Luis A. Leiva

Luis A. Leiva is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Luxembourg’s Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine. He leads the Computational Interaction research group and serves as director of the Interdisciplinary Lab for Intelligent and Adaptive Systems (ILIAS). His academic background includes a PhD in Computer Science (with honors), an MAS in Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence, an MSc in Electrical Engineering, and dual BSc degrees in Industrial Design and Industrial Engineering, all from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).

His research lies at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Machine Learning, with a focus on computational interaction. He investigates methods to enable, explain, and support user interaction through computational models and data-driven techniques. His key areas include implicit interaction—leveraging behavioral signals such as mouse movements and gaze—and synthetic data generation, particularly using kinematic models to simulate human-like gestures. His work has contributed to usability evaluation, user engagement prediction, adaptive interfaces, and stroke gesture modeling.

His recent publications span top-tier journals and conferences such as ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), IEEE Transactions, CHI, IUI, and SIGIR. The research trends reflect a strong emphasis on multimodal interaction, affective computing, brain-computer interfaces, and deep learning applications in user interface modeling and personalization.

• Best paper award at IUI'25
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Seal of Excellence (2019)
• Extraordinary PhD thesis award (2014)
• Outstanding Reviewer Recognition at CHI, ICMI, MobileHCI, and UIST
• Quality Teaching Awards finalist at Aalto University (2020)

Luis A. Leiva has advised numerous MSc and BSc students at the University of Luxembourg and Aalto University and has secured significant research funding as PI or co-PI for projects such as SYMBIOTIK (EIC), SCRIPTOR (FNR), BANANA (CHIST-ERA), and SAMUSE (Audacity). He is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies and Machine Learning with Applications, and actively serves on the program committees of major HCI and AI conferences. He is also a co-founder and former CTO of Sciling, an SME specializing in machine learning solutions, and has held postdoctoral positions at Aalto University and the PRHLT Research Center (UPV).

He leads the Computational Interaction research group and the ILIAS lab, both dedicated to advancing intelligent, adaptive, and user-centered computing systems through interdisciplinary research combining machine learning, cognitive science, and interactive technologies.