Jessica Sze Yin Ho is an Associate Professor and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy at Heriot-Watt University , where she serves in the School of Social Sciences as Associate Head and Programme Director of MA (Hons) Marketing in the Department of Marketing and Operations . She is a prolific researcher in digital marketing, social media, and sustainable consumption, with over 20 publications and multiple international awards. PhD in Marketing (Multimedia University, Malaysia) MPhil in Management (Multimedia University, Malaysia) BBA in Marketing (Multimedia University, Malaysia) Research Interests span Digital Marketing , Social Media Strategy , E-commerce , Sustainable Consumer Behavior , and Service Quality , with a focus on technology adoption and higher education quality. Her recent work explores Live Streaming Commerce , TikTok’s role in Cultural Heritage Promotion , and the Dark Side of Celebrity Endorsements . Her 15 most recent publications (2025–2020) analyze audience engagement , privacy dynamics in virtual streaming , sentiment analysis , and augmented reality applications across sectors like museums, tourism, and finance. Awards include multiple Best Paper and Best Reviewer recognitions from global marketing conferences. Collaborations include industry-funded projects on talent management and services marketing . She also mentors colleagues toward Senior Fellow of AdvanceHE status and contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through research on sustainable consumption and education.
Jaime S. Cardoso is a prominent researcher at the University of Porto and Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) in Portugal. His extensive publication record spanning two decades demonstrates his leadership in computer vision, medical image analysis, and pattern recognition. His research primarily focuses on applying artificial intelligence to healthcare challenges, particularly in medical imaging and diagnostics. Cardoso's research interests center on explainable AI for medical applications, biometrics, and computer vision. His work bridges the gap between theoretical machine learning and practical medical solutions, with significant contributions to breast cancer diagnosis, medical image segmentation, and biometric security systems. He has developed innovative approaches to medical image analysis, including virtual staining techniques and privacy-preserving explanation methods for medical AI systems. His recent publications (2023-2025) reveal a strong emphasis on explainable AI in medical contexts, with multiple papers addressing how to make deep learning models more transparent and trustworthy for healthcare applications. He has also made significant contributions to face recognition technology, video anomaly detection, and specialized medical imaging techniques for breast cancer and neonatal EEG analysis. Among his scientific contributions are numerous collaborations with researchers across Portugal and internationally. His work has appeared in top-tier journals including IEEE Access, Medical Image Analysis, and Neurocomputing, reflecting the high impact of his research. Cardoso has supervised numerous students who have become established researchers in their own right, including Ricardo P. M. Cruz, Kelwin Fernandes, and Ana Filipa Sequeira. His research group appears to focus on the intersection of deep learning, medical imaging, and biometrics, with strong connections to clinical applications.
Associate Professor Aljoša Vitasović is affiliated with the Faculty of Economics and Tourism at the University of Primorska in Pula, Croatia. He holds the academic rank of Associate Professor and is part of the Department of Tourism. His teaching focuses on undergraduate and graduate courses related to tourism management, including Experience Economy, Tourism Markets, and Destination Positioning. His research interests center on experience economy , cultural tourism , tourism competitiveness , and sustainable tourism practices . Recent work examines community perspectives on tourism festivals, Istrian destination positioning, and the socio-economic impacts of tourism monoculture. He has authored over 30 publications since 2010, with a focus on Croatian tourism challenges and innovations. Key contributions include analyzing tourism's role in post-crisis recovery ( TURIZAM I TRANSFORMACIJE ), cultural commodification ( Komodifikacija kulturnoga nasljeđa ), and competitive strategies for coastal destinations. His work integrates interdisciplinary approaches, emphasizing both theoretical frameworks and practical case studies. Academic advising and grant activities are not explicitly detailed in the provided texts, though his courses suggest involvement in student mentorship. He is actively involved in institutional activities at the Faculty of Economics and Tourism, contributing to curriculum development and academic governance.
Alejandro Lleras is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology . He serves as the Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence and is a member of the U.S. National Committee for Psychological Science . Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University (2002) Current co-director of the Vision Lab with Simona Buetti His research focuses on visual attention, perception, and feature-based processing , with recent work exploring emotional memory modulation, color-shape interactions in search tasks, and peripheral vision limitations. Key themes include: Temporal attention and sustained concentration failures Feature guidance in complex visual environments Role of perceptual similarity in search efficiency Impact of emotional arousal on relational memory His publications (2012–2025) demonstrate expertise in visual cognition, attentional theories, and cognitive modeling , with a strong emphasis on experimental validation of computational models. Awards include the NSF CAREER award and Psychonomic Society Mid-Career award . As co-founder of the Spark Society , he actively promotes diversity in cognitive sciences. His lab investigates topics like contextual cueing , feature boosting theories , and online eye-tracking methodology , supported by NSF grants including the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Maennig holds the Professorship of Economics at the University of Hamburg , Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences. His work focuses on Sport Economics , Real Estate and Urban Economics , and Transport Economics , with extensive media engagement on Olympic Games impacts, urban policy, and sports governance. Affiliations : Department of Economics, University of Hamburg Research Themes : Olympic legacy, urban mobility, real estate markets, mega-event economics Research Trends from 2023-2025 highlight his analysis of Olympic Games' political effects, corporate governance impacts, and transportation policy. Notable publications include Centralization in high-performance sports and Olympic Games and democracy . Public Engagement : Regular media contributor on Hamburg Contemporary Economic Discussion Papers , with 30+ interviews on Olympic economics, housing markets, and urban development (e.g., NDR , rbb , Der SPIEGEL ).
John Salazar is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics at the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences. He earned his PhD from Auburn University, MS from the University of South Alabama, and BS from Northeastern University. Salazar serves as Coordinator of the University of Georgia Hospitality and Food Industry Management Major and has held faculty roles at institutions including the University of South Carolina Beaufort, University of Tennessee, Southern Illinois University, and University of South Alabama. Education: PhD in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Auburn University, MS in Hospitality Administration from University of South Alabama, BS in Business Administration from Northeastern University His research focuses on hospitality human resource dynamics, destination marketing, event management, and pandemic-related travel behavior. Key themes include job satisfaction, learning transfer, cross-cultural tourism, and risk perception analysis. His recent work examines disaster recovery, emotional solidarity, and post-pandemic travel adaptations. With over 80 peer-reviewed publications and $1.2M in grants, Salazar has advised numerous tourism agencies and hospitality firms. He has held leadership roles in academic associations, including Chapter President of the Southeast Travel and Tourism Research Association and Director of Research for the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (Southeast/Central/South America Federation). His technical work includes food safety protocols, travel motivation theory, and empirical studies on tipping behavior. Notable collaborations include research partnerships with Marriott Hotels, Sea Pines Resort, and the US Department of Transportation.
Dr. Song Shi is an Associate Professor of Property Economics at the University of Technology Sydney's School of Built Environment, where he serves as a leading researcher and educator in housing markets, price forecasting, and sustainable urban development. His interdisciplinary research bridges academic theory with practical industry applications, focusing on the intersection of real estate economics, environmental risk, and social sustainability. With over 120 research contributions, including numerous publications in A* and A-ranked journals, he has established himself as a prominent voice in property economics in Australia. Dr. Shi earned his PhD from Massey University in 2009, following his Master of Business Studies (2006) and Bachelor of Business Studies (Honours) (2004), also from Massey University. His earlier academic foundation includes a Bachelor of Engineering from Southeast University in Nanjing, China (1991). Dr. Shi's research interests span housing market analysis, environmental risk assessment, sustainable urban development, and Chinese investment patterns in Australian real estate. He has pioneered work on flood risk perception in property valuation, demonstrating cognitive limits in how buyers assess low-probability, high-severity flood events. His research on Chinese investment in Sydney housing markets challenged common perceptions about foreign capital's impact on affordability. Currently, he is developing AI-driven housing market forecasting tools to provide real-time insights for investors, homeowners, and policymakers across Australian capital cities. His publication portfolio reveals a clear evolution from traditional property economics toward interdisciplinary research connecting environmental risk, social sustainability, and technological innovation in housing markets. Recent work increasingly focuses on climate change adaptation, flood risk assessment, and the social dimensions of urban development, reflecting both personal research interests and broader academic priorities in sustainable cities. DAB Faculty Award for Highest Impact Research Project or Achievement (2023) UTS Australia-China Relations Institute Research Grants (2020, 2022) UrbanGrowth NSW University Roundtable Research Grant ($127,954) (2019) Third Class Award (2025) Dr. Shi actively supervises Masters and PhD students, with a focus on housing market analysis, forecasting, sustainable urban development, and climate change impacts. His supervision excellence is evidenced by his PhD student Chunyan Yang winning the UTS Chancellor's List in 2023. He has secured significant research funding, including the UrbanGrowth NSW grant for predictive housing price modeling (2018-2020). As a passionate educator, he teaches in the Bachelor of Property Economics program and coordinates postgraduate subjects in the Master of Real Estate Investment program, emphasizing critical thinking and analytical skills for real-world property investment challenges. Dr. Shi maintains strong industry connections through regular media commentary on SBS Mandarin Radio and contributions to The Conversation, where his articles on flood risk and Chinese investment in housing have garnered tens of thousands of reads. His work bridges academic research with practical policy implications, particularly regarding housing affordability, environmental risk management, and sustainable urban development.
Professor Andreas Geiger leads the Autonomous Vision Group (AVG) at the University of Tübingen , heading the Department of Computer Science and serving as core faculty at the Tübingen AI Center . He is Principal Investigator in the ML in Science cluster of excellence and CRC Robust Vision , while coordinating the ELLIS PhD program . Develops machine learning models for computer vision, NLP, and robotics Focus on 2D/3D representations, geometry/material reconstruction, and robust AI Applications in autonomous vehicles, VR/AR, and document analysis His research has produced hundreds of publications with significant impact, including multiple best paper awards at top venues. The Scholar Inbox platform he co-created revolutionizes academic paper discovery, winning business model awards at Tübingen AI Center spinoff events. Key research areas include: Neural rendering and 3D scene understanding Self-driving perception and planning systems Simulation frameworks for autonomous validation Efficient reinforcement learning architectures Recent awards include: CVPR 2024 Best Paper Sage 10-Year Impact Award 2024 IEEE PAMI Young Researcher Award 2018 Active in CyberValley and ELLIS Institute Tübingen , he maintains strong industry collaborations through initiatives like the ML ⇌ Science Colaboratory . His group's work appears in journals like TPAMI and conferences including SIGGRAPH 2025.
Dr. Christine Eckert serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Marketing Discipline at the University of Technology Sydney's Business School. Her research program bridges quantitative modeling with practical applications across financial decision making, strategic governance, and consumer behavior. Dr. Eckert's scholarly work demonstrates methodological sophistication with a focus on understanding how market participants make choices across diverse contexts. She has established herself as a leading researcher in tobacco control, using discrete choice methodologies to examine how packaging, warnings, and product design influence smoking behaviors among different population segments. Her publication record spans premier journals including Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Journal of Management, Review of Finance, and Tobacco Control, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her research interests. Dr. Eckert frequently employs experimental designs and advanced statistical techniques to uncover the mechanisms driving consumer choices in complex decision environments. Dr. Eckert's research portfolio reveals a consistent pattern of applying rigorous quantitative methods to address real-world problems from retirement planning to tobacco regulation. Her tobacco control studies have directly informed policy debates around standardized packaging and warning labels, while her financial decision-making research offers insights for improving retirement income products. CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Best Paper Award (2021) Dr. Eckert has secured significant research funding including projects with the Health Research Council of New Zealand and Australian Research Council. She has served on professional committees including the ANZMAC Executive Committee and PBRF Quality Evaluation Committee. Her teaching encompasses undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Marketing Research, Pricing Analysis, and Product Innovation Management, where she likely integrates her research expertise in quantitative methods and consumer behavior.
Prof. Oded Ghitza is a Professor at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, affiliated with the Department of Neuroscience. His research focuses on neural mechanisms underlying speech perception, particularly the role of cortical oscillations in segmenting and decoding speech. He investigates theta and delta band activities in syllabic and prosodic segmentation models, aiming to bridge computational principles with psychophysical data. His work addresses requirements for predictive models and emerging questions in this field. Research interests include the interplay between neural oscillations and auditory processing, with emphasis on how temporal dynamics in the brain structure speech perception. He has participated in interdisciplinary events like the 2017 Symposium on Neural Oscillations in Speech and Language Processing in Berlin. No specific awards or grants are listed, though his affiliation with the Max Planck Institute suggests involvement in collaborative research networks. He contributes to labs like the Brain PIE Lab, focusing on neural and environmental rhythms. Advising and student mentorship details are not provided in the text.
Jan Mikołajczyk is a Professor at the Department of Commerce and Marketing, University of Economics in Poznan. His roles include Rektor's Delegate for Open Classes, Director of the 'Marketing in Practice' Postgraduate Studies Program, and Member of the UEP Electors' College. He is actively involved in professional organizations, serving as a member of the Polish Economic Society and the Foundation Council. His research focuses on marketing management, retail trade dynamics, and sales strategies. Key areas of inquiry include neuromarketing applications in e-commerce, promotional effectiveness in niche markets, and the role of non-commercial services in enhancing shopping center appeal. His work also explores culinary tourism development and strategic distribution channel optimization. Recent publications analyze Zalando SE's consumer behavior patterns, martial arts school promotional strategies, and Lech Poznan's social media marketing. Earlier studies examined retail innovation in petrol stations and critical factors influencing shopping center attractiveness among student populations. While no scientific awards are listed, his contributions to marketing education are notable through his leadership in postgraduate programs and his involvement in shaping academic standards for management-related theses.
Slim Essid is a Full Professor at Télécom Paris and coordinator of the Audio Data Analysis and Signal Processing (ADASP) group. He holds a PhD and HDR from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC). His research focuses on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and signal processing applied to temporal data analysis, including multiview learning, representation learning, and structured prediction. Applications span music content analysis (MIR), multimodal perception (e.g., EEG data analysis), and human behavior analysis. He has advised 15 PhD students and collaborated on over 14 post-doctoral projects. Education: PhD in Signal Processing, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (2005) Habilitation (HDR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie (2015) M.Sc. in Digital Communication Systems, Télécom ParisTech (2002) Engineer Degree, École Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis (2001) Research interests emphasize multimodal learning, self-supervised representation learning, and audio-visual fusion. Key projects include sound-prompted segmentation, zero-shot audio captioning, and EEG-based auditory attention decoding. Over 150 peer-reviewed publications exist across conferences like NeurIPS, ICML, and journals like IEEE Transactions. Active in reviewing for top-tier venues and advising French/EU research projects. Labs/Teams: Member of the Signal, Statistics and Learning (S2A) research team and the Information Processing and Communication Laboratory (LTCI).
Prof. Christopher Habel is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Hamburg, leading the WSV work area. His research focuses on spatial and temporal cognition, multimodal interaction, and accessibility technologies. He holds the formal title of Head of Department WSV and is affiliated with the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences. Habel's work bridges cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and human-computer interaction with an emphasis on assistive technologies for visually impaired individuals. Key research projects include the CINACS International Research Training Group, exploring auditory-haptic access to spatial graphics, and the development of multimodal comprehension systems integrating text, graphics, and tactile feedback. His contributions span theoretical frameworks in cognitive linguistics and practical implementations of verbal assistance systems for tactile maps and haptic graph exploration. Over 30 years of academic activity is reflected in his extensive publication record (1984–2015), with recent work emphasizing cross-linguistic studies, event recognition in virtual environments, and the design of multimodal interfaces for cognitive robotics. His research integrates computational models with empirical studies on human perception and language processing.
Dr. Zia Ush Shamszaman is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Teesside University's School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies (SCEDT). He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Galway and a Master's from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. His research focuses on Cybersecurity, AI Ethics, IoT Resilience, and Game Theory applications, with a strong emphasis on bridging academic research with industry applications. Teaching responsibilities include postgraduate modules on AI Ethics, Cyber Risk Management, and Ethical Hacking, alongside undergraduate courses in Secure Data Acquisition and Ethical Hacking. He actively supervises five PhD students in cybersecurity and AI, advocating for inclusive technology education and societal impact. Professional memberships include IEEE (Senior Member), Elsevier Advisory Panel, and W3C. He has organized conferences like the International Conference on Suitable Technologies 4.0 and served on program committees for major events. Recognized for exceptional peer reviewing, he has received awards from leading journals like the Journal of Network and Computer Applications and Future Generation Computer Systems. Current projects funded by Innovate UK include CyberPathway (diversity in cybersecurity education), SafeSCMS (AI-driven supply chain security), and Opera-CyberThemis (trustworthy AI frameworks). Past industry roles include technical leadership in Bangladesh's government projects like the Machine Readable Passport system and World Bank-funded Bangladesh Automated Clearing House initiative. Shamszaman's work spans industry collaborations, academic leadership, and community engagement, with recent media contributions on GenAI governance and cyber resilience strategies. His research integrates theoretical advancements with practical solutions for SMEs, healthcare systems, and underserved communities.
Nancy A. Morris is an Associate Professor and Program Chair of Criminal Justice at Virginia Commonwealth University's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. She holds a Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland. Her research examines developmental criminology, cross-national patterns of violence, spatial crime distribution, and terrorism dynamics using advanced quantitative methods. Her education includes: B.A. in Sociology and B.S. in Political Science from Virginia Tech M.S. and Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from University of Maryland Morris's research investigates continuity and change in criminal behavior across the life course, cross-national patterns of lethal violence (including homicide and terrorism), and the spatial-temporal dynamics of crime at micro-places. She employs longitudinal and spatial analyses to examine criminal persistence/desistance, country-level terrorism trajectories, and place-based crime prevention strategies. Her publications demonstrate consistent focus on: Behavioral genetics of criminality using Scandinavian datasets Counterterrorism policy and target selection dynamics Methodological innovations in measuring crime patterns Honors include: Predoctoral fellowship with National Consortium of Violence Research Professional affiliations: American Society of Criminology (subcommittee service) Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences American Sociological Association American Psychological Association
