Alberto Salvo is an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), holding a PhD from the London School of Economics. His research spans environmental economics, industrial organisation, and applied microeconomics, with a focus on urban pollution, consumer behavior, and climate action. Environmental Economics & Policy (Undergraduate) Economics of the Environment (PhD) Advanced Industrial Organisation (PhD) His work examines air pollution impacts on health and productivity, fuel switching dynamics in megacities, and behavioral responses to environmental stress. Recent publications analyze particulate pollution in China, temperature effects in tropical cities, and plastic waste patterns linked to food delivery. Notable awards include the JAERE Best Paper Award (2020), Robert Mundell Prize (2010), and Antitrust Policy Award (2007). His collaborations span institutions in Brazil, China, and Singapore.
Morgan Wait is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow Level I in the School of History at University College Dublin. She is currently working on the ERC-funded DIASPORA project, focusing on the history of drug use in late 20th-century Ireland. Her research centers on social history, with a strong emphasis on media, gender, and sexuality in modern Ireland. Education: PhD in History, Trinity College Dublin (2022) M.Phil in Modern Irish History, Trinity College Dublin BA in History, English, and Political Science, Salisbury University Her research interests lie at the intersection of media history and gender studies, particularly in the context of Irish public broadcasting. She has published extensively on women’s programming at Teilifís Éireann and institutional practices such as the marriage bar. Her work reconstructs marginalized media narratives using archival and press sources. Morgan’s recent publications show a consistent focus on Irish television history, gender representation, and cultural policy. Her articles analyze programming content, institutional discrimination, and public discourse, reflecting a deep engagement with both academic and public history. Scientific Awards: No awards listed in the provided text. Morgan has contributed to significant research projects and is currently working on a forthcoming monograph, Rediscovering Women in Early Irish Television , under contract with Liverpool University Press. While no formal advisees are listed, her collaborative publications indicate active participation in scholarly networks. She is affiliated with the DIASPORA research team at UCD and contributes to public scholarship through RTÉ Brainstorm and online academic blogs.
Hamsa Bastani is an Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in Statistics and Data Science. She co-directs the Wharton Healthcare Analytics Lab and serves as an Associate Editor for Operations Research, M&SOM and OR Letters. Her academic journey began with summa cum laude graduation from Harvard in 2012 with an A.M. in physics and A.B. in physics and mathematics. She completed her PhD in Stanford's Electrical Engineering department under Mohsen Bayati, followed by a Herman Goldstine postdoctoral fellowship at IBM Research. Professor Bastani's research focuses on developing novel machine learning algorithms for data-driven decision-making, with applications spanning healthcare operations, social good, and revenue management. Her work demonstrates particular expertise in sequential decision-making (bandits, reinforcement learning), learning from auxiliary data sources (transfer learning, meta-learning), and designing effective human-AI interfaces (interpretability, fairness). She has made significant contributions to understanding how AI systems affect and augment human behavior, with the goal of designing AI tools that help humans thrive. Her publications reveal a strong trend toward high-impact applications of machine learning in critical societal domains. A significant portion of her recent work focuses on healthcare applications, including optimizing health supply chains in low- and middle-income countries, designing clinical trial protocols, and creating targeted public health interventions. Another major theme examines the complex relationship between humans and AI systems, particularly how AI affects learning outcomes and decision-making processes. Her work frequently bridges theoretical advances with practical implementation, as evidenced by country-scale deployments in Greece and Sierra Leone. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice (2021) Pierskalla Award for Best Paper in Healthcare (2021, 2019, 2016) Behavioral OM Best Paper Award (2021) Public Sector in OR Best Paper Award (2024) INFORMS Data Mining Best Paper Award (2022) Wharton Teaching Excellence Award (2019, 2020, 2021) Professor Bastani has advised numerous PhD students who have gone on to prominent positions, including Pia Ramchandani (Director of Responsible AI at PwC), Arielle Anderer (Assistant Professor at Cornell Johnson), and Kan Xu (Assistant Professor at ASU Carey). Her research has been supported by collaborations with national governments, including the Greek government where she co-designed Eva, the national-scale reinforcement learning system for targeted COVID-19 testing, and the Government of Sierra Leone where she improved patient access to essential medicines by nearly 20% via decision-aware learning. She has also conducted the first large field study deploying generative AI tutors in high school math classes. She leads the Wharton Healthcare Analytics Lab and serves on the Steering Committee for the Penn Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics and on the statistics advisory committee for the AHA Food is Medicine Initiative. Outside academia, she serves on the Workday AI Advisory Board, demonstrating her commitment to translating academic research into practical applications.
Patrick Le Galès is a CNRS Research Professor at Sciences Po's Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), where he contributes to research on urban governance, public policy, and European political sociology. He was the founding Dean of the Sciences Po Urban School (2015–2022) and remains an active faculty member, teaching and leading research groups on urban transformation and state restructuring. His research interests span urban sociology, comparative public policy, political economy, and the governance of European cities. He investigates themes such as financialization of housing, digital cities, urban inequalities, and the reconfiguration of the modern state. His work combines sociological and political science approaches to analyze how cities and states adapt to economic and social change. The 15 most recent publications reflect a consistent focus on urban governance, state transformation, and European integration. These works span subfields including smart cities, policy instruments, metropolitan conflict, and institutional change, with keywords in political science, sociology, and urban studies. His research often adopts a comparative framework across European and global cities. Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) Member of Academia Europaea CNRS Silver Medal (2018) Stein Rokkan Prize (2002) Regional Studies Association Best Paper Award (2017) CNRS Bronze Medal (1996) GRALE CNRS Prize (1991) Mattei Dogan Foundation Award of Excellence (2007) Le Galès has supervised numerous PhD candidates and junior researchers, though specific advisees are not listed. He has led and participated in multiple funded research projects, including European, national, and international contracts. He has served on ERC panels and editorial boards of leading journals such as British Journal of Political Science , Socio-Economic Review , and European Urban and Regional Studies . He co-edits book series on Governance (Presses de Sciences Po) and Urban and Social Change (Wiley/Blackwell). He is involved in the 'Cities are back in town' and 'Restructuring the state' research groups at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics. He also contributes to the Transversal Seminars and thematic seminar series on urban and policy transformations. His ongoing project LAC-EU (2024–2028) explores Latin American challenges in the 21st century, expanding his comparative urban research globally.
Geraldine Heng is the Mildred Hajek Vacek and John Roman Vacek Chair in English at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is cross-appointed to Middle Eastern Studies, Women's Studies, Jewish Studies, and the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Social Justice. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023 and a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, she founded and directs the Global Middle Ages Project (G-MAP), a major interdisciplinary initiative promoting global perspectives on premodernity. With a Ph.D. from Cornell University, Heng has pioneered the field of premodern critical race studies, fundamentally challenging the assumption that race is a modern construct. Her research focuses on literary, cultural, and social encounters between worlds, particularly through the lenses of race, gender, sexuality, class, and religion, with special attention to medieval Europe's interactions with Asia and Africa. Heng's scholarly work reveals how medieval global connections shaped cultural production and identity formation long before the so-called 'Age of Exploration.' Her approach synthesizes literary analysis, historical research, and critical theory to uncover the deep roots of globalization and its implications for understanding contemporary identity politics and cultural exchange. Her publications demonstrate a consistent trajectory toward increasingly global frameworks, moving from studies of medieval romance to comprehensive examinations of early global interconnectedness. This evolution reflects her commitment to dismantling Eurocentric narratives of the medieval world and revealing the complex networks of exchange that characterized premodern societies across Afro-Eurasia. 2019 PROSE prize in Global History 2019 Academy of American Literature prize in Historical Studies 2019 Robert W. Hamilton Grand Prize 2020 Otto Gründler prize Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2023) Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America Heng has secured approximately $750,000 in grants for digital projects and held eight major fellowships at research centers. She co-edits the Cambridge University Press Elements series in the Global Middle Ages and the University of Pennsylvania Press series RaceB4Race: Critical Studies of the Premodern. Her teaching encompasses courses on early global literatures, premodern race, Crusades literature, Arthurian traditions, and feminist theory. As founder and director of the Global Middle Ages Project (G-MAP), Heng has built an international scholarly network that challenges traditional disciplinary boundaries and promotes collaborative approaches to studying premodern global connections. The project has fostered numerous digital initiatives, publications, and conferences that have significantly reshaped how scholars understand medieval intercultural exchange.
Shira Pinhas is a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer at Princeton University’s Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Her research bridges social and material history, examining how infrastructures like oil pipelines, refineries, and road networks shaped political and social dynamics in twentieth-century Palestine/Israel and the Levant. She holds a PhD from Tel Aviv University and previously served as a Polonsky Postdoctoral Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. Before academia, she spent a decade organizing in Palestinian-Jewish NGOs focused on social justice. Her primary research interests include Middle Eastern Studies, particularly the intersection of colonialism, gender, and infrastructure. She investigates how transnational flows of energy and technology reinforced settler-colonial hierarchies and spatial segregation, as seen in her work on oil infrastructures and partition policies. Pinhas’s publications analyze the political implications of infrastructure, such as road networks and energy systems, in the Mandate period. Her 2025 article "The Gender of Fossil Fuels" highlights gendered impacts of kerosene adoption, while her 2022 works trace British imperial legacies in partition strategies. A 2020 paper in Journal of Levantine Studies explores transnational dimensions of Palestinian partition debates. Award : Best Dissertation Award (MEISAI, 2020) Her academic contributions extend beyond traditional research, including community organizing and policy-focused writing. She collaborates with transregional scholars and contributes to public discourse through media outlets like +972 Magazine .
Claire Mercer is a Professor of Human Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), based in the Department of Geography and Environment. Her research focuses on urbanization in Africa, particularly in Tanzania, examining how middle-class identities are constructed through suburban housing and self-build practices. She explores themes of class reproduction, urban inequality, and the intersection of civil society with development policies. Mercer is a leading scholar in African urban studies, with expertise in diaspora networks, postcolonial geographies, and NGO dynamics. Her current research project, funded by the ESRC, investigates how self-build housing in Ghana and Tanzania drives urban and economic growth. She has authored multiple books and articles, including the upcoming monograph The suburban frontier: middle class construction in Dar es Salaam (University of California Press, 2024). Mercer serves on editorial boards for journals such as the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and Antipode , contributing to critical debates in development geography. Her work spans interdisciplinary themes including African urbanism, spatial inequality, and the politics of belonging. Key regions of focus include Tanzania, Cameroon, and the UK. Mercer’s research bridges theoretical frameworks from human geography with empirical studies of African urbanization, emphasizing the material and aesthetic dimensions of class formation in peripheral urban areas.
Dima Arinkin is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, specializing in algebraic geometry with significant contributions to geometric representation theory and mathematical physics. His research focuses on: Geometric Langlands Program: Developing frameworks connecting automorphic forms and Galois representations through geometric methods Moduli Spaces: Analyzing spaces of algebraic connections, Higgs bundles, and their compactifications D-modules: Studying systems of linear differential equations via algebraic geometry Integrable Systems: Investigating geometric structures in soliton theory and Painlevé equations Irregular Singularities: Exploring connections with irregular behavior on algebraic curves Analysis of his publications (2008-2016) reveals consistent advancement in geometric Langlands through derived algebraic geometry techniques, particularly in relating singular support of sheaves to automorphic forms and establishing oper structures for connections. No scientific awards are documented in the provided materials. No information regarding student advisement or research grants appears in the source texts.
Yavuz Köse is a University Professor of Turkology at the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Faculty of Philology and Cultural Studies, University of Vienna. He currently serves as Head of the Institute of Oriental Studies (since June 2024) and previously as Deputy Head (October 2022-June 2024). Before joining the University of Vienna in 2019, he was W3 Acting Professor for Turkology at the Asia-Africa Institute of the University of Hamburg (2010-2018). His educational background includes a Master of Arts in History and Culture of the Near East as well as Turkology, Psychology and Economics from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (2001). Professor Köse's research focuses on social, economic and consumer history of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, environmental and tourism history, history of science, and migration and workers' history. His work examines Ottoman social structures, economic transformations, cultural heritage, and identity formation, with particular attention to urban contexts and cross-cultural interactions. His recent publications show a strong emphasis on Ottoman social history, with particular attention to conversion narratives, cultural exchanges, and urban economic structures. The 2025 edited volume Becoming Ottoman represents a significant contribution to understanding identity formation in the Ottoman Empire. Among his notable recognitions is the Emerald Literati Award (2020) Professor Köse has supervised numerous doctoral students at both the University of Vienna and University of Hamburg, with research topics spanning cultural heritage in Turkey, migration histories, women's work and property, and Ottoman economic history. He has secured significant research funding including projects funded by FWF, DFG, and VolkswagenStiftung, such as the current 'Lebensmittelhändler von Istanbul' project examining Istanbul grocers as urban actors in supply chains. He is actively involved in academic leadership, serving as Head of the Institute of Oriental Studies and Deputy Spokesperson of the Doctoral School for Philological and Cultural Studies. He co-founded and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Diyâr. Journal for Ottoman, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies and is a member of numerous scholarly organizations including the Society for Armenian Studies and the Society for Turkology, Ottoman Studies and Turkey Research.
Mahvish Ahmad is an Assistant Professor in Human Rights and Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) , affiliated with the Department of Sociology. She previously held a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of the Western Cape's Centre for Humanities Research. Her PhD in Sociology from Cambridge University focuses on state violence in Balochistan, Pakistan. Research Interests: Her work critically examines state violence, militarism, decolonial theory, and anti-imperial thought. Core themes include: State destruction mechanisms in Balochistan Archiving marginalized resistance movements Leftist periodicals as counterhegemonic tools Transnational solidarity networks Teaching: Convenes courses on Lawful Violence and Contemporary Politics of Human Rights . Integrates anti-colonial perspectives into curricula. Key Projects: Sovereign Destruction : Explores state demolition of alternative social orders in Balochistan. Thought Under Siege : Recovers grassroots movement thought from banned materials. Co-convenes Archives of the Disappeared (with scholars at UWCape and SA). Publications: Over 20 peer-reviewed articles and edited volumes, including works in Radical History Review , Surveillance & Society , and South Asian History and Culture . Recent focus on Balochistan's conflict dynamics and global South periodicals.
Arjun Guneratne is a Professor of Anthropology and Chair at Macalester College, specializing in socio-cultural anthropology, ethnic identities, globalization, and environmentalism, with a focus on South Asia (Sri Lanka and Nepal). He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago and has conducted extensive research on the Tharu ethnic group in Nepal, exploring their identity formation, environmental transformations, and state interactions. Education: B.A. in Anthropology from Dartmouth College PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago Research Interests: His work bridges anthropology, environmental studies, and colonial history. Notable projects include studies on Tharu ethnicity, biodiversity conservation in Sri Lanka, and the history of Sri Lankan ornithology. He co-edited Pathways to Power: The Domestic Politics of South Asia and authored Many Tongues, One People: The Making of Tharu Identity in Nepal . Professional Roles: Former Editor of Himalaya journal Committee member of the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka Contributor to environmental NGOs like the Environmental Foundation Ltd. Teaching: Courses include Ethnographic Interviewing, Environmental Anthropology, and South Asian Societies. His work often intersects with science, such as his course Anthropology through Science Fiction and research on ornithology. Grants & Labs: Active in environmental and cultural conservation initiatives, though specific grants are not detailed. Collaborates with South Asian scholars and institutions on regional studies.
Eva Bellin is the Myra and Robert Kraft Professor of Arab Politics in the Department of Politics at Brandeis University, affiliated with the Crown Center for Middle East Studies. Her research focuses on democratization, authoritarian persistence, political and economic reform, civil society, religion and politics, and cultural change in the Middle East. She holds a BA from Harvard University and a PhD from Princeton University. Her notable contributions include the book Stalled Democracy and co-editing Building Rule of Law in the Arab World . Bellin has been a Carnegie Scholar (2006–2008) and a Fellow at the Princeton Institute for Regional and International Studies (2006–2007), and received the Dean's Mentoring Award (2015) for graduate student mentorship. She has conducted fieldwork in Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, and Pakistan. Her research explores the dynamics of authoritarian regimes in the Arab world, particularly post-Arab Spring transformations, and the intersection of religion and governance. She has contributed to journals such as World Politics , Comparative Politics , and Foreign Affairs . Her work on the robustness of authoritarianism and democratic divergence in the Middle East has been widely cited in academic and policy circles. She has also advised on rule of law initiatives in the region and served on the editorial board of Comparative Politics since 2005.
Professor Helen Finch (University of Leeds) is a leading scholar in German Literature , with a focus on Holocaust Studies , Queer Memory , and German-Jewish Cultural Production . Affiliated with the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies and the Centre for Jewish Studies , she co-leads the LCS Queer Area Studies Network and contributes to equality initiatives through the LGBT+ staff network . Research: Holocaust representation in German works, queer identity in postwar literature, transnational memory studies, curriculum design in German studies Awards: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2014) Academic Output : Her 15 most recent publications span Holocaust poetics , queer life writing , translation ethics , and Sebaldian intertextuality , with a particular focus on intersections between trauma , identity , and intergenerational testimony . Supervision : Currently guides PhD research on topics including transnational transphobia , queer art practices , and LGBTQ+ cross-cultural representation . Her students explore areas from German exile photography to postcolonial queer narratives .
George Musgrave is a Senior Lecturer in Cultural Sociology and Creative Industries at the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE) at Goldsmiths, University of London. An interdisciplinary sociologist of culture, he specializes in researching musicians' psychosocial working lives with a focus on mental health and wellbeing in the music industry. His work has directly influenced industry practices and government policy, including the establishment of the Music Minds Matter helpline in 2017. Dr. Musgrave holds a PhD from the Centre for Competition Policy (UEA), an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and a Cambridge MA (Cantab) in Social and Political Science. His academic journey reflects his interdisciplinary approach that bridges sociology, psychology, and economics in understanding creative work. His research interests center on the psychological experiences and working conditions of creative careers, particularly examining how the music industry impacts mental health. Musgrave investigates the paradox where music-making can be therapeutic while building a music career often proves detrimental to wellbeing. His work explores the intersections of identity, class, gender, and economic precarity in creative labor, with particular attention to how social media, streaming platforms, and industry structures affect musicians' mental health. Analyzing his recent publications reveals a consistent focus on mental health in the music industry across multiple dimensions: epidemiological studies of anxiety and depression among musicians, interventions and policy solutions, the impact of digital platforms, and the cultural narratives surrounding musical work. His research spans methodological approaches from quantitative surveys to qualitative interviews and critical policy analysis, consistently highlighting the need for structural changes in the music industry to support artist wellbeing. Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH) Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) Editorial Board member of Cultural Trends journal Royal Musical Association Music and Mental Health Group Research Coordinator Dr. Musgrave has supervised 68 MA dissertations to completion and seven doctoral projects, including Dr. Steven Sparling (2021). His current PhD supervision spans interdisciplinary topics connecting music, psychology, and sociology. He has secured significant research funding from diverse sources including UKRI (ESRC), the Mayor of London, Help Musicians UK, and the Danish Partnership for Sustainable Development in Music. His major projects include 'Can Music Make You Sick?' and 'When Music Speaks,' which represent the largest studies to date on musicians' mental health in the UK and Scandinavia respectively. Beyond academia, Musgrave maintains an active music career, having signed with EMI/Sony/ATV and performed at major festivals including Reading and Leeds.
Alina Sajed is an Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McMaster University, where she joined in September 2013 after serving as Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong from 2010 to 2013. She earned her PhD in Political Science from McMaster University in 2008, following academic work at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Romania. Her educational background includes: Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English and French Language and Literature from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași Master of Arts from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași Master of Arts in Political Science from McMaster University PhD in Political Science from McMaster University (2008) Professor Sajed's research critically examines international relations through decolonial and postcolonial lenses, with particular focus on colonialism, decolonization, anticolonial theory, and Third Worldism as global political projects. Her work centers on North Africa and the Middle East, exploring political violence, political Islam, and the unrealized potential of Third Worldism beyond rigid nationalist boundaries. She investigates how Algerian intellectuals engaged in translocal solidarity with other decolonization projects worldwide. Dr. Sajed has received significant recognition for her scholarly contributions, including: ISA's 2024 Theory Award for special issue 'Anticolonial Connectivity and the Politics of Solidarity' President's Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision (2022) As an educator, she teaches courses including International Relations: North-South, Non-Western International Relations, and Politics of the Global South. She serves as Associate Editor at Contexto Internacional: Journal of Global Connections and has guest edited issues for South Atlantic Quarterly and Postcolonial Studies, demonstrating her leadership in advancing decolonial approaches to international relations scholarship.
