Arash Eshghi is an Assistant Professor in the School of Mathematical & Computer Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, specializing in the Department of Computer Science. His research focuses on multimodal interaction, embodied AI, and dialogue systems, with applications in human-AI collaboration, vision-language models, and incremental processing. He leads projects like the EMMA and AlanaVLM frameworks, which explore embodied agents in 3D environments and egocentric video understanding. His work emphasizes ethical considerations in conversational AI, including dementia-friendly voice assistants and faithfulness in large language models. He collaborates internationally, with contributions to benchmarks like the BURCHAK corpus and the Block World repair framework. Eshghi’s research bridges computational linguistics, cognitive science, and robotics, addressing challenges in ambiguity resolution, spatial reasoning, and incremental dialogue processing. Key collaborations involve institutions like the University of Edinburgh and MIT, focusing on multimodal learning, dynamic syntax, and interactional semantics. His lab develops tools for grounded language learning and real-time interaction, with a focus on systems that adapt to human feedback and contextual dynamics.
Yasutada Sudo is a Professor of Linguistics at University College London (UCL), holding positions since 2024. Previously, he served as Associate Professor (2018–2024) and Lecturer in Semantics (2013–2018) at UCL. He earned his Ph.D. in Linguistics from MIT. His research focuses on formal semantics, pragmatics, and their intersections with cognitive psychology and computational models. Key areas include scalar implicatures, plural predication, anaphora resolution, and linguistic typology. His work spans multiple languages, including Japanese, Greek, and Italian. His research interests emphasize experimental semantics, cross-linguistic variation in quantificational structures, and the interaction between syntax and semantics. Recent work explores non-maximality effects, perspective sensitivity, and the cognitive underpinnings of pragmatic inferences. He has contributed to debates on Magri effects, blindess hypotheses, and the role of context in interpretation. Publications from 2025–2021 reveal a focus on scalar implicatures, plural inferences, and formal semantic frameworks. His 2025 articles address alternative-based analyses and experimental validation of pragmatic theories. Earlier work (2020–2014) covers gender in Greek, ordinal semantics, and perspective-shifting verbs like 'come' and 'go'. No scientific awards are explicitly listed, but his extensive publication record reflects scholarly impact. He leads UCL’s semantics research group, hosting seminars like PLIN0056, and contributes to academic discourse through peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.
Manon Jones is a Professor in Psychology and Director of Research at Bangor University's School of Psychology and Sport Science. She directs the Miles Dyslexia Centre, a research hub providing assessment services and professional development for practitioners, and leads the RILL project—a bilingual literacy program for primary schools funded by UKRI, Nuffield Foundation, and Welsh Government. Her research explores cognitive and neurocognitive foundations of reading, dyslexia, and bilingualism. Key themes include: Cross-modal learning in dyslexia Orthographic processing across languages Remote literacy instruction efficacy Neurodivergent cognition models Syntax acquisition in bilinguals Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2014–2025) reveals dominant foci on dyslexia mechanisms (9 papers), bilingual language processing (7 papers), and literacy intervention design (4 papers). Methodologies include eye-tracking, ERP, and randomized controlled trials, with increasing emphasis on computational modeling since 2021. She leads multiple grants including: RILL randomized control trial (Welsh Government, 2022–2026) Welsh literacy scale-up project (2024–2025) Neurodevelopmental disorder screening tool development (2022–2023) COVID-19 remote teaching research (2020–2022) She directs the Reading Brain lab and collaborates with NHS services to translate research into clinical/educational practice.
Dr. Nathan Klinedinst is a Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics at University College London (UCL), affiliated with UCL Psychology and Language Sciences. His research focuses on formal theories of meaning and communication, integrating theoretical linguistics, experimental methods, and cognitive science principles. He holds a PhD from the University of California (2007) and a BA from the University of Nevada, Reno (2000). His primary research interests include semantic presuppositions, question embedding, and the symmetry problem in formal semantics. He explores how linguistic meaning interacts with cognitive processes and computational models. Recent work examines exhaustivity in questions, vagueness in language use, and logical connectives in non-truth-table frameworks. Selected publications span 2004–2017, addressing topics like disjunctive antecedents, progressive aspect intensionality, and alternative-based semantic frameworks. His work bridges theoretical linguistics with empirical and computational approaches, contributing to debates in semantics, pragmatics, and cognitive linguistics. No scientific awards or grants are specified in the provided text. His academic advising and lab affiliations remain unspecified, though his departmental role suggests involvement in teaching and research supervision.
Dr. Margreet Vogelzang is a Lecturer in Psychology at Newcastle University and an affiliated researcher at Theoretical and Applied Linguistics within the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. Based at the English Faculty Building, 9 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP, and affiliated with Trinity College at Cambridge, she maintains a dual institutional presence that reflects the interdisciplinary nature of her work. Her research program combines neuroscientific, psychological, linguistic, and statistical methodologies to investigate language and cognitive processing across the lifespan. She specializes in multilingual syntactic and semantic processing, employing both written and spoken language paradigms with offline (comprehension, judgments) and online (eye-tracking, EEG, fMRI) measures. Her work examines how hearing loss, socio-linguistic variables, and developmental conditions like autism spectrum disorder influence language processing mechanisms. Analysis of her recent publication record reveals three dominant research trajectories: (1) bilingualism effects on cognitive flexibility in autistic children, (2) neural and cognitive mechanisms of sentence processing in individuals with hearing loss, and (3) computational modeling of pronoun interpretation across diverse populations. These strands demonstrate her consistent focus on bridging theoretical linguistics with cognitive neuroscience to address practical questions about language processing variability. Dr. Vogelzang actively supervises several graduate students including Alexander Cairncross, Andromachi Tsoukala, and Chara Triantafyllidou, and serves as course contact for Li16: Psychology of language processing and learning at Cambridge. Her teaching portfolio includes psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, cognitive science, and research methods, reflecting her methodological expertise across experimental and computational approaches.
Leone Buckle is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Manchester, affiliated with the Division of Psychology, Communication and Human Neuroscience. She holds a BSc in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Liverpool, followed by an MRes and PhD in Psychology from the University of Manchester, funded by the ESRC. Her research focuses on how environmental experiences, such as exposure to linguistic input and real-life events, shape children’s language development. Key interests include syntactic priming, integration of linguistic and social cues during conversation, and diversity representation in children’s literature. Her teaching includes courses like PSYC10421: Introduction to Cognition and PSYC31121: Language and Communicative Development in Educational Settings. Research methods employed include syntactic priming experiments, eye-tracking, corpus analysis, and online questionnaires. She is currently supervising PhD students in areas related to her research. Recent work explores how social contingencies in video/audio interactions influence grammatical learning and examines the relationship between short-term priming effects and long-term language acquisition. Collaborations include projects with the University of Edinburgh and Warwick, focusing on language experience and development. She emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches bridging developmental psychology, psycholinguistics, and linguistic theory.
Alastair F. Donaldson is a Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Computing at Imperial College London, where he leads the FastPL research group. His academic career spans over a decade at Imperial, progressing from Lecturer (2011-2014) to Senior Lecturer (2014-2017), Reader (2017-2020), and Professor (2020-present). He has also held significant industry positions, including Founder and Director of GraphicsFuzz Ltd. (acquired by Google in 2018), Senior Software Engineer at Google (2018-2021), and Visiting Researcher at both Google and Microsoft Research Redmond. Donaldson earned his PhD from the University of Glasgow under Alice Miller, following a BSc (hons, First Class) in Computing Science and Mathematics. His postdoctoral work included an EPSRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford and a Research Fellowship at Wolfson College Oxford. His research focuses on formal analysis, software testing and programming languages techniques for improving software reliability, with special emphasis on high-performance systems. Donaldson's work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, particularly in compiler testing, GPU programming verification, and metamorphic testing. His research has significantly influenced both academia and industry, as evidenced by the acquisition of his startup GraphicsFuzz by Google. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on fuzz testing techniques applied across diverse domains including compilers, GPUs, cryptographic protocols, and large language models. His work consistently combines formal methods with practical testing approaches, addressing challenges in compiler correctness, memory models, and API verification across multiple platforms. 2017 BCS Roger Needham Award EPSRC Early Career Fellowship Best Paper Award, EuroSys 2024 Best Paper Award, MET 2021 Best Paper Award, IWOCL 2019 Best Paper Award, IISWC 2019 Best Paper Award, ICST 2016 ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award, ISSTA 2023 ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award, FSE 2017 ACM SIGPLAN Most Influential OOPSLA Paper Award, 2022 (for GPUVerify) As Director of Research in the Department of Computing, Donaldson oversees research strategy and development. His FastPL research group investigates novel techniques for programming, testing and reasoning about high performance systems. He has served on numerous program committees and held leadership roles including PLDI Steering Committee Chair (2022-2025) and PACM-PL Advisory Board member. His industry engagement includes testifying as an Expert Witness in the IBM UK Ltd v LzLabs GmbH & Ors case. The FastPL research group, which Donaldson leads, focuses on formal analysis, software testing and programming languages. The group has made significant contributions to compiler testing, GPU verification, and metamorphic testing techniques, with practical impact demonstrated by the acquisition of GraphicsFuzz. Current research directions include fuzzing for zero-knowledge proof circuits, randomized testing of decompilers, and systematic testing of large language models for code generation.
Holly Branigan is a Professor of Psychology of Language and Cognition at the University of Edinburgh, affiliated with the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. Her research focuses on language production, dialogue, child language development, and bilingualism. She holds a Personal Chair and has led numerous grants including projects on conversational alignment in children with autism, language experience effects on development, and syntactic priming in dialogue. Her teaching includes undergraduate courses on Psychology of Language and postgraduate modules on Dialogue. She supervises PhD students in topics like syntactic processing, bilingualism, and interactional linguistics. Branigan has secured over £10M in research funding from bodies like the ESRC and EU, leading projects such as 'How does language experience support language development?' (2018–2023) and 'AThEME: Advancing European Multilingual Experience' (2014–2019). Her work explores how speakers adapt language based on social context, interlocutor traits, and cognitive factors. Key achievements include a 7-year ESRC fellowship (1999–2006), and recognition for contributions to understanding syntactic processing mechanisms. She currently leads research on child language imitation in social contexts and bilingual syntactic representation.
Dr. Christopher Lucas is a Senior Lecturer in Arabic Linguistics at SOAS University of London, affiliated with the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics. He holds a BA in Arabic from SOAS and an MPhil and PhD in Linguistics from the University of Cambridge. Prior to his current role, he served as a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at SOAS. His research focuses on linguistic variation and change, particularly in Arabic and Maltese, examining topics like negation, definiteness, and contact-induced grammatical change. He actively supervises PhD students in Arabic/Maltese linguistics and grammatical change. Key publications include works on negation typology, Maltese phonology, and historical linguistics. Dr. Lucas has authored/co-authored books such as *The History of Negation in the Languages of Europe and the Mediterranean* and edited volumes on contact-induced change. His work bridges theoretical linguistics with empirical analysis, contributing to understanding language evolution through contact and historical processes. He is reachable at cl39@soas.ac.uk and office 447, Russell Square campus. Current research includes LADO applications in Arabic and Maltese language dynamics.
Dr. David O'Reilly is a Lecturer in Education (Research and Teaching) at the University of York's Department of Education since 2022. Previously, he held roles as Lecturer (2021–2022) and Associate Lecturer (2017–2021). His academic journey includes a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of York (2013–2017), an MA in Applied Linguistics (2012–2013), and a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Manchester (2003–2006). His research focuses on metaphoric competence in first and second languages, language play/creativity, test design, and quantitative methods. He leads projects like OASIS (Open Accessible Summaries in Language Studies) and contributed to the IRIS repository for second language research materials. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holds editorial roles, including Review Editor at Metaphor and the Social World . Key Projects: OASIS (ESRC/British Academy funded), IRIS Repository Awards: RaAM Early Career Research Paper Prize (2021), Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award (2021) Professional Roles: Secretary of RaAM (2020–2022), Member of RaAM Executive Committee (2014–2020) Dr. O'Reilly teaches undergraduate and postgraduate modules in educational research methods, language assessment, and applied linguistics. He actively promotes open research practices and digital literacy in academia.
Hywel Dix is Professor in English at Bournemouth University, Faculty of Media and Communication, where he teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes including BA English, BA Communication and Media, MA Creative Writing, and supervises doctoral research in English, Creative Writing, and History. He plays a significant leadership role in academic quality assurance as a leading member of the Quality Assurance and Enhancement Group (QAEG), chairing programme reviews across all faculties. He is also the Faculty Lead for TeachBU, supporting staff in achieving Fellowship of AdvanceHE. PhD in English, University of Glamorgan, 2006 MA in Literatures of Conflict, University of York, 2003 BA (Hons) in English, University of Cambridge, 2001 Hywel Dix’s research centers on autofiction, life writing, cultural memory, and the intersection of literature with social and political change . He is a leading international scholar in autofiction, particularly through his edited collection Autofiction in English (2018) and monograph The Late-Career Novelist (2017), which applies Career Construction Theory to literary careers. His recent work explores cultural identity in post-Brexit Britain, as seen in Compatriots or Competitors? (2022) and Autofiction and Cultural Memory (2023). He also investigates the therapeutic potential of creative writing for mental wellbeing. His recent publications (2020–2025) show a strong focus on autofiction, cultural memory, national identity, and narrative theory , with increasing interdisciplinary reach into psychology, education, and political discourse. Articles and books examine Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish writing in the context of Brexit, trauma and colonial memory, and the role of narrative in personal and professional development. Raymond Williams Research Fellowship (University of Glamorgan, 2003) Grant from Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK), 2025 (on Salman Rushdie’s memoirs) Hywel Dix has supervised numerous PhD students and is actively involved in staff development through Action Learning sets and TeachBU. He has secured competitive research grants and leads public engagement projects such as Write Your Future Self and Telling (My) Stories , which explore narrative and wellbeing. His work bridges academic research, pedagogical innovation, and community outreach. He is affiliated with the Centre for Journalism, Culture and Community at Bournemouth University and is a member of professional associations including MeCCSA, the Association for Welsh Writing in English, and the American Comparative Literature Association. He regularly delivers invited lectures and keynotes internationally, including at Goldsmiths, University of London, Bard College Berlin, and UNICAMP, Brazil.
Li Nguyen is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore . Their work bridges linguistics with computational approaches, focusing on language variation, contact phenomena, and multilingual NLP. Education: PhD in Linguistics (University of Cambridge), Master’s in General and Applied Linguistics (Australian National University) Research interests include: Language variation and change in multilingual/diasporic communities Computational sociolinguistics and NLP for low-resource varieties Syntax-pragmatic interface in bicultural contexts Code-switching and heritage language documentation Recent publications highlight collaborations on Vietnamese-English and other code-switched language pairs, with a focus on NLP applications and corpus-based analysis. Their work has gained recognition through grants like the NTU Start-up Grant and Cambridge Language Sciences funding . Scientific awards: Cambridge International Scholarship, Philological Society Fieldwork Grant Li Nguyen actively collaborates on projects involving sociolinguistically informed NLP and community-driven language documentation. They have contributed to the development of the CanVEC corpus for Vietnamese-English speech research.
Dr Marieke Meelen is an Associate Professor in Historical Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics. She serves as a Fellow, Tutor, and Director of Studies at Trinity Hall. Research Interests: Historical Linguistics, Comparative Syntax, Information Structure, Grammaticalisation & Pragmaticalisation, NLP for low-resource languages, Celtic & Tibeto-Burman languages Projects: PI for ELDP-funded endangered language documentation in Nepal; collaborator on ERC-funded 'PaganTibet' and AHRC-funded 'Emergence of Egophoricity' Key Contributions: Development of ASR and HTR models for Tibeto-Burman languages; historical treebank of Welsh; computational approaches to Celtic and Tibeto-Burman syntax Publications & Grants focus on syntactic reconstruction, corpus creation, and NLP for endangered languages. She mentors PhD students working on Celtic or Tibeto-Burman languages and consults for computational linguistics projects.
Danushka Bollegala is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Liverpool, where he leads both the Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing research groups. He previously held a lectureship at the University of Tokyo (2010-2013) and currently serves as an Amazon Scholar for Amazon Search. His research bridges fundamental AI with applications in healthcare, law, and social sciences. Research Focus: Professor Bollegala specializes in developing core NLP methodologies including word embedding techniques, semantic similarity measurement, and domain adaptation. His machine learning research explores privacy-preserving AI, unsupervised parsing, and bias mitigation. Recent applications include clinical decision support for polypharmacy management and legal document analysis. His publications demonstrate strong emphasis on: 1) Advancing evaluation methodologies for generative NLP systems, 2) Developing privacy-aware embedding techniques, and 3) Creating cross-domain NLP applications for healthcare and social good. Research consistently addresses real-world implementation challenges. Research Leadership: Principal Investigator for £6M+ grants including DynAIRx (NIHR: £4.2M) for AI in multi-morbidity management KTP grant with Fletchers Solicitors for legal AI systems EU-funded WEB-RADR project for pharmacovigilance Leads 30+ member research group spanning NLP, machine learning, and healthcare AI. Teaches graduate course COMP 527: Data Mining and Visualisation.
Professor Martin Hyland is a Professor of Mathematical Logic in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics within the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. His work bridges mathematical logic, category theory, and theoretical computer science, with significant contributions to lambda calculus, realizability, and game semantics. Professor Hyland's research spans three interconnected domains: Mathematical Logic (focusing on Lambda Calculus, Recursion Theory, Realizability, Proof Theory, and Linear Logic), Category Theory (specializing in Topos Theory, Categorical Algebra, Operads, and Higher-dimensional Categories), and Theoretical Computer Science (exploring Applications of Category Theory, Domain Theory, Polymorphism, and Game Semantics). His work demonstrates how abstract mathematical structures can illuminate computational phenomena. His recent publications reveal a continued focus on categorical structures for computation, with increasing attention to higher-dimensional categorical frameworks. His work connects foundational logic with practical computational models, showing how category theory provides unifying principles across diverse computational paradigms. The progression from lambda calculus to game semantics to higher categorical structures demonstrates deepening connections between abstract mathematics and computation. Professor Hyland has made foundational contributions to game semantics, categorical models of lambda calculus, and the categorical understanding of algebraic theories. His work on computational effects, particularly in papers like 'Combining algebraic effects with continuations' and 'Combining computational effects: Commutativity and sum,' has influenced both theoretical computer science and practical programming language design.
