Joshua Nall is the Director of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge's Department of History and Philosophy of Science, a role he has held since 2022. Previously, he served as Curator of Modern Sciences at the same museum from 2013. His research focuses on the material culture and mass media of the physical sciences, particularly exploring how scientific instruments and media shaped modern astronomy and imperial science. He has curated major exhibitions like Astronomy and Empire (2017) and co-edited influential volumes such as Victorian Material Culture: Science and Medicine (2022). Nall's 2019 book News from Mars won the Philip J. Pauly Prize, analyzing how mass media influenced 19th-century astronomical debates about potential life on Mars. His work bridges museum curation, historical scholarship, and digital humanities, notably through projects like Tools of Knowledge , which used data analysis to study the British instrument trade. He is also a leading voice in forgery studies, examining counterfeit scientific artifacts. Key interests include the history of scientific instruments, British imperial astronomy, and the social dimensions of science communication. His collaborative work extends to exhibitions like Craftswomen: Uncovering Hidden Labour in the History of Science , which highlighted overlooked contributions of women in scientific craftsmanship.
Dominique Foray is a Professor at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and holds the Chair of Economics and Management of Innovation (CEMI). He is a member of the Swiss Council for Science, chairman of the KOF Swiss Economic Research Institute's Advisory Board, and a foreign member of Columbia University's Center of Capitalism and Society. His career includes extensive advisory roles, such as with the European Commission's 'Knowledge for Growth' group and Germany's Expert Commission for Research and Innovation. Education: Ph.D. in Economics, University Lumière of Lyon (1984) Habilitation à diriger des recherches, University Lumière of Lyon (1992) Foray's research focuses on the economics of innovation, knowledge-based economy dynamics, technology policy, smart specialization strategies, and institutional frameworks for innovation. He has authored seminal works including The Economics of Knowledge (MIT Press, 2004) and Smart Specialisation (Routledge, 2015). His recent publications explore mission-oriented innovation policies, smart specialization in EU contexts, and knowledge diffusion mechanisms. Foray's work bridges academic theory with practical policy design, influencing regional and national innovation strategies globally. Advising: Past EPFL PhD students: Aouinait Camille Marguerite, Ayoubi Charles Chadi, Baruffaldi Stefano Horst, Bednyagin Denis, Bogers Marcellus, Coffano Monica, Conti Annamaria, Cristelli Gabriele, Gaulé Patrick, Hamdan Livramento Intan Maizurah, Marino Marianna, Muñoz Tellez de Kieffer Viviana Carolina, Pellegrin Claudia, Simeth Markus Foray's institutional roles include leadership in European policy initiatives and contributions to the World Bank's studies on innovation's role in economic growth. His interdisciplinary approach integrates economics, policy analysis, and technology management to address grand societal challenges through innovation.
Atreyi Kankanhalli is a Professor at the National University of Singapore, specializing in Information Systems with a focus on knowledge management, healthcare IT, and digital innovation. Their research spans over three decades, with prolific contributions in top journals like MIS Quarterly, Journal of AIS, and Information & Management. They have co-authored over 150 papers addressing topics such as crowdsourcing, online communities, and the impact of AI on scholarly practices. Notable work includes studies on user adherence to health apps, innovation in public sector data utilization, and the ethical challenges of generative AI in peer review. Kankanhalli has also led research on global virtual teams and digital technologies' role in social justice, reflecting a commitment to both technical and societal dimensions of information systems. Education & Background: While specific degree details are not provided, their extensive publication history and academic roles imply advanced qualifications in Information Systems or related fields. They have collaborated with global researchers across institutions like NUS, University of Illinois, and Singapore Management University. Research Themes: Core areas include digital health interventions (e.g., fitness app adherence), organizational innovation via open data and crowdsourcing, and the socio-technical challenges of AI in academia. Their work often bridges theoretical frameworks with practical applications, such as healthcare decision support systems and policy-driven technology adoption. Impact & Influence: As an editorial board member and frequent conference contributor (e.g., ICIS, PACIS), Kankanhalli shapes the field's research agenda. Their recent focus on generative AI's implications highlights proactive engagement with emerging technologies' ethical and methodological challenges.
Professor Richard Powell is a Cultural, Political, and Historical Geographer with expertise in the Polar Regions. He is currently the Professor of Arctic Studies and Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, while also serving as a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College. His career spans roles at the University of Oxford and the University of Liverpool, with a focus on the Arctic and its geopolitical, cultural, and environmental complexities. BA Geography, St. John's College, University of Oxford (Double First Class Honours) MA Geography, University of British Columbia (Distinction) PhD Geography, Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge PG Cert. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Liverpool Richard's research explores historical and cultural geographies, the geopolitics of the Arctic, geographies of science, and the interplay between environment and politics in the Circumpolar Region. His ERC-funded project ARCTIC CULT investigates colonial representations in Arctic studies, while prior work includes ethnographic studies of Arctic scientific practices and the political implications of resource extraction. He has authored a monograph, Studying Arctic Fields , and edited volumes on polar geopolitics. His recent publications emphasize the intersection of Arctic governance, colonial histories, and environmental science. Notable awards include the ERC Consolidator Grant and the Gill Memorial Award , alongside teaching accolades like the Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Oxford. He has supervised over 30 postgraduate students and leads interdisciplinary teams in projects funded by the Leverhulme Trust, AHRC, and ESRC. ERC Consolidator Grant (2016) Gill Memorial Award (2013) Teaching Excellence Award (2012) Environment and Planning A Ashby Prize (2007) RGS-IBG Area Prize (2002) H.O. Beckit Memorial Prize (1998) Gibbs Book Prize (1998) Richard collaborates with institutions like the Royal Society, Royal Geographical Society, and National Museum of Denmark, and has hosted seminars and workshops on Arctic geopolitics. He is a member of the UK Arctic and Antarctic Partnership Steering Committee and contributes to policy discussions on polar governance.
Rozenn Dahyot is a Professor of Computer Science at Maynooth University within the Faculty of Science & Engineering. She previously held roles as Assistant and Associate Professor in Statistics at Trinity College Dublin (2008-2021) and Lecturer in Computer Science (2005-2008). Her research interests bridge Digital Signal Processing, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Statistical Analysis. She organized the European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO2021) in Dublin and served as President of the Irish Pattern Recognition and Classification Society (IPRCS) from 2014-2020. Her work spans topics like semantic scene understanding, CNN compression, and medical image segmentation. Key contributions include advancements in graph-based image analysis, reinforcement learning optimization, and AI-driven systems for disaster management. Dahyot is a member of IEEE, ACM, and EURASIP, contributing to both academic and industrial collaborations.
Sophie Oldfield is Professor and Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. She is internationally recognized for her research on cities in the Global South, with a particular focus on African urbanism, informality, governance, and collaborative planning. She previously held a joint professorship at the University of Cape Town and the University of Basel from 2016 to 2021. Ph.D., Geography, University of Minnesota M.A., Geography, Syracuse University Her research interests center on urban studies in the Global South , especially African cities, where she investigates informality, housing struggles, participatory planning, and the epistemologies of urban knowledge production . She is deeply committed to collaborative and community-engaged research, challenging traditional academic boundaries between the university and community. Her work emphasizes fieldwork, theory, and practice, and explores how urban governance shapes everyday life in marginalized settlements. Her recent publications reflect a strong trend toward co-produced knowledge, feminist urban praxis, and critical urban theory from southern perspectives . She frequently examines how urban theory can be reimagined through partnerships with communities, activists, and practitioners. Her scholarship spans interdisciplinary areas including geography, planning, urban studies, and social policy. Society of South African Geographers Fellowship (2020) Distinguished African Scholar, Cornell University (2018) British Academy Newton Advanced Fellow (2015–2018) University of Cape Town Social Responsiveness Award (2014) Mandela Mellon Fellow, Harvard University (2010) She has supervised and collaborated with numerous students, particularly through participatory research projects such as Building Bit-by-Bit , which involved master’s students from the University of Cape Town and the University of Basel. She has secured significant research funding through fellowships and institutional support. Her work is closely tied to initiatives like the African Centre for Cities and the Critical Urbanisms program at the University of Basel . She continues to be an active voice in rethinking urban scholarship through collaboration, equity, and southern epistemologies.
Hakan Özkan is a Privatdozent and Research Associate at the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Münster, where he has been working since 2007 in various capacities. He was awarded his Venia Legendi (Habilitation) in November 2019 for Arabic and Islamic Studies with his thesis 'History of Eastern Zajal – Dialectal Arabic Verse Poetry from the East of the Arab World.' His academic background includes a Franco-German doctorate completed in 2006 from Université de Provence and University of Cologne, supervised by Claude Audebert and Monika Gronke, with external reviewers including Wolfhart P. Heinrichs from Harvard University. His educational background includes: 2019: Venia Legendi for Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Münster 2002-2006: Franco-German Doctorate in Arabic Studies and Narratology (Université de Provence and University of Cologne) 1995-2000: Master of Arts in Islamic Studies, Oriental Languages and Literatures (University of Cologne) 2000-2001: Course program in Modern Standard Arabic and Syrian-Lebanese dialect at Institut Français d'Etudes Arabes de Damas Özkan's research focuses on premodern Arabic dialect poetry, particularly zajal and muwashshaḥ forms, narratology, prosimeter literature, socio-literary history, and diachronic dialectology. His interdisciplinary approach bridges linguistic analysis with literary criticism, examining how dialectal forms evolved within Arabic literary traditions across different historical periods and geographical regions. He has conducted extensive field research in Arab countries including Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Morocco, with particular emphasis on the historical development of poetic forms from the Mamluk through Ottoman periods. His publication history demonstrates consistent scholarly contributions to Arabic literary studies, with his 2020 monograph 'History of Eastern Zajal' representing a landmark study in the field. His recent work has expanded to include analyses of religious poetry praising the Prophet Muhammad in zajal form, wine poetry in Arabic literary traditions, and the integration of dialects into Arabic language teaching methodologies. His scholarly output spans monographs, critical editions, encyclopedia entries, journal articles, and book chapters across multiple languages including German, English, French, and Turkish. Among his academic recognitions: 2018: Second place on shortlist for W2 Professorship for Arabic Language and Translation Science, University of Leipzig 2008: Offered Junior Professorship at American University in Cairo (declined) 2007: Second place on shortlist for maître de conférence position at University of Nancy 2007: Official Qualification from National University Council (CNU) for positions as maître de conférence at French universities Özkan has served on numerous academic committees, including appointment committees for professorships in Sinology and Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Münster. He has been a juror for the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding in Doha and has served on the steering committee for the 'Translation for Dialogue' program of the Anna Lindh Foundation. His editorial work includes reviewing for Mamluk Studies Review, Die Welt des Islams, and Middle Eastern Literatures since 2012. His scholarly activities extend to linguistic fieldwork on Pontic Greek dialects in Turkey and organizing significant academic conferences including 'The Race Course of Literature – An-Nawāǧī and His Contemporaries' in 2018 at the University of Münster. His multilingual capabilities (Arabic, Turkish, German, French, English, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and knowledge of Modern Greek) enable his comparative work across multiple linguistic and cultural traditions in the Mediterranean region.
Patrick Willems is a full Professor at KU Leuven's Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Department of Civil Engineering. He serves as the head of the Hydraulics Subdivision within the Hydraulics and Geotechnics unit. Professor Willems holds multiple significant roles including chairman of the ADS Bureau, member of the Faculty Council of Engineering Sciences, and participant in the Leuven One Health Institute and KU Leuven Institute for Urban Studies (LUSI). His work addresses critical global water management challenges through advanced hydrological modeling and climate change adaptation strategies. Professor Willems' research spans several critical areas in water resources engineering. His primary expertise includes urban hydrology and river engineering, statistical hydrology with focus on flood prediction and risk analysis, integrated river basin management, precipitation analysis, and climate change impacts on hydrological extremes. He employs both traditional hydrological modeling approaches and innovative machine learning techniques to develop practical solutions for flood warning systems, urban water management, and climate adaptation planning. His research integrates statistical methods, numerical modeling, and data science to address complex water management problems across multiple geographical contexts. Professor Willems leads multiple major international research projects examining hydrological extremes in transboundary river basins, natural climate adaptation measures, hydrological modeling of peatland areas, and deep learning-based prediction of hydrological extremes. His work spans various geographical contexts including Belgium, Vietnam, Bolivia, Tanzania, and the Congo Basin, demonstrating both local relevance and global applicability of his research. Within KU Leuven, Professor Willems teaches diverse courses including Environmental Problems and Techniques, Statistics and Data Science, Stochastic Hydrology, Urban and River Hydrology and Hydraulics, River Modeling, and Probability and Statistics. He also leads the Hydraulic Engineering Project course and an Artificial Intelligence Project course, reflecting his commitment to integrating traditional engineering knowledge with modern computational approaches. As head of the Hydraulics Subdivision, he oversees research activities focused on developing advanced water engineering tools and methodologies that bridge theoretical advancements with practical applications for water management authorities.
Brendan T. O'Connor is an Associate Professor at the College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he directs the SLANG Lab and serves as Associate Director of the Computational Social Science Institute. His research bridges statistical machine learning and natural language processing with social science applications, particularly using text data from news and social media to understand societal patterns. His work focuses on developing text analysis methods to answer social science questions in domains like political science and sociolinguistics. Current collaborative projects include combating misinformation, analyzing bias in news coverage, and developing tools for clinical discourse assessment using large language models. O'Connor's publications demonstrate a consistent focus on computational social science, with recent work exploring multilingual analysis, legal discourse patterns, and sociolinguistic variation. His methodological contributions span coreference resolution, event extraction, and argument mining. At UMass, he contributes to multiple research centers including the Computational Social Science Institute, UMass NLP group, and Centers for Data Science and Intelligent Information Retrieval. He teaches graduate seminars in natural language processing and maintains active collaborations across disciplines.
Susan Smith-Peter is a Professor of History at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, specializing in Russian history beyond Moscow and St. Petersburg. Her research focuses on regional identity, civil society development, and imperial governance in 19th-century Russia, with particular attention to Siberia and provincial dynamics. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.A. from Ohio University. Her work analyzes how Tsarist administrative frameworks fostered subnational identities through statistical bureaus, agricultural societies, and provincial newspapers. Notable contributions include *Imagining Russian Regions* (2018), which argues that autocracy’s civil society initiatives inadvertently fueled revolutionary movements. Her research has been supported by grants from the Fulbright Program, American Historical Association, and IREX. Professor Smith-Peter’s publications span journals like *Slavic Review* and *Kritika*, exploring topics from sugar beet industries to colonial Alaska. She has translated key texts into Russian and edited historical documents such as *The Great Republic Tested by the Touch of Truth*. She serves on campus committees and previously chaired Columbia University’s Seminar on Slavic History and Culture. Key Awards: Fulbright Fellowship, American Historical Association Grant, IREX Grant Grants: Fulbright-Hays Fellowship, University of Illinois Grant, CUNY Grant Her interdisciplinary approach bridges economic, cultural, and political history, emphasizing regional agency within imperial contexts. Ongoing projects explore Siberian historiography and the legacy of 19th-century provincial activism.
Tal Simons is Professor of Organization Theory in the Department of Organisation and Personnel Management at Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University Rotterdam, and has been an ERIM Fellow since 2019. His research examines organizational responses to societal pressures through institutional and behavioral lenses. Simons' work centers on institutional theory applications in regulatory resistance, ideological dynamics, and organizational authenticity. He investigates how firms navigate social movements, media scrutiny, and moral legitimacy challenges across diverse sectors including tobacco, wine, and contemporary dance. His methodology blends historical analysis with qualitative case studies to uncover patterns in community cohesion, aesthetic innovation, and cross-cultural collaboration. Publication trends reveal an evolution from foundational studies on kibbutzim and Israeli wine industry transformation (1997-2010) toward contemporary analyses of CSR-media relationships, regulatory compliance, and authenticity construction (2015-2024). Recent work emphasizes ideological imperatives in news coverage and moral legitimacy frameworks, while maintaining consistent theoretical grounding in institutional logics and organizational ecology. Professional recognition includes: ERIM Fellow (2019–present) As an active doctoral supervisor, Simons mentors nine PhD candidates across organization theory and behavior domains. His advisees explore cross-cultural collaborations, multi-stakeholder organizing, sustainability-focused community enterprises, and societal change mechanisms. Supervision spans 2015 to present with roles as promotor and committee member, reflecting sustained commitment to developing organizational scholarship through next-generation researchers.
Professor Merje Kuus is a distinguished political geographer at the Department of Geography , Faculty of Arts , University of British Columbia . Her work bridges political geography , international relations , and sociology to examine knowledge production in policy-making contexts. PhD from Syracuse University (1999) WSET Level 3 Award in Wine holder Active in Arctic Circle's Mission Council on the GlobalArctic Research focuses on expertise in diplomatic practices , with empirical specializations in European Union and Arctic governance . She also explores geographical imaginaries in wine production , connecting policy analysis to cultural geography. Key publications include: Geopolitics and Expertise: Knowledge and Authority in European Diplomacy (Wiley Blackwell, 2014) Geopolitics Reframed: Security and Identity in Europe’s Eastern Enlargement (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) Ashgate Research Companion to Critical Geopolitics (co-edited, 2013) Recent scientific awards include: Fulbright Fellowship Killam Fellowship SSHRC Canada grants Her supervision portfolio spans climate governance, disaster response expertise, and transnational policy networks, with completed PhD theses on topics ranging from Vancouver's climate governance to Arctic resource governance .
Dr Georgios Batsakis is a Reader in International Business & Economics at Brunel Business School, Brunel University London. His research and teaching focus on internationalization processes of multinational enterprises (MNEs), strategic management, and digitalization in global markets. PhD in Management Studies (2014) - Brunel Business School MSc in Business Economics (2010) - Erasmus School of Economics BSc in Business Administration (2006) - University of The Aegean, School of Business His research spans international business, examining temporal dimensions of MNE internationalization, product/geographic diversification, foreign market entry modes, and the impact of digitalization on global operations. He has published extensively in top journals like the Journal of International Business Studies and Global Strategy Journal , with recent work highlighting the intersection of digital transformation and international diversification. Scientific recognitions include Poets&Quants' Best 40-Under-40 Business School Professors in 2022 and Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (2019). He serves as Track-Chair for academic conferences and ad-hoc reviewer for leading journals. Advisor to pre-seed startups in Greece on business model formulation Mentor and judge in global startup competitions (e.g., VISA Innovation Program, Disrupt Greece)
Professor Emma Moore is a leading sociolinguist at the School of English, University of Sheffield . Specializing in the social dimensions of language, her work integrates methodologies from anthropology and sociology to investigate how linguistic variation constructs identity and social affiliations. Research focus: Sociolinguistic style, dialect contact, youth language, identity negotiation, and community-based fieldwork Key projects: Adolescence and grammar (1999-), Isles of Scilly dialect (2008-), language and inequality (2014-), language perception software (2016-) Educational background : PhD in Sociolinguistics, University of Manchester Stanford University (USA) during PhD research Research trends across her 2021-2025 publications reveal interdisciplinary exploration of: Socio-syntactic variation Clinical linguistics (2025 MDS-UPDRS studies) Digital discourse post-pandemic Indexicality and cognitive representations Dialect contact in insular communities Educational policy implications Scientific recognition : British Academy Mid-Career Fellow (2019-2020) Elected Fellow, Royal Anthropological Institute (2014) AHRC/BA funded research projects (1999-2015) Research group leadership : Mentored 9 PhD students (2004-2024) and supervised 3 undergraduate SURE projects, including analyses of: Gender in rap performance Language style and workplace inequality Oral history digitization Professional contributions : Editorial Board: Language in Society (2015-), Gender and Language (2011-2017) External Examiner: Lancaster University MA in English Language (2013-2017) Collaborative software development for dialect perception testing
Patrick T. Dowling, M.D., M.P.H., is the Kaiser Permanente Endowed Professor of Community Medicine and Chair of the UCLA Department of Family Medicine. He holds dual degrees from the Medical College of Ohio (1974) and the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Dowling's career spans over four decades in family medicine, residency training, and health policy advocacy, with a focus on underserved populations. He has directed residency programs at Cook County Hospital, Brown University, and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center before leading UCLA's Family Medicine department since 1998. His research emphasizes health policy, chronic disease management, cross-cultural medicine, and integrating substance abuse treatment into primary care. He co-founded UCLA's IMG pathway program to train bilingual (English-Spanish) international medical graduates for underserved areas. Dr. Dowling has advised the National Health Service Corps and LA County Public Health Commission, and currently serves on Drew University's Board of Trustees. Publications highlight systemic barriers to healthcare access, physician practice location determinants, opioid epidemic responses, and community-based participatory research. His work bridges medical education innovation with socioeconomic health equity, reflecting lifelong commitment to universal healthcare access inspired by his early work with Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers Clinics.
