Martin Schmettow is an Assistant Professor at the Digital Society Institute, affiliated with the Cognition, Data and Education school. His research spans interdisciplinary domains including human-AI interaction, usability evaluation, and applications in healthcare and robotics. Usability & User Experience Human-AI Interaction Neurological Clinical Research Ecological Remediation Recent publications focus on chatbot usability validation, postictal recovery analysis, and ant bioturbation impacts. He has developed multilanguage psychometric scales and contributed to Bayesian statistical methodologies in design research. Collaborations highlight intersections between simulation technology, wearable devices, and medical informatics. Key research areas evident from publications include: Usability engineering for high-risk systems Human factors in robotic surgery training Bayesian modeling applications Neurological recovery post-ECT studies Ecological rehabilitation strategies Human-robot interaction dynamics
Prof. Dr. Evelien Dirks is a Professor by Special Appointment at Tilburg University, where her endowed chair in Early Development and Intervention in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children is funded by the NSDSK (Netherlands Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences). She concurrently leads the Deaf/Hard of Hearing program at NSDSK. Her academic activities are housed within the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences' Tranzo research center, focusing on care and welfare innovation. Dirks' research prioritizes family-centered frameworks and evidence-based interventions for children with hearing loss. Key areas include: Optimizing language acquisition through early diagnosis (within 6 months of birth) Enhancing parent-child communication dynamics using the FCEI model Implementing sector-wide treatment monitors to evaluate intervention efficacy Leveraging AI and digital tools to track developmental milestones Her work underscores that tailored care co-developed with families yields the strongest developmental outcomes. She coordinates multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and families to translate scientific insights into practical care frameworks. This includes spearheading longitudinal studies like Hello20 to identify developmental predictors in hearing-impaired children.
Lisanne de Nood serves as a Lecturer in the Communication program within the Faculty of Management and Business, holding a master's degree in Dutch Language and Culture: Education and Communication from Utrecht University and prior experience teaching Dutch in secondary education. Her educational background: Master's in Dutch Language and Culture: Education and Communication, Utrecht University Lisanne's research spans literature education, motivation for learning, and transitions between vocational (MBO), higher professional (HBO), and university (WO) education pathways. Her current work at the Knowledge Center for Applied Broad Prosperity explores neuroinclusivity, equal opportunities in education, and digitalization's societal impact, with emphasis on translating findings into practical applications for the Faculty of Management and Business through sector collaborations. She actively supervises graduate students and serves on the assessment committee, while investigating how educational innovations in neurodiversity and digital equity can transform teaching practices within higher professional education contexts.
Yvonne Brehmer is a Full Professor in the Department of Developmental Psychology at Tilburg University's School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. She maintains an active external affiliation with Karolinska Institute since September 2018. Her research focuses on cognitive aging and lifespan developmental processes, with particular expertise in memory plasticity, social determinants of cognitive health, and neural mechanisms of aging. Her research interests span multiple interconnected domains: Cognitive aging trajectories and modifiability Intergenerational relationships and grandparent-grandchild dynamics Daily stress-cognition interactions in adulthood Quality-of-life transitions during aging (e.g., nursing home relocation) Neural correlates of age-related memory changes Analysis of her 49 research outputs (2002-2025) reveals increasing publication intensity since 2020, with recent work emphasizing longitudinal designs and international collaborations. Her 2023-2025 publications predominantly examine social determinants of cognitive aging (38%), daily stress-cognition dynamics (29%), and life transition impacts (21%), appearing in top gerontology journals like The Journals of Gerontology and Psychology and Aging. Professor Brehmer actively supervises graduate students through the Research Master in Individual Differences and Assessment program and teaches courses including 'Dynamics of Individual Differences,' 'Positive Psychology and Development,' and 'Neuropsychology of Aging.' Her research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to healthy aging and well-being. Current work includes collaborative projects examining: Longitudinal effects of grandparent-grandchild contact on cognitive trajectories Daily stress-buffering mechanisms in memory functioning Quality-of-life changes during nursing home transitions Biological mechanisms of cognitive training efficacy
Dr. Katharina Menn serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology within Tilburg University's Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Her research bridges developmental psychology and neuroscience through innovative electrophysiological methodologies. Her primary research focuses on the neurobiological foundations of infant language acquisition, specifically examining how the maturation of brain activity constrains phonological development. Key areas include: Electrophysiological maturation and its impact on language processing capabilities Temporal dynamics of phoneme acquisition in native language development EEG deconvolution modeling techniques applied to naturalistic speech processing Developmental trajectories from slow to fast neural processing in infancy Dr. Menn's recent publications demonstrate significant impact, with her 2023 Science Advances paper receiving 12 citation indexes and 33 Mendeley readers, while her Perspectives on Psychological Science article garnered 8 citations and 27 readers with additional news coverage. Her work reveals that infants acquire phoneme features in order of temporal duration, starting with longer features matching their initial slow neural processing capabilities. Her notable recognitions include: Dissertation Award from International Society for Infant Studies (2024) Dissertation Award from Society for Neurobiology of Language (2024) Dr. Menn's research program investigates how neuronal development serves as a critical driving force in language acquisition, with implications for understanding developmental disorders and optimizing early language interventions. Her laboratory specializes in advanced EEG methodologies for studying infant cognition, focusing on the interplay between neural maturation and linguistic development during the first five years of life.
Ana Gabriela Maguitman serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina) and holds a Principal Researcher position at Argentina's National Council for Science and Technology (CONICET). She leads the Knowledge Management and Information Retrieval Research Group at Universidad Nacional del Sur and earned her PhD in Computer Science from Indiana University (USA). Her research spans multiple domains within artificial intelligence, with primary focus on Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Information Retrieval. Specialized interests include sentiment analysis, text mining, computational linguistics, neural networks, and social computing applications. Her work demonstrates strong interdisciplinary connections between theoretical computer science and practical applications in web technologies and data science. As an active scholarly contributor, Maguitman has served as Academic Editor for 19 publications in PeerJ Computer Science while authoring 3 significant research articles through mid-2025. Her editorial work covers diverse topics including healthcare data privacy, language models, event extraction, and time-series analysis. Though no formal awards are documented in the provided materials, her substantial peer review contributions (60 reviews) and editorial leadership (3,105 contributions) demonstrate significant scholarly impact. Maguitman's research group focuses on knowledge management systems and information retrieval methodologies, with recent work exploring causal relationship inference from news and opinion data, multi-objective search optimization, and time-series causality techniques. Her ongoing projects appear to bridge theoretical AI developments with real-world applications in climate science and information systems.
Peter Denning serves as Professor of Computer Science at the Naval Postgraduate School, where he maintains active research and teaching responsibilities. He previously held leadership roles as president of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and editor-in-chief of Communications of the ACM, and currently serves as editor of ACM Ubiquity. His prolific scholarly output includes ten authored books, notably "Great Principles of Computing" (MIT Press, 2015), and over four hundred scientific publications spanning decades of contribution to computing disciplines. Denning's research encompasses an exceptionally wide spectrum of computer science domains, ranging from foundational areas like Computer Architecture, Programming Languages, and Operating Systems to applied fields including Data Mining & Machine Learning, Security & Privacy, and Human-Computer Interaction. His interdisciplinary work extends into Science Policy, Social Computing, and Emerging Technologies, reflecting both technical depth and societal engagement across computational theory, systems, and applications.
Dr. Gang Mei is an Associate Professor in Scientific Computing within the School of Engineering and Technology at China University of Geosciences (Beijing), where he has held academic positions since 2014. His career progression includes Postdoctoral Researcher (2014-2016), Lecturer (Oct-Dec 2016), and current Associate Professor (since Jan 2017). His research bridges computational science and engineering applications with significant editorial contributions to computer science literature. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Freiburg, Germany (2014) Research Interests: Dr. Mei specializes in Numerical Simulation and Computational Modeling, GPU Computing, Machine Learning, and Data Mining, with strong applications in Network Science and Spatial Information Systems. His work integrates Distributed and Parallel Computing techniques for large-scale scientific simulations, particularly in geospatial modeling and network analysis. The research demonstrates consistent focus on computational efficiency through hardware acceleration and algorithmic optimization across diverse domains including satellite imagery processing, financial event detection, and medical image classification. Publication Trends: His editorial portfolio reveals strong interdisciplinary patterns connecting computer science fundamentals with domain-specific applications. Recent works emphasize GPU-accelerated methods for data-intensive problems (2020-2022), spatial-temporal modeling (2019-2020), and network science applications (2021). The publications consistently address computational scalability challenges while maintaining practical relevance across geospatial, financial, medical, and engineering contexts. Professional Recognition: As an IEEE Member, Dr. Mei serves on editorial boards for IEEE Access and PeerJ Computer Science, reflecting peer recognition in computational fields. His editorial contributions span 15+ publications demonstrating expertise in evaluating cutting-edge computer science research. Academic Service: Beyond editorial work, Dr. Mei's service includes advising on computational methodology across multiple disciplines. His role as Academic Editor demonstrates commitment to scholarly communication, particularly in bridging theoretical computer science with practical engineering applications. No grant funding details were specified in available materials.
Vijay Mago is Chair and Associate Professor of Computer Science at Lakehead University, Canada, and Associate Professor at York University's School of Health Policy and Management since 2015. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Panjab University, India (2010). Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Panjab University, India (2010) His research integrates artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to address complex societal challenges including homelessness, obesity, and crime through health informatics, medical decision support, and Bayesian intelligence. Current work emphasizes modeling complex health systems and social networks using big data analytics. Recent publications reveal strong interdisciplinary trends applying AI to public health crises (notably COVID-19 modeling) and political/social media analysis, with consistent focus on ethical considerations, system resilience, and narrative shaping in digital environments. Dr. Mago serves as Associate Editor for IEEE Access and BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, demonstrating significant editorial contributions to his fields. He previously contributed to the Modeling of Complex Social Systems Program at Simon Fraser University's IRMACS Centre starting in 2011, establishing foundational work for his current research trajectory.
Dr. Koji Miwa is an Associate Professor at Nagoya University's Graduate School of Humanities, specializing in psycholinguistics with a focus on experimental approaches to understanding how language is processed in the mind. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Alberta, followed by postdoctoral work at the University of Tübingen before joining Nagoya University in 2017. Ph.D. in Linguistics, University of Alberta (2007-2013) M.A. in Linguistics, University of Alberta (2004-2007) B.A., Mount Royal College (2002-2004) Dr. Miwa's research primarily investigates how complex words are represented and processed in the mind, with special attention to bilingual reading processes where two languages coexist in a single mind. His work employs sophisticated methodologies including eye-tracking technology to measure real-time cognitive processing during language tasks. He examines morphological decomposition, cross-linguistic influences, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying efficient language processing, with particular emphasis on Japanese-English bilingualism and morphographic scripts. His research consistently explores how humans process complex linguistic information effortlessly and efficiently, often at subconscious levels. Dr. Miwa's recent publications reveal an expanding research program that now includes metaphor comprehension, analogical reasoning, and event role conceptualization across languages. His work bridges theoretical linguistics with empirical cognitive science, often employing advanced statistical modeling techniques like generalized additive mixed models to analyze complex language behavior data. The ENglish Reading Online (ENRO) Project represents a significant contribution to large-scale data collection in second language reading research. Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship (2010) Roger S. Smith Undergraduate Researcher's Award (2006) As an educator, Dr. Miwa emphasizes balanced development across multiple dimensions of life and learning. His supervision style focuses on cultivating mindfulness, service, and knowledge in students. He serves on editorial boards for PeerJ, Frontiers in Psychology, and Studies in Language Sciences, contributing significantly to scholarly review processes. His research lab at Nagoya University maintains active international collaborations, particularly with researchers in Canada, Europe, and other parts of Asia. Dr. Miwa also maintains a thoughtful personal mission statement that emphasizes living a balanced life while considering fundamental questions about existence.
Tamara Sumner is a Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder with a joint appointment between the Institute of Cognitive Science and the Department of Computer Science. She serves as Director of the Institute of Cognitive Science since 2016 and is currently Interim Dean of University Libraries. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on how computational tools combining cognitive science, machine intelligence, and interactive media can improve teaching practice, learning outcomes, and learner engagement in STEM education. She leads a research-practice partnership involving faculty from CU Boulder, UCAR staff, and Denver Public Schools educators. Sumner's major research projects include: Inquiry Hub: Research-Practice Partnership with Denver Public Schools focused on STEM learning Engineering Experiences: Studying youth motivation in engineering through out-of-school programs TalkBack: Using speech recognition and NLP to support math teachers Chicago City of Learning: Developing equity measurement tools for city-scale learning opportunities Her research has been supported by significant funding including an NSF award of $1.8 million for AI-enhanced tutoring systems. Sumner has published 140 articles with over 80 peer-reviewed publications in human-computer interaction, educational technology, and intelligent systems. She teaches graduate courses including Research Applications Seminar and Topics in Cognitive Science, focusing on cognitive science research methods and user-centered design principles.
Diego Calvanese serves as a Professor at the KRDB Research Centre for Knowledge and Data within the Faculty of Computer Science at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, where his work bridges theoretical foundations and practical applications in knowledge systems. An ACM Fellow and EurAI Fellow, he maintains active leadership in the global academic community through editorial roles including PeerJ Computer Science. His research spans knowledge representation and reasoning, ontology languages, description logics, conceptual data modeling, data integration, graph data management, data-aware process verification, and service modeling and synthesis, establishing him as a pivotal figure in formal methods for data-intensive systems. These interconnected domains drive innovations in semantic technologies and large-scale data management frameworks. Notable professional contributions include serving as Program Chair for PODS 2015 and KR 2020, General Chair for ESSLLI 2016, and a 2012-2013 visiting researcher position at the Technical University of Vienna as a Pauli Fellow of the Wolfgang Pauli Institute. His awards reflect exceptional impact: ACM Fellow EurAI Fellow Calvanese operates primarily through the KRDB Research Centre, which functions as his core academic hub for advancing knowledge representation methodologies and fostering international collaborations in data science.
Rommel Thiago Jucá Ramos serves as an Assistant Professor at the Biological Science Institute of the Federal University of Pará, Brazil, where he has been affiliated since February 2012. He holds dual prestigious appointments as an affiliated member of the Brazilian Science Academy and a CNPq Researcher (Level 1-D), while leading the bioinformatic development group at the Biologic Engineering Laboratory within Pará's Park of Science and Technology. His research program, active since 2008, centers on computational approaches to biological challenges with emphasis on genome assembly, RNA-Seq analysis, and text mining for biomedical applications. Key focus areas include microbial genomics (particularly antibiotic resistance mechanisms), stem cell marker analysis in oncology, and vaginal microbiome characterization using advanced bioinformatics pipelines. His interdisciplinary work bridges computational science with clinical microbiology and women's health research. Analysis of his publication trajectory reveals consistent innovation in applying data mining and machine learning to genomic datasets, with growing emphasis on public health applications of microbiome research. His recent work demonstrates technical expertise in both wet-lab genomic characterization and computational text analysis for biological entity extraction. Scientific recognition includes: Brazilian Science Academy membership CNPq Researcher Level 1-D fellowship (Brazil's highest productivity scholarship) As leader of the bioinformatic development group at Pará's Park of Science and Technology, he directs interdisciplinary collaborations between computational biologists and biomedical researchers. His laboratory focuses on developing open-source tools for genomic analysis and text mining applications in infectious disease research, with particular relevance to tropical medicine and women's health in the Brazilian context.
Anthony "Tony" Barnhart is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He previously served as a Lecturer at Northern Arizona University from August 2013 to May 2015. His academic journey began with a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Arizona State University in 2013, where he initially focused on language research before expanding into the cognitive science of magic. Dr. Barnhart's educational background includes: Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Arizona State University (2013) Dr. Barnhart's research uniquely bridges cognitive psychology and the art of magic. As a cognitive scientist and professional magician with over 30 years of performing experience, he examines how magicians function as informal cognitive scientists with hypotheses about the mind that can be empirically tested. His primary academic work focuses on handwritten word perception, a domain largely ignored by traditional psychologists. He also introduces magical methodologies into laboratory settings to increase the ecological validity of experimental studies on attention and perception. His interdisciplinary approach combines cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and performance arts to explore human perception boundaries. His extensive publication record shows a clear progression from traditional cognitive psychology toward the cognitive science of magic, with seminal works including "The exploitation of Gestalt principles by magicians" (2010), "Blinded by magic: eye-movements reveal the misdirection of attention" (2014), and "Microsaccades reflect the dynamics of misdirected attention in magic" (2019). Recent publications increasingly focus on how experiencing and performing magic affects creativity, positive emotions, and wellbeing. Dr. Barnhart has made significant academic contributions through his editorial work at PeerJ, where he has served as both Editor (4,610 contributions) and Reviewer (155 contributions) across multiple subject areas including Psychiatry and Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human-Computer Interaction. His editorial service demonstrates a commitment to advancing knowledge across disciplines. As both scholar and performer, Dr. Barnhart has developed a distinctive research program examining the cognitive mechanisms underlying magical illusions. His work demonstrates how eye movement research can uncover the mechanisms of magical deception and how magicians' practical knowledge can inform laboratory research. He maintains an active research profile with consistent publication output across multiple journals, showing particular expertise in experimental design, eye-tracking methodology, and the cognitive mechanisms of attention and perception.
Rianne van der Niet-van Dam is a lecturer-researcher at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, working since August 2024 on the project "At Home in Language" within the research group "Working Together on a Language-Rich Environment for Young Children." She serves as a lecturer in the Master's program in Early Childhood, sharing expertise on creating language-rich environments for young children both at school and at home. Her research focuses on: Early childhood language development Professional development for educators Learning community methodologies Lesson study supervision Integration of theory and practice in teacher education With approximately 15 years of prior experience in primary education as both teacher and policy officer, she brings practical insights to her academic work. She completed her Master's degree in Learning and Innovation at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences in 2019 and has been instrumental in developing teacher education programs, including co-establishing the Master's program in Young Children. She collaborates with professor Martine van der Pluijm and Inge Bos on knowledge development initiatives aimed at equipping future professionals with practical strategies for supporting children's language development in educational settings.
