platform governance), and the cognitive foundations of collective action. His work consistently bridges theoretical institutional analysis with practical applications in digital community design, showing particular growth in translating Ostrom's design principles into computational frameworks. Awards: Honorable Mention Award for Best Paper at ACM CSCW 2019 Advising and Grants: Frey mentors students interested in data science applications at the intersection of communication, cognition, and complex systems, emphasizing resourcefulness and intellectual curiosity. His research has secured substantial funding from: National Science Foundation (NSF) NASA Ford Foundation Google Open Source Foundation He actively encourages aspiring graduate students with strong self-directed research skills to explore computational approaches to social phenomena. Labs and Teams: He leads the Computational Communication Lab at UC Davis and co-directs the Institutional Grammar Research Initiative. Through Metagov, he develops the 'Governance API' framework for modular community governance. His past affiliations include Disney Research (Walt Disney Imagineering) where he applied complexity science to theme park systems, and the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI). Current collaborations span Ethereum governance, Minecraft server ecosystems, and Colorado's cannabis monitoring infrastructure.
Dr. Teresa Wang is a Senior Lecturer in Data Science at Monash University's Faculty of Information Technology, specializing in entity/user modeling, relational/structural machine learning, and graph/network analysis. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Queensland and degrees from Nanjing University. Currently, she directs the Master of Data Science Program and teaches courses like FIT5201 Machine Learning. Her research focuses on social, e-commerce, and health data modeling, with notable projects including the Knowledge Enriched Approach for Effective Personalization (2025–2027) and collaborations on AI in Mental Health and Site Safety. Dr. Wang has co-authored over 59 publications, emphasizing areas like ontology matching and multimodal data analysis. She actively supervises PhD students and contributes to initiatives like the CSIRO Next Generation Graduates Program for clean energy and sustainability. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science (2017), University of Queensland Master of Computer Science (2013), Nanjing University Bachelor of Software Engineering (2010), Nanjing University Research Interests: Entity modeling, spatio-temporal data analysis, graph mining, recommender systems, and health/medical records mining. She explores applications in social media, e-commerce, and healthcare sectors. Projects: "Knowledge Enriched Approach for Effective Personalization" (2025–2027) "AI for Clean Energy and Sustainability" (2023–2027) "CSIRO Next Generation Graduates Program: AI in Mental Health" (2023–2027) "Large-scale multimodal knowledge management" (2022–2025) Grants & Collaborations: Engaged with CSIRO, Crank Group, and Pola Practice Pty Ltd. Her work aligns with UN SDGs in education and sustainable energy systems. Labs/Teams: Part of the Monash Energy Institute and Monash Data Futures Institute, contributing to interdisciplinary AI and energy research.
Prof. Annette Jackle is a Professor of Survey Methodology and Deputy Director of Understanding Society - the UK Household Longitudinal Study at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on innovative data collection methods, including mobile device integration, sensor data, and data linkage consent processes. She leads methodological experiments in longitudinal studies to improve participation rates and data quality. Key projects include the Understanding Society Innovation Panel, which explores event-triggered data collection, mobile app-based expenditure measurement, and consent mechanisms for administrative data linkage. Her work addresses barriers to participation, mode effects, and bias reduction in surveys. Recent studies analyze digital trace data during the pandemic, mobile app efficacy in probability/nonprobability panels, and the impact of question placement on consent decisions. Her research informs best practices for survey design in rapidly evolving technological landscapes. Jackle collaborates with institutions like ISER and the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change. She advises on survey methodology for large-scale studies and contributes to policy-relevant research through Understanding Society's extensive dataset.
Professor Jason Dykes is a leading figure in the field of information and geovisualization at City, University of London, where he holds the position of Professor in the Department of Computer Science and co-directs the giCentre , a renowned research centre in visualization. He is affiliated with the School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering and maintains an active research and teaching profile. His academic journey includes a PhD in Geography from the University of Leicester and extensive leadership in both research and education. Education: PhD in Geography, University of Leicester, 2000 MSc in Geographic Information Systems, University of Leicester, 1991 BA/MA in Geography, University of Oxford, 1989 Jason Dykes' research is centered on designing visual methods and tools for exploring, analyzing, and presenting information, with a strong emphasis on geographic data. His work integrates cartography, information visualization, GIScience, and human-computer interaction , leading to the development of innovative techniques such as geowigs, ODmaps, BallotMaps, and AttributeSignatures. He has published extensively in top-tier journals like IEEE Transactions on Visualization & Computer Graphics, with over 20 papers in the last decade, and co-authored the seminal book Exploring Geovisualization (2005). His research is supported by major funders including EPSRC and the EU, with projects like RAMP VIS (Covid-19 response) and VALCRI (criminal intelligence). The most recent articles highlight a consistent trend in applied and human-centered visualization , focusing on responsive design, education, pandemic modeling, and novel visual metaphors for complex data. His work increasingly emphasizes methodological rigor, design exposition, and the role of visualization in interdisciplinary and emergency contexts. Scientific Awards and Recognition: National Teaching Fellow, Higher Education Academy (2005) Best Paper Awards at GIS Research UK (consecutive years) Honorable Mentions, IEEE InfoVis (2009, 2010, 2016, 2018) Security Innovation Commercialisation Award (EU, 2022) Research Supervisor of the Year, City Student Union (2020) Innovations in Teaching Award and multiple teaching grants at City Jason Dykes has supervised eight PhD students to completion and advised many others, including notable researchers like Roger Beecham, Sarah Goodwin, and Susanne Bleisch. His teaching includes modules such as Visualizing Society and Data Presentation. He has received significant grant funding from UK research councils and the EU for projects like DIVA, VALCRI, and RAMP VIS. His service to the community includes leadership roles in IEEE VIS, ICA Commission on GeoVisualization, and editorial positions at IEEE TVCG and the Journal of Visualization and Interaction. He leads the giCentre , a dynamic research group that fosters innovation in visualization, and has been instrumental in establishing the field’s educational and methodological foundations through participation in Dagstuhl seminars and publications on visualization pedagogy.
Hugues Aschard is a Principal Investigator and Structure Manager at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where he leads research in statistical genetics, microbiome analysis, and computational genomics. He is the principal investigator of the MicMat project, the EpiGenCOV Consortium, and several bioinformatics software initiatives including JASS, RAISS, and MGMM. Research Interests: Statistical and computational methods in genetics Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) Gene-environment interactions Microbiome and host genetics in inflammatory bowel disease Genetic epidemiology of infectious diseases like COVID-19 Development of open-source tools for multi-trait and summary-statistic analysis Recent Research Trends: His recent publications and projects emphasize integrative genetic modeling, multi-trait analysis across diverse populations, and the development of novel computational methods to handle missing data and improve SNP discovery. His work bridges statistical innovation with biological and clinical applications in complex diseases. Scientific Contributions: Development of JASS, RAISS, and MGMM software tools Leadership in large-scale consortia like EpiGenCOV Advancing methods for cross-ancestry genetic studies Advising and Collaboration: He supervises multiple PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, including Christophe Boetto, Antoine Auvergne, and Lucas Chataigner. He collaborates with major institutions such as APHP and CNRGH. His team includes research engineers and administrative staff, indicating an active and well-supported research group. Laboratories and Teams: He is a key member of the Biomaterials and Microfluidics team at the Pasteur Institute, where he contributes to interdisciplinary research involving Bayesian decision processes and genetic modeling.
Roop Aparajita Subhra Purushottam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. His research focuses on machine learning foundations and applications, particularly in extreme classification, optimization techniques, robust learning, and educational technology. He has developed scalable algorithms for web-scale applications and innovative teaching tools for programming education. His research interests span: Design and analysis of machine learning algorithms Statistical learning theory and online optimization Non-convex optimization for large-scale problems Robust learning against adversarial corruptions Applications in information retrieval, education, and environmental monitoring Recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on extreme classification techniques, efficient deep learning architectures, and educational technologies. His work consistently appears in top-tier conferences including KDD, ICML, NeurIPS, and CVPR, with innovations in scaling machine learning systems to handle millions of labels and users. Significant Awards: Gopal Das Bhandari Distinguished Teacher Award (2024) PK Kelkar Faculty Fellowship (2024-2027) Microsoft Bing Ads Greatness Award (2021) Computer Society of India Faculty Award (2018) Multiple best paper awards and nominations at major conferences He leads several research grants and consults for industry partners including Microsoft Research and Tower Research. His team develops open-source tools like Prutor for programming education and DEFRAG for efficient feature agglomeration in extreme classification. He has advised numerous PhD and Master's students who have received prestigious awards for their research contributions.
Güneş Acar is a tenured Assistant Professor in the Digital Security group at Radboud University's Faculty of Science. He is also affiliated with iHub, Radboud's interdisciplinary research hub on digitalization and society. His research focuses on security and privacy threats from websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices, with special emphasis on online tracking mechanisms, anonymous communication networks like Tor, and deceptive design patterns. Dr. Acar completed his PhD at KU Leuven under the supervision of Claudia Diaz and Bart Preneel. Prior to joining Radboud University, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at KU Leuven's COSIC group and a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy. His research spans web security, privacy, online tracking, IoT security, Tor network analysis, and dark patterns. He investigates how websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices compromise user privacy through various tracking mechanisms and deceptive interface designs. His work combines large-scale measurements with user studies to understand both technical vulnerabilities and their real-world impact on users. Dr. Acar's publications reveal an evolving research trajectory from foundational web tracking mechanisms to increasingly sophisticated privacy threats. His work has expanded from browser fingerprinting to IoT privacy, children's online safety, and manipulative design patterns in subscription interfaces. A consistent theme across his research is the examination of how third-party trackers operate and circumvent privacy protections. 2022 CNIL-Inria Award for Privacy Protection (for Leaky Forms paper) Top Reviewer Award, Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (2022) Future of Privacy Forum's Annual Privacy Papers for Policymakers Award (2020) Runner-up for multiple Caspar Bowden Awards for Outstanding Research in Privacy Enhancing Technologies Dutch Research Council (NWO) Vidi Grant (2025-2030) for "A Web Security and Privacy Observatory" Dr. Acar actively supervises PhD students including Zahra Moti, Tim Vlummens, and Luqman Zagi, with Asuman Senol recently completing her PhD in 2024. He has secured significant research funding including the NWO Vidi Grant and a project grant from armasuisse for the Mobile Web Inspector project. His research has influenced policy discussions with organizations including the OECD, US Federal Trade Commission, and European consumer protection authorities. As part of the Digital Security group at Radboud University, Dr. Acar contributes to a vibrant research ecosystem focused on practical security and privacy solutions. His work bridges technical security research with human-centered perspectives, often collaborating across disciplines to address complex privacy challenges in real-world contexts.
