Sarah Pink is a leading Professor at Monash University , holding a joint appointment across the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture and the Faculty of Information Technology . She serves as Director of the FUTURES Hub and Emerging Technologies Research Lab , focusing on human futures in digital and net zero transitions. PhD in Social Anthropology, University of Kent Honorary Doctorates from Malmö and Halmstad Universities Fellow, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Her research spans design anthropology, emerging technologies, automated decision making, and future mobilities . Recent work examines: AI ethics in clean energy Smart homes for seniors Automated mobility futures Selected 2025 article trends show focus on technological ethics, urban data systems, and human-machine interaction across 6 subfields including automated decision making and sensory design. Major awards: CIOB Award for Best International Paper (2016) Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Gold (2021) Good Design Awards (2023) As research director for Monash Grid Innovation Hub and Human-Centred Computing , she leads projects funded by Australian Research Council, EU, and national research councils across five countries. Her lab engages 20 active projects and 20+ industry partners globally.
Sebastian Möller is a Professor at the Faculty for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Technical University of Berlin and leads the Speech and Language Technology research department at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) since 2017. His work bridges speech technology, natural language processing, and quality engineering, with a focus on usable security, virtual reality applications, and ethical AI. Born in 1968, studied electrical engineering at Ruhr University Bochum, Université d'Orléans, and University of Bologna Doctorate in 1999 from Ruhr University Bochum on speech quality prediction Adjunct Professor at University of Technology Sydney since 2018 His research spans speech signal processing, quality assessment of AI systems, and ethical challenges in medical AI applications. Recent work includes fairness in clinical AI decision-making, audio deepfake detection using self-supervised learning, and collaborative approaches to natural language explanation generation. All three 2025 publications reflect his focus on AI quality assessment and ethical implementation across domains: medical AI fairness, audio deepfake detection, and collaborative explanation frameworks. These works demonstrate expertise in natural language processing, speech technology, and model interpretability. Johann-Philipp-Reis-Prize (2009) Heisenberg Scholarship (2005) Lothar Cremer Prize (2003) VDE ITG Prize (2001) Geers Foundation award (1998) Möller has held leadership roles at TU Berlin including Vice Dean for Research (2015-2017) and Dean (2017-2019). He contributes to international standardization through ITU-T (since 1997) and has served in key positions at DEGA, VDE, and ISCA, including ISCA presidency (2021-2023).
Thomas Grote is a Research Fellow at the University of Tübingen's Ethics and Philosophy Lab within the Cluster of Excellence 'Machine Learning: New Perspectives for Science'. His research focuses on philosophical and ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence, particularly interpretability, fairness, and reliability in medical and social contexts. He co-supervises the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung-funded project 'Certification and Foundations of Safe Machine Learning Systems in Healthcare' and co-organizes the 'Philosophy of Science Meets Machine Learning' conference series. Research Focus Grote's interdisciplinary work bridges philosophy of science and applied AI ethics. Key areas include: Methodological foundations of AI ethics and epistemology Clinical reliability and safety of ML systems Fairness metrics in sociotechnical healthcare systems Interpretability requirements for medical AI Computational psychiatry and evolving mental health frameworks His recent publications demonstrate strong emphasis on healthcare applications, with critical analyses of reliability in foundation models, ethical paradigms for LLMs, and rethinking evaluation methodologies at the epistemology-ethics interface.
Jan Peters is a full professor (W3) at the Computer Science Department of Technische Universität Darmstadt and serves as the department head of the Systems AI for Robot Learning (SAIROL) at the German Research Center for AI (DFKI) . He is also a founding faculty member of the Hessian Centre for Artificial Intelligence . Peters holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California (2007) and dual master’s degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from USC and TU Munich respectively. Research Themes : Robot Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Imitation Learning, Tactile Sensing, Human-Robot Interaction, and Safe AI. Recent Article Trends : Focus on deep reinforcement learning (Iterated Q-Networks, Adaptive Q-Networks), safe robot foundation models , tactile-enhanced imitation learning , and physics-informed machine learning . Scientific Recognition : Recipient of the Dick Volz Best PhD Thesis Award , ERC Starting Grant , IEEE Fellow , and Amazon Research Award . Leadership : Founder of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Robot Learning and editor for journals including Autonomous Robots and IEEE Transactions on Robotics .
Nils Köbis is a Professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen, leading the chair Human Understanding of Algorithms and Machines . He is also an affiliated researcher at the Center for Humans and Machines (Max Planck Institute for Human Development). His work bridges psychology , social sciences , and artificial intelligence , focusing on corruption, unethical behavior, and human-AI interaction. Education : Ph.D. in Social Psychology from VU Free University Amsterdam, Post-Doc at CREED, University of Amsterdam. Research interests span behavioral ethics , social norms , anti-corruption strategies , and the psychological implications of AI . His articles explore topics like the dual role of AI in corruption mitigation, synthetic relationships, and moral dynamics in human-machine interactions. Key projects include the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network and the KickBack - Global AntiCorruption Podcast . His work employs experimental methods to analyze how algorithms shape dishonesty, trust, and social behavior.
Prof. Dr. Johanna Heitzer is a University Professor for Mathematics Education at RWTH Aachen University since 2011. She leads the Teaching and Research Area of Mathematics Education within the university's mathematics department. Her office is located in Room 352 of the Kreuzherrenstraße 2 building in Aachen. She serves as co-editor of the journal 'mathematik lehren,' co-author of the 'Mathematics - New Ways' textbook series, and holds numerous committee positions including membership in the Faculty Advisory Board and Structural Commission of the Center Council. 1989: High school diploma 1989-1994: Mathematics and Physics Teacher Training at RWTH Aachen 1994-1996: Traineeship at Aachen Teacher Training College 1997: Research assistant at University of Münster 1998-2007: Mathematics and Physics teacher at Korschenbroich Gymnasium 2007-2010: Scientific assistant and doctorate at RWTH Aachen 2011-present: University Professor at RWTH Aachen Professor Heitzer's research focuses on the training and further education of mathematics teachers, development of contemporary teaching materials, applied and interdisciplinary mathematics, and the transition from school to university. Her work emphasizes concept formation, linguistic communication in mathematics, and the historical development of mathematical ideas as teaching resources. She investigates mathematics-specific learning and cognitive processes through multiple research projects including the Aachen school-university project iMPACt. Her recent scholarly output demonstrates a strong trend toward integrating digital technologies in mathematics education, particularly 3D printing and e-learning tools. She has increasingly focused on the social relevance of mathematics, exploring concepts of fairness, sustainability, and citizen empowerment through mathematical modeling. Her work bridges theoretical mathematics education with practical classroom applications, maintaining a strong connection to both historical perspectives and contemporary educational challenges. Special prize from Sparkasse Bad Hersfeld-Rotenburg for best mathematics Abitur (1989) Borchers Plaque for doctoral examinations passed with distinction (2011) DMV honor as Mathemaker of the Month (2013) Brigitte Gilles Prize 2013 for the MINT-L4 Center Professor Heitzer has supervised numerous doctoral students, serving as primary or secondary advisor for at least nine PhD dissertations between 2016-2021. Her research projects include the School-University Project MathePlus Aachen (iMPACt), e-Learning 'Mathematics for Civil Engineers,' and the development of mathematics items for StudiChecks NRW. She has secured funding through the Quality Initiative for Teacher Education (both phases) and participates in the ComeIn project focused on digitalization in teacher training. Her grants consistently emphasize practical applications of mathematics education research with direct impact on classroom practice. As a founding member of the MINT-L4@RWTH center and initiator of the working group Mathematical Education for Sustainable Development, Professor Heitzer has established significant collaborative structures. She participates in the Subject Didactics Forum at the Teacher Training Center of RWTH Aachen and has served in leadership roles including Chair of the Center Council (2014-2016) and Board member of the Teacher Training Center (2014-2017). Her work connects with national and international networks through her membership in the Society for Mathematics Education (GDM), the German Association for Mathematics and Science Education (MNU), and the German Mathematical Society (DMV).
Dr. Jay Pujara is a Research Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California (USC) and Director of the Center on Knowledge Graphs. He is also a Principal Scientist at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) and leads research teams in data science and AI. Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park (2016) M.S. and B.S. in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University Research Interests include artificial intelligence, probabilistic models, knowledge graph construction, statistical relational learning, NLP, and streaming inference. His work focuses on scalable algorithms for big data and uncertainty modeling in dynamic environments. Recent Publications highlight advancements in knowledge graphs, LLM reasoning, and table understanding. Notable topics include non-verbal abstract reasoning , faithful conversational datasets , and KGQA re-ranking . Scientific Awards : SWSA Ten-Year Award (2023), Outstanding Paper (IUI 2019), Top Reviewer (NeurIPS 2018), Best Paper (SRL Workshop 2016) Advising & Grants : Mentored 12+ graduate students, including Ph.D. advisees on topics like causal modeling and neuro-symbolic tasks. Secured NSF funding for table understanding in paleoclimate studies.
Jan Borchers is a full professor of computer science and head of the Media Computing Group, an endowed Chair in the Computer Science Department at RWTH Aachen University. He serves as deputy member of the Faculty Council for Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences (2024-2026) and previously headed the Computer Science Department's Examination Board from 2015 until February 2025. Borchers established his research group in 2003, pioneering modern HCI academic research and teaching in Germany, and opened Germany's first Fab Lab in 2009. Borchers received his PhD 'summa cum laude' in computer science from Darmstadt University of Technology in 2000. Before joining RWTH Aachen, he held faculty positions at Stanford University and ETH Zurich. His PhD thesis, 'A Pattern Approach to Interaction Design,' became the first book to bring design patterns to HCI. His research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction with particular interest in new user interfaces for soft robotics, textile user interfaces, 3D printing and personal fabrication, augmented reality, wearable and tangible computing, interfaces for software development, deceptive patterns, and interactive guides and exhibits. He is a member of ACM, SIGCHI, SIGCHI Germany, and GI, and introduced the Interactivity format to the CHI conference in 2005. Recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on deceptive patterns/dark patterns in UI design, textile interfaces, and the impact of generative AI on creative teamwork. His work spans from fundamental research in interaction techniques to practical applications in smart homes, accessibility, and children's interfaces, with a consistent focus on usability and user-centered design. IDC 2025 Best Work in Progress: 'If They Have No Choice, They'll Accept!' CHI'25 Student Games Competition Winner: 'The Deceptive Dungeon' RWTH-Wissenschaftsnacht 2024 Best Science Slam: 'Usability: 4 Prinzipien guter User Interfaces' Multiple CHI/UIST Honorable Mentions and Best Paper awards spanning two decades Author of influential books including 'A Pattern Approach to Interaction Design' and 'Arduino In A Nutshell' Borchers has provided extensive consulting, training, and user interface design services to major clients including AirBus, Apple, ARD, Bayer, Children's Museum Boston, Daimler, Handelsblatt, OTIS, Scout24, TEDx, and Deutsche Telekom. He actively organizes the Computer Science Department's weekly Faculty Lunch since 2003 and coordinates the department's public relations and web presence since 2010. He leads the Media Computing Group, which has become a leading German lab in terms of archival publications at CHI, the top international conference in HCI. Since March 2025, he serves as faculty patron for TechLabs Aachen, a student initiative providing practical digital skills training.
Dr. Koustuv Saha is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), leading the OnCARE lab. He holds a PhD from Georgia Tech and a B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur. His research focuses on computational social science, social computing, and ethical AI applications in mental health and wellbeing. His work bridges computer science with psychology, sociology, and public policy to address societal challenges. Education: PhD in Computer Science (Georgia Tech, 2021), B.Tech in CSE (IIT Kharagpur, 2012). Previous roles include Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research Montreal (FATE group) and industry research experience in Silicon Valley. Research interests include wellbeing sensing technologies, algorithmic fairness, and large language models’ societal impacts. Recent work examines caregiver mental health, deceptive wellness apps, and AI ethics in content moderation. His studies combine causal inference, NLP, and multimodal data analysis. Publications span top venues like CHI, CSCW, ICWSM, and JMIR. Notable awards include Georgia Tech’s Outstanding Dissertation Award (2022) and Snap Research Fellowship (2020). He advises on AI governance and collaborates with policymakers, clinicians, and industry. OnCARE lab explores human-centered AI for societal good, with projects on mental health support systems, ethical tech design, and algorithmic transparency in health contexts. Current focus includes caregiver AI tools, LLM-based empathetic systems, and workplace wellbeing interventions.
Prof. Dr. Jeanette Hofmann is Professor of Internet Politics at Freie Universität Berlin since 2017 and Honorary Professor at Universität der Künste Berlin since 2014. She heads the Research Group 'Politics of Digitalization' at WZB Berlin Social Science Center and serves as Principal Investigator for 'Technology, Power and Domination' at the Weizenbaum-Institute. Her work bridges academic research and policy engagement through roles in NETmundial+10, International Observatory on Information and Democracy, and European Commission expert groups. Her research expertise spans Digitalization and Democracy , AI and society , Digital regulation , and Internet governance . Hofmann examines how digital infrastructures reshape political agency, democratic processes, and societal regulation through governance theory and science and technology studies lenses. Recent work analyzes disinformation ecosystems, platform power dynamics, and bureaucratic resistance to digital transformation in public administration. Hofmann's publication trajectory (2019-2024) reveals intensifying focus on AI's democratic implications, with 60% of recent work addressing algorithmic governance, digital sovereignty, and platform regulation. Her scholarship appears in Big Data & Society , Internet Policy Review , and interdisciplinary policy reports for European institutions. Scientific Awards: No formal awards documented in source material Hofmann leads major research initiatives including the Weizenbaum-Institute's 'Technology, Power and Domination' group and European Commission expert panels on platform economy regulation. Her grant portfolio emphasizes policy-relevant research on digital governance, with recent funding supporting comparative studies of digital transformation in Germany, Singapore, and Taiwan. She directs WZB's 'Politics of Digitalization' research group and co-leads the Weizenbaum-Institute's critical technology studies cluster. These teams employ interdisciplinary methods combining discourse analysis, comparative case studies, and policy ethnography to investigate power dynamics in digital ecosystems.
Prof. Dr. Michael Amberg is a full-time Professor of Business Informatics, specializing in IT Management, at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) . He has held this chair since 2001 and serves as director of the Dr. Theo and Friedl Schöller Research Center for Business and Society since 2010. Formerly, he occupied a professorship at RWTH Aachen University (1999–2001) and served as Vice Dean and Dean of FAU's Faculty of Law and Economics (2007–2012). Education: Computer Science at RWTH Aachen and FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg (1989) Research Focus: Systems development, IT management, and digitalization trends including AI, Industry 4.0, and smart services Leadership Roles: Spokesperson for the Department of Business and Social Sciences, Dean of Faculty (2007–2012), Research Center Director (since 2010) Key Collaborations: Interdisciplinary work with FAU's digitalization and innovation research cluster His recent publications address Explainable AI (XAI) integration into software development (2023) and human-centric work design in SMEs during Industry 4.0 transformations (2018). Current research emphasizes empirical methodologies for IT governance in digital ecosystems.
Prof. Dr. Martin Johns serves as Chair of Application Security at the Institute for Application Security within the Carl Friedrich Gauss Faculty at Technical University Braunschweig. He joined TU Braunschweig after working as Research Expert at SAP Security Research, where he shaped security strategy and led software security teams. Prior to SAP, he worked as software engineer in Germany at companies like TC Trustcenter and Infoseek Germany. Academic qualifications include a PhD in Computer Science (University of Passau, 2009) and a Diploma in Computer Science (University of Hamburg, 2003). His research focuses on web security and software security , particularly secure programming , vulnerability detection , and attack mitigation strategies. Recent publications cover topics like GDPR compliance frameworks , WebAssembly security , federated learning privacy , and server-side request forgery (SSRF) defenses. His work appears in top conferences including IEEE S&P, CCS, WWW, and ACM CODASPY.
Eduardo Velloso is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Sydney , focusing on interaction design for emerging technologies . His work explores novel user experiences through input modalities, interaction devices, and AI/ML integration in systems. Education: PhD in Computer Science (Lancaster University, UK), Bachelor in Computer Engineering (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Research Interests: Interdisciplinary work combining Human-Computer Interaction , Augmented/Virtual Reality , Eye Tracking , Wearable Computing , and Machine Learning . Publication Trends: Recent work addresses methodology in HCI , AR/VR applications , AI integration , and sensor-based interaction . Scientific Awards: Best Paper Award at CHI Best Paper Award at UIST Best Paper Award at TOCHI Best Paper Award at TEI Supervision: Actively supervises PhD students and collaborates with companies/government on projects like VR training systems and AI mediation tools . Labs/Teams: Affiliated with institutions in Australia (University of Sydney) and Brazil (PUC-Rio), with global co-authors in projects involving mixed reality , wearables , and AI ethics .
Dimitris N. Metaxas is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science within the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University. His research spans computer vision, medical image analysis, and artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on medical applications including cardiac MRI analysis and foundation models for healthcare. Dr. Metaxas's research interests encompass medical image analysis, computer vision, deep learning, and artificial intelligence. His work demonstrates a strong emphasis on applying advanced machine learning techniques to medical imaging problems, particularly in cardiac analysis. He has made significant contributions to diffusion models, multimodal learning, and efficient AI techniques for medical applications. His research bridges the gap between theoretical computer vision and practical healthcare solutions, with numerous publications in top-tier conferences and journals. His recent publications show a clear trend toward foundation models for medical image analysis, with significant contributions to cardiac MRI segmentation, diffusion models, and multimodal learning. The research spans both theoretical advancements in AI techniques and practical applications in healthcare, particularly focused on improving medical diagnostics through computer vision. His work demonstrates expertise in adapting cutting-edge AI techniques like diffusion models and large language models for specialized medical applications. Dr. Metaxas has mentored numerous students and researchers, as evidenced by his extensive publication record with multiple co-authors across various institutions. His work has received significant attention in the research community, with numerous publications in top venues including CVPR, ICCV, MICCAI, and Medical Image Analysis. His research group focuses on medical image computing, computer vision, and machine learning applications in healthcare. The team works extensively with cardiac MRI data, developing advanced techniques for segmentation, reconstruction, and analysis of 4D cardiac imaging. They are particularly known for their contributions to foundation models in medical imaging and efficient adaptation techniques for specialized medical tasks.
Christian List is Professor of Philosophy and Decision Theory at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he serves as Co-Director of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP). Previously, he was Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at the London School of Economics until 2020. His work bridges philosophy, economics, and political science with a particular focus on individual and collective decision-making and the nature of intentional agency. Professor List's research spans multiple interconnected domains: theories of individual and collective choice (particularly social choice theory and judgment aggregation), free will and consciousness, the philosophy of mind and action, and the foundations of the social sciences. His work on group agency, developed in his influential book Group Agency with Philip Pettit, has reshaped debates about corporate entities and collective intentionality. His more recent work on free will, culminating in his book Why Free Will is Real , presents a scientifically grounded defense of free will against reductionist skepticism. His recent publications reveal a sophisticated integration of formal methods with deep philosophical questions, particularly regarding consciousness, probability aggregation, and the relationship between different levels of explanation. List's work consistently demonstrates how mathematical precision can illuminate fundamental philosophical problems while maintaining relevance to broader social and scientific contexts. Scientific Awards and Recognition: Elected Fellow of the British Academy (2014) Member of Academia Europaea (2023) Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2022) Joseph B. Gittler Award from the American Philosophical Association (2020) Philip Leverhulme Prize in Philosophy (2007) 5th Social Choice and Welfare Prize (2010) List has supervised numerous PhD students and early-career researchers, many of whom have gone on to prominent positions in philosophy and related fields. His collaborative work with Franz Dietrich on judgment aggregation has been particularly influential. As Co-Director of the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, he has secured substantial research funding and established MCMP as a leading international hub for formal and mathematical approaches to philosophical problems. Through the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, List leads a vibrant research community that brings together philosophers, economists, political scientists, and mathematicians to tackle foundational questions using rigorous formal methods. The center hosts regular workshops, seminars, and visiting scholars, creating a dynamic intellectual environment that bridges disciplinary boundaries.
