Dr Andrew Rhead is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath, specializing in aerospace composites and damage tolerance analysis. His research focuses on impact damage detection, failure mechanism modeling, and Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques for composite structures. MSci in Mathematical Sciences (Dynamical Systems) - University of Bristol (2006) PhD in Composite Damage Tolerance - University of Bath (2009) His work develops computationally efficient analytical models for compression after impact (CAI) strength prediction in composite laminates, surpassing traditional finite element methods. Key projects include hydrogen storage systems for aircraft, cryogenic composite testing, and steered fiber manufacturing optimization. Active in 10 projects including ASPIRE and HyFIVE Collaborates with Airbus, GKN Aerospace, and EPSRC Research trends show emphasis on sustainable aviation materials, structural battery integration, and advanced testing methodologies. Current affiliations include the Institute for Mathematical Innovation (IMI) and Centre for Integrated Materials, Processes & Structures (IMPS).
Professor Agnieszka Zabłocka-Kos is a faculty member at the Institute of Art History, University of Wrocław, specializing in Central European architectural history and urbanism. Her work focuses on 19th-20th century architecture, with particular emphasis on Wrocław/Breslau, including post-war reconstruction, national identity construction, and sacred space design. Professor, University of Wrocław Specialist in 19th-20th century Central European architecture Director of postdoctoral internships (NCN FUGA III) Recipient of multiple Rector's awards for research and teaching Research Themes: Urban development in Central Europe, political architecture in Poland/Germany, sacred architecture of the 19th century, post-war modernism, industrial architecture revitalization. Her students have produced award-winning theses on topics like Wrocław urban blocks, Silesian architects, and post-industrial adaptations. Scientific Contributions: Notable works include the edited volume Architecture in the 'long' 19th century (2019), multiple articles on Breslau's architectural conflicts, and international projects on Central European sacred architecture. She has supervised 33 master's and 5 doctoral theses, with several student works published as books. Dettloff Prize for dissertation (1992) Rector's awards for research and didactic achievements International projects with universities in Berlin, Freiburg, and Leipzig Advisor for Wrocław's Monument Office and City Development Bureau Her teaching integrates interdisciplinary approaches, linking art history with political, economic, and social contexts. She promotes student research popularization through conferences, exhibitions, and publications.
Alison Ledgerwood is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, and Principal Investigator of the Attitudes and Group Identity Lab. Her research examines how social context shapes attitudes and preferences, with a focus on open and inclusive scientific practices. Ph.D., Social Psychology, New York University (2008) M.A., Psychology, New York University (2006) B.A., Psychology, Amherst College (2003) Her research explores psychological distance , framing effects , and system justification theory , while methodologically advancing preregistration , collaborative science , and equity in publishing . She also investigates group identity dynamics and implicit/explicit bias measurement . Recent publications highlight her work on racial bias methodology , open science reform , and contextual framing . Awards include the 2024 Distinguished Service to the Society award, 2021 UC Davis Advising and Mentoring Award, and 2017 SPSP Service to the Field award. 2024 Distinguished Service to the Society, SPSP 2021 UC Davis Graduate Advising and Mentoring Award 2017 Service to the Field, SPSP Hellman Fellowship (2010-2011), UC Davis UC Davis Chancellor's Fellow APS Fellow SESP Fellow Ledgerwood advises on scientific integrity through roles like Chair of the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) II Guidelines Task Force and Anti Colorism and Eurocentrism in Methods and Practices (ACEMAP) Task Force. Her lab fosters contextual evaluation studies and psychological distance frameworks .
Alexandre Bouchard-Côté is a Professor of Statistics at the University of British Columbia (UBC), affiliated with the Department of Statistics within the Faculty of Science. His research focuses on computational statistics, Bayesian methods, and Monte Carlo techniques, with applications in evolutionary biology, cancer genomics, and computational linguistics. Education : PhD in Computer Science (with Designated Emphasis in Statistics) from UC Berkeley (2010), BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science from McGill University (2005). Affiliations : Director of the Blang probabilistic programming project and leader of the Bouncy Particle Sampler research group. Research Interests : Bouchard-Côté develops scalable Bayesian computational methods, including non-reversible Monte Carlo algorithms like the Bouncy Particle Sampler, and applies these to problems in cancer phylogenetics, evolutionary dynamics, and historical linguistics. His work emphasizes bridging theoretical foundations with practical tools for data science. Publications Trends : Recent work spans distributed sampling frameworks (e.g., Pigeons.jl), variational phylogenetic inference, and cancer clonal evolution modeling. His articles often address algorithmic scalability and interdisciplinary applications in biology and astronomy. Awards : CRM-SSC Prize in Statistics (2024) PIMS-UBC Mathematical Sciences Young Faculty Award (2018) Tweedie New Researcher Award (2016) Advising & Grants : Supervises graduate students (e.g., Son Luu, Nikola Surjanovic) and leads funded projects on distributed MCMC and cancer genomics. Collaborates with institutions like the Simons Foundation and the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (CANSSI). Labs/Teams : Core member of the UBC Statistical Machine Learning group, contributing to open-source tools like Blang and the Bouncy Particle Sampler implementation.
Marina Agranov is Professor of Economics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), affiliated with the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences. She directs research through the Ronald and Maxine Linde Institute of Economic and Management Sciences, Center for Social Information Sciences (CSIS), and Center for Theoretical and Experimental Social Sciences (CTESS), and serves as Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Her academic credentials include a B.A. from St. Petersburg State Technical University (1999), M.A. from Tel Aviv University (2004), and Ph.D. from New York University (2010). She joined Caltech as Assistant Professor in 2010 and was promoted to full Professor in 2017. Agranov's research pioneers experimental and behavioral economics, focusing on strategic decision-making in bargaining games, social learning environments, network interactions, and information dynamics. Her work examines how individuals form beliefs and navigate tensions between personal goals and collective outcomes, often using controlled laboratory experiments to test theoretical predictions about human behavior under uncertainty. Her recent publications reveal a consistent methodological approach: blending game-theoretic models with experimental validation to investigate communication effects, randomization preferences, and institutional design. Key trends include analyzing how uncertainty impacts committee negotiations, how complexity influences egalitarian outcomes in legislative bargaining, and how information structures shape social learning on networks. Her scientific recognition includes: Associated Students of Caltech (ASCIT) Teaching Award (2017-18) Professor Agranov's research has secured significant institutional support through Caltech centers and NBER affiliation, with findings featured in major economics journals and Caltech news coverage including "Decision by Committee: How Uncertainty Shapes Negotiations" (December 2024) and "Experimental Economics in Theory and Practice" (July 2023). Her work on committee decision-making under uncertainty has direct implications for institutional design in political and corporate governance. She actively contributes to Caltech's research ecosystem through CSIS and CTESS, which facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations in social sciences and experimental methodology development.
Ceren Budak is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Engineering. Her work bridges computer science, statistics, and social sciences through computational social science approaches. Her educational background includes a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara (2012) and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Bilkent University in Turkey (2007). Prior to joining the University of Michigan faculty, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Microsoft Research New York. Professor Budak's research centers on computational social science, with particular emphasis on analyzing large-scale datasets to address questions with social, political, and policy implications. Her work spans several interconnected domains: News Media Production & Consumption (examining bias in news outlets and reader preferences), Social Movements & Media (using social media data to study collective action), Social Networks (understanding information diffusion processes), and Measuring and Promoting the Quality of Online Discussions (developing tools to improve online conversations). She teaches SI 608 (Networks) and SI 618 (Data Manipulation and Analysis) at the School of Information. Her publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to understanding how online information ecosystems operate, with recent work focusing on AI-human collaboration, misinformation dynamics, social movement framing, and the application of computational methods to political communication. Her research shows a clear trajectory from foundational work on social network diffusion to increasingly sophisticated analyses of contemporary information challenges. Among her service activities, she has served as Registration chair for COSN (ACM Conference on Online Social Networks) 2015 and as Program Committee Member for numerous prestigious conferences including WWW, ICWSM, WebSci, AAAI, and others. She has also been involved in organizing the MSR NYC Data Science Seminar Series and instructing the Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School.
Dr. Edyta Chlebowska is an Assistant Professor at the Cyprian Norwid Research Center, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. Specializing in the visual art and literary legacy of Cyprian Norwid, she explores intersections between Polish Romanticism, art history, and cultural studies. Her work extends to album art analysis and interdisciplinary connections with music (e.g., Pink Floyd, Czesław Niemen). Her research focuses on Norwid's self-portraits, eschatological themes in his drawings, and comparative studies with 19th-century Warsaw painting. She reconstructs lost artworks, documents private collections (e.g., Konstancja Górska, Victor Gomulicki), and examines Norwid's reception in Florence and Odessa. Key projects include translating Studia Norwidiana and critical editing of Norwid's complete works. As editor-in-chief of multiple On Cyprian Norwid. Studies and Essays volumes and organizer of conferences like Niemen Non Stop and Colloquia Norwidiana , she bridges academic rigor with public engagement. Her publications span peer-reviewed books, journal articles, and popular science pieces, emphasizing Norwid's unpublished works and symbolic programs.
Laverne Jacobs, PhD, is a Full Professor at the University of Windsor's Faculty of Law where she holds the Research Chair in Disability Equality & Administrative Justice. She serves as the founder and Director of the Law, Disability & Social Change Project, a research and public policy center dedicated to fostering inclusive communities. Notably, Professor Jacobs was elected to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2022, becoming the first Canadian to serve on this UN Human Rights Treaty Body. She also serves as Co-Director of the Disability Rights Working Group at Berkeley Law's Center for Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law and previously held the position of Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies) for the Faculty of Law from 2018-2021. B.A. (Honours), McGill University, 1994 LL.B., McGill University, 1999 B.C.L., McGill University, 1999 Ph.D., Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 2009 Professor Jacobs' research sits at the intersection of disability equality law and administrative law and justice, characterized by an interest in the everyday work of the administrative justice system and the lived experiences of people who use it, particularly persons with disabilities. Her work spans disability rights, administrative justice, human rights law, socio-legal theory, and empirical research methodologies. She has made significant contributions to understanding accessibility legislation, transportation inequality, post-secondary education access for students with disabilities, and the implementation of disability equality principles in administrative decision-making. Her scholarship bridges theoretical legal frameworks with practical applications, emphasizing citizen participation in policy development and the importance of inclusive design in legal systems. Analysis of Professor Jacobs' recent publications reveals a consistent focus on how administrative law can better serve persons with disabilities through inclusive design and accessible processes. Her work demonstrates growing attention to intersectional issues, particularly how women with disabilities experience administrative systems, and increasingly examines the implementation challenges of accessibility legislation across Canadian jurisdictions. She frequently employs empirical research methods to ground her legal analysis in real-world experiences of marginalized communities. Scientific Awards and Honors: Canadian Bar Association Touchstone Award (2021) Canadian Association of Law Teachers (CALT) Academic Excellence Award (2022) Hummingbird Award from the Disabled Women's Network of Canada (DaWN), 2022 Election to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2022) Professor Jacobs has held significant leadership roles including service on the Board of Directors of the Income Security Advocacy Centre and the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. Through her role as Director of the Law, Disability & Social Change Project, she has secured research funding to support policy-relevant scholarship on disability rights and administrative justice. Her work has influenced accessibility legislation development across Canada, particularly through her annotated version of the Accessible Canada Act. She provides expert consultation to government bodies and international organizations on disability rights implementation. The Law, Disability & Social Change Project serves as Professor Jacobs' primary research hub, bringing together interdisciplinary scholars, disability advocates, and policy makers to develop practical solutions for creating more inclusive legal and administrative systems. The project has produced numerous research reports, policy briefs, and public resources that translate academic research into actionable recommendations for improving accessibility and disability equality in Canadian society.
Lisa Gilman is a Professor of Folklore and English at George Mason University, and the outgoing Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of American Folklore . Her research focuses on refugee arts initiatives, intangible cultural heritage, and the intersections of performance, gender, and politics in global contexts. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Malawi, Turkey, France, and the U.S., emphasizing marginalized communities. Her academic journey includes a PhD in Folklore from Indiana University, followed by roles at the University of Oregon and Mzuzu University (Malawi). Key awards include the Fulbright Teaching/Research Award and Rippey Innovative Teaching Award. She produced the documentary Grounds for Resistance , exploring anti-war activism among U.S. veterans. Her current project, the Dzaleka Art Project , collaborates with refugees in Malawi to document cultural creativity and advocate for visibility. This work has been featured in the Wilson Center and Smithsonian publications. Gilman teaches courses on public humanities, ethnographic fieldwork, and digital storytelling, integrating community engagement with academic rigor. Her publications span topics from African expressive culture to UNESCO policy impacts, with notable books including My Music, My War and co-edited volumes like Africa Every Day . Grants include funding from the Woodrow Wilson Center and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Dr Alison Powell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), serving as Programme Director for the MSc Media and Communications (Data and Society). Her research focuses on technology design, public sector technology, and digital futures. She is known for her book Undoing Optimization: Civic Action in Smart Cities (2021) and her participatory research method, data walking. From 2019–2023, she directed the JUST AI network, supported by the Ada Lovelace Institute and UKRI, advancing AI ethics research. Her work integrates critical theory, participatory methods, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Education: PhD in Communication from Concordia University (Canada), MA in Media Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University, and postdoctoral research at the Oxford Internet Institute. Prior to academia, she worked in the film and TV industry. Research interests include civic engagement in data-driven governance, ethical AI, and participatory urbanism. She has advised projects like Africa Just AI and Operationalising Ethics for AI, funded by Horizon Europe, AHRC, and the Open Society Foundations. Her articles address topics such as AI governance, urban light ecology, feminist research praxis, and the ethical implications of technology for marginalized communities. She contributes to blogs like Media@LSE and leads initiatives at Polis and the LSE’s Digital Futures for Children project. Grants and collaborations include work with Projects by IF, Open Rights Group, and the Human Data Interactions Network (EPSRC). She explores intersections of technology, justice, and sustainability, emphasizing equitable and inclusive innovation.
Wooyong Lee is a Lecturer in the Economics Discipline Group at the UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago (2020), an MS in Statistics from the University of British Columbia (2014), and a BA in Economics and Statistics from Korea University (2012). His research focuses on econometrics and applied microeconomics, specializing in panel data methods, difference-in-differences frameworks, and dynamic models. He has developed methodologies addressing spillover effects in staggered DiD designs and partial identification in heterogeneous coefficient models. His work applies to real-world issues like lifecycle earnings dynamics and policy evaluation. Lee teaches econometrics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervises research students. His publications appear in venues such as Statistical Inference for Stochastic Processes and peer-reviewed working papers. Research interests emphasize causal inference techniques, with contributions to handling unobserved heterogeneity and measurement errors in economic data. Ongoing work explores dynamic treatment choice models where treatment decisions respond to outcome shocks, challenging traditional parallel trends assumptions.
Genesea M. Carter serves as the Associate Director of Composition and Associate Professor in the English and University Composition Program at Colorado State University. She holds a PhD from the University of New Mexico. Her research focuses on administrative systems in higher education, including curriculum design, teacher training, and workload equity, and their impact on instructors’ well-being. She also investigates how students from diverse backgrounds navigate academia, with a focus on working-class pedagogy and identity development. Her recent co-edited collection Systems Shift: Creating and Navigating Change in Rhetoric and Composition Administration (2023) addresses institutional transformation. Earlier work includes Class in the Composition Classroom: Pedagogy and the Working Class (2017), exploring socioeconomic diversity in education. Her articles span topics like digital literacy, interdisciplinary pedagogy, and critical theory in composition studies. Dr. Carter’s scholarship emphasizes equity, intersectionality, and dismantling neoliberal structures in academia. She has contributed to journals such as Composition Studies , Journal of Teaching Writing , and Open Words , and her work bridges practical administration with theoretical frameworks in rhetoric and composition.
Prof. Dr. Gonzalo Guillén Gosálbez is a Full Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences , ETH Zürich. He holds a PhD in Process Systems Engineering (UPC, 2005) and has held academic positions at Imperial College London (Reader), University of Manchester (Senior Lecturer), and Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Assistant/Associate Professor). His research focuses on Sustainable Chemical Processes , integrating life cycle assessment, optimization techniques, and planetary boundary analysis to evaluate and design low-carbon technologies. Current position: Full Professor, ETH Zürich (2019–present) Prior roles: Imperial College London (2016–2019), University of Manchester (2014–2016), URV Spain (2008–2014) Education: PhD (UPC, 2005), MEng/BEng (University of Murcia) His research explores CO2 valorization , green methanol synthesis , circular marine fuels , and planetary boundary compliance in energy and chemical systems. Recent work emphasizes machine learning for process modeling, single-atom catalysis , and decentralized ammonia production . Scientific contributions include 15+ peer-reviewed articles (2023–2025) in journals like Nature Chemical Engineering , ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering , and Energy & Environmental Science . Key themes: Optimization of hybrid fossil/renewable carbon systems Environmental impacts of energy transitions Catalyst design for sustainable chemistry Life cycle assessment of emerging technologies Awarded UPC Top Doctoral Student Award and Top National Student Award , he combines process systems engineering with sustainability metrics to address global challenges in chemical and energy systems.
Dr. Yaron Meron is a Lecturer and researcher in design at the University of Sydney's School of Architecture, Design and Planning. He holds a PhD (RMIT, Melbourne) and two Master's degrees (RMIT, Central St Martins). His work bridges academic research and professional practice, focusing on graphic and communication design, socially engaged design, AI integration, and responsible design thinking. Meron’s research explores interdisciplinary challenges, design collaboration, and the societal impact of emerging technologies like AI. He coordinates the Civic & Social Design Research Group. Educations: PhD in Design (RMIT University, Melbourne) MA in Design (RMIT University, Melbourne) MA in Communication Design (Central Saint Martins, London) Research Interests: Graphic design as an interdisciplinary practice Artificial intelligence in design education and practice Media literacy and defamiliarisation techniques Socially engaged design methodologies Design briefs and stakeholder relationships Articles & Trends: Recent publications emphasize AI's role in design education, speculative urban futures, and critical design approaches to media literacy. His work frequently intersects with pedagogy, ethics, and technology’s societal implications. Labs/Teams: Coordinator of the Civic & Social Design Research Group, fostering collaborative projects on responsible design and interdisciplinary innovation.
Zizi Papacharissi is a UIC Distinguished Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), serving as Department Head of Communication. She is also a University Scholar and affiliate faculty at the Discovery Partners Institute (University of Illinois System). Her research explores the social and political implications of digital media, with a focus on affective publics, networked identities, and democratic processes. She holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and has authored over 10 books and 80+ journal articles. Education: PhD, University of Texas at Austin (2000) in New Media Technologies and Political Communication MA, Kent State University (1997) in Communication Studies BA, Mount Holyoke College (1995) in Media Studies and Economics Research Interests: Dr. Papacharissi investigates how digital media shape political participation, identity formation, and public discourse. Key areas include affective publics (emotional dimensions of online activism), the role of social media in democracy, and the ethical implications of AI and connective technologies. Her work bridges communication studies, political theory, and sociology. Recent Contributions: Her 2021 book After Democracy explores post-democratic futures in the digital age. She edits Social Media & Society and collaborates with tech firms like Facebook/Meta and Tencent on media ethics and policy. Her research on #Egypt and #OWS movements highlights social media’s role in mobilizing protests. Awards & Recognition: 2018 Wayne Danielson Award (National Communication Association) 2015 Best Book Award (NCA Human Communication and Technology Division) High-Impact Scholar (University of Texas at Austin) Advising & Grants: While no student names are listed, her courses (e.g., Democracy in a Digital Age ) reflect her mentorship in critical media studies. She has secured grants from the National Academies of Science and the Institute of Medicine for projects on youth well-being and digital media. Labs & Teams: Her research lab focuses on digital media’s societal impact, collaborating with global institutions like the Oxford Internet Institute and the Harvard Kennedy School. She chairs UIC’s interdisciplinary Digital Media and Democracy initiative.
