Prof. Laura Busse is a Professor at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), leading the Research Group in the Department of Biology II, Division Neurobiology. She holds roles as a Regular Member of MCN, Full Member of GSN, and Deputy Head of the GSN Examination Board. Her research focuses on cellular and systems neuroscience, particularly investigating how contextual information influences visual perception through neural circuits in mice. Key areas include feedback mechanisms, behavioral state effects, and thalamocortical interactions. Her work employs advanced techniques like high-density extracellular recordings and optogenetics to study active behavior in rodents. Current students include Simon Renner, Gregory Born, and others. Recent research highlights include studies on corticothalamic feedback effects, thalamic spatial integration, and the role of pupil dynamics in neural activity. She leads the Vision Circuits Lab (https://visioncircuitslab.org), exploring how sensory inputs and brain states shape visual processing. Her articles reveal trends in understanding thalamocortical communication, adaptive sensory systems, and the biological basis of neural network models. She coordinates the SPP2411 project on cortico-subcortical loops, emphasizing interdisciplinary neuroscience.
Rita Orji is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Persuasive Technology and is an NSERC Arthur B. McDonald Fellow. She leads the Persuasive Computing Lab and is actively involved in the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Visualization and Graphics research cluster. Her research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction, Persuasive Technology, Games for Change, and Digital Health, with an emphasis on designing user-centered interactive systems for behavior change, particularly in health and wellness domains. Her work targets underserved populations through HCI for Development (HCI4D) and applies AI, machine learning, and gamification to promote healthy eating, physical activity, mental health, and smoking cessation. Dr. Orji has received numerous scientific awards and recognitions, including being appointed to the Royal Society of Canada, named among the Top 100 Leading Nigerian Women, and recognized as one of the Top 100 Black Women to Watch in Canada. She is a Vanier Scholar and Banting Postdoctoral Fellow, reflecting her academic excellence. Canada Research Chair in Persuasive Technology NSERC Arthur B. McDonald Fellow Appointed to the Royal Society of Canada (2020) Top 100 Leading Nigerian Women (2021) LinkedIn Top Influencer - Africa Top Voice (2020) Research Excellence Award, Dalhousie University (2019) She has supervised a vast number of students at all levels, including PhD, Master’s, and undergraduate researchers, many of whom have worked on persuasive apps for mental health, AI-driven coaching, gamified interventions, and health equity. Her lab is well-funded, notably by an NSERC Discovery Grant, and she has delivered keynotes at major international conferences such as ISRII and AfriCHI. Dr. Orji directs the Persuasive Computing Lab, a vibrant research group that includes postdoctoral fellows, PhD and Master’s students, and research interns, all working on interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of computing, psychology, and public health.
Sri Kurniawan is a researcher at the Computational Media Department within Baskin Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz . With a focus on Human-Computer Interaction , their work spans assistive technology , virtual reality applications , and accessibility design for aging populations and people with disabilities. Key research areas: Accessibility , Virtual Reality , Human-Computer Interaction Recent work explores immersive systems for emergency preparedness and Mixed Reality in biomedical visualization Publications from 2000-2025 demonstrate sustained engagement in mobile health and inclusive game design . Collaborations with institutions like University of Manchester and University of California systems highlight cross-continental research impact.
Graeme B. Dinwoodie is a University Distinguished Professor and Global Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, where he also serves as Co-Director of the Program in Intellectual Property Law. He has held prestigious academic positions at the University of Oxford (2009-2018), where he was Director of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre and a Professorial Fellow of St. Peter's College, and Queen Mary College, University of London (2005-2009). Prior to his Oxford appointment, he led Chicago-Kent's intellectual property program for several years. Dinwoodie earned his J.S.D. from Columbia Law School, LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and LL.B. in Private Law (first class honors) from the University of Glasgow. He was the Burton Fellow at Columbia Law School (1988-89) and a John F. Kennedy Scholar at Harvard Law School (1987-88). Before entering academia, he practiced intellectual property law at Sullivan and Cromwell in New York. A leading international authority in trademark law, design law, and international intellectual property law, Dinwoodie's research focuses on the intersection of national and international IP systems, trademark theory and doctrine, and the evolving landscape of digital copyright. His work explores how trademark law serves consumer interests, the challenges of harmonizing IP systems across jurisdictions, and the role of international organizations like WIPO in shaping global IP norms. He has made significant contributions to understanding territoriality in trademark law and the impact of digital technologies on IP enforcement. Dinwoodie's extensive publication record reveals a consistent focus on the tension between national sovereignty and international harmonization in intellectual property law. His recent work examines the implications of Brexit for IP systems, the evolving role of internet intermediaries in IP enforcement, and the normative foundations of trademark law. He has increasingly focused on the practical application of IP law in digital contexts while maintaining his foundational work on international IP architecture. Scientific Awards and Recognition: Inducted into the IP Hall of Fame (2020) Recipient of the Ladas Memorial Award from the International Trademark Association (2008) Awarded the Pattishall Medal for Teaching Excellence in trademarks and trade identity law (2008) Three-time recipient of the Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching (University of Cincinnati) Elected to membership in the American Law Institute (2003) Named Norman and Edna Freehling Scholar (2001) Dinwoodie has served in significant advisory roles, including as a consultant to the World Intellectual Property Organization on private international law matters, an adviser to the American Law Institute Project on Principles on Jurisdiction and Recognition of Judgments in Intellectual Property Matters, and a consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on the Protection of Traditional Knowledge. He currently serves as an adviser on the ALI's project on the Restatement of Copyright Law. He has held leadership positions as past chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Association of American Law Schools and president of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP) from 2011 to 2013. As Co-Director of the Intellectual Property Program at Chicago-Kent, Dinwoodie helps shape one of the nation's leading IP law programs. His work with the Center for Design, Law & Technology reflects his commitment to addressing contemporary challenges at the intersection of law and innovation. Through his extensive scholarship, teaching, and professional service, Dinwoodie continues to influence both the theoretical foundations and practical applications of intellectual property law worldwide.
Suren Jayasuriya is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University's The GAME School, with joint appointments in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering (ECEE) and the Department of Arts, Media and Engineering (AME). He is also an Affiliate Faculty Member at the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation. His lab, the Imaging Lyceum, focuses on transdisciplinary research bridging computational imaging, computer vision, sensors, and STEAM education. Education Ph.D. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University (2017) M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University (2015) B.S. Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh (2012) B.A. Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh (2012) Research Focus Dr. Jayasuriya's work integrates optics, computational photography, and machine learning to develop novel imaging systems. His research spans: Computational cameras and light transport analysis Atmospheric turbulence modeling and video restoration Neural volumetric reconstruction for sonar/radar STEAM education frameworks for K-12 teachers Philosophical aspects of imaging and representation His lab emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, arts, and humanities. Publication Trends Recent publications demonstrate strong focus on computational imaging (45%), AI/ML applications (30%), and educational technology (25%). Dominant themes include turbulence mitigation in videos, neural rendering for sonar/radar, sensor fusion, and AI curriculum development for middle schools. Work frequently appears in top venues like CVPR, SIGGRAPH, and IEEE Transactions. Awards Image Electronics Technology Excellence Award (IIEEJ, 2021) Best Demo Awards: IEEE ICCP 2019, MIRU 2018 Best Paper Award: IEEE ICCP 2014 ASEE Diversity Paper Finalist (2020) Teaching Honors: Fulton Top 5% Award (2019, 2021), ASU Game Changing Faculty (2021) Teaching & Advising Teaches graduate/undergraduate courses including Machine Vision (EEE 515), Minds and Machines (AME 400), and thesis supervision. Leads NSF-funded projects on computational imaging education and AI teacher training. Mentors students through the Imaging Lyceum lab with projects spanning optics, philosophy, and educational technology. Lab & Collaborations Directs the Imaging Lyceum, emphasizing Aristotle-inspired collaborative research. The lab works on: computational cameras, STEAM education, sensor development, and philosophical inquiries into imaging. Collaborates with Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute and international partners. Funded by NSF, NEH, and industrial partners for projects in sonar imaging, heat resiliency sensing, and educational AI.
Daniela Bleichmar serves as Professor of Art History and History at the University of Southern California, where she holds leadership positions as founding director of the Levan Institute for the Humanities and director of the USC Society of Fellows in the Humanities. Previously, she held the role of Associate Provost for Faculty and Student Initiatives in the Arts and Humanities (2015–2020), demonstrating sustained institutional commitment to humanities scholarship. Her academic foundation includes a Ph.D. in History from Princeton University (2005) and an A.B. in History of Science from Harvard University (1996), followed by a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute (2004–2006). This interdisciplinary training underpins her distinctive research approach. Professor Bleichmar's scholarship centers on Early Modern Europe and the Spanish Empire , with particular expertise in visual and material culture , colonial science , and global knowledge exchange . Her work examines how images and objects functioned as instruments of imperial power while facilitating cross-cultural encounters. Current research explores the visual dimensions of natural history practices and the epistemological significance of collecting in colonial contexts, revealing how visual representation shaped European understanding of the Americas. Analysis of her recent publications (2015-2021) shows consistent engagement with the visual archive of imperialism, particularly through studies of the Codex Mendoza and early modern collecting practices. These works bridge art history, history of science, and colonial studies, demonstrating methodological innovation in analyzing visual evidence across disciplinary boundaries while maintaining focus on power dynamics in knowledge production. Her distinguished recognition includes: American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship (Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship) Smithsonian America's Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences (37 under 36) Getty Research Institute Scholar appointment Multiple awards for specific publications including the Jerry Stannard Memorial Award Professor Bleichmar has secured significant research funding including the USC Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences Grant and Del Amo Research Grant. She actively contributes to scholarly discourse through editorial roles at Journal18 , Isis , and multiple book series, while mentoring emerging scholars through her leadership in the Society of Fellows. She maintains deep institutional connections through the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute, Visual Studies Research Institute, and USC-Getty Program in the History of Collecting and Display. These affiliations support her interdisciplinary approach while providing platforms for collaborative research on global visual culture and material exchanges in the early modern world.
Bohunka Koklesová, PhD., is an Associate Professor and the Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (VŠVU), a position she has held since 2019. She works at the Department of Theory and History of Art, where she has been teaching and conducting research for many years. Prior to becoming rector, she served as vice-rector for three consecutive terms. Her academic journey began at Comenius University Bratislava, Faculty of Arts, where she studied fine arts science from 1990 to 1995. She completed her doctoral studies in 2010 at the Department of Theory and History of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts Bratislava, earning her PhD in art history. In 2017, she was appointed Associate Professor. Dr. Koklesová specializes in several interconnected research areas: History and theory of photography, particularly Slovak photography 19th and 20th century art history Visual culture studies Totalitarian regimes and their relationship to art Cultural studies, with a focus on memory studies Critical periods of Czechoslovak history, especially pre-war and war years Czech-Slovak relations in historical contexts Her scholarly output reveals a strong focus on the intersection of photography, history, and political regimes, particularly examining the period of the Slovak State (1939-1945) and its aftermath. She has published extensively on how visual culture, especially photography, served as both documentation and propaganda during totalitarian periods. Her work demonstrates a consistent interest in how historical memory is constructed through visual media, with particular attention to Central European contexts. Dr. Koklesová's significant scholarly contributions include: "In the Shadow of the Third Reich, Official Photographs of the Slovak State 1939-1945" (2009) "Súmrak doby, prelamovaná história, pamäť, fotografia" (2018) Numerous articles on Slovak photography, visual culture, and art history She has received recognition for her work, most notably the Tatra Banka Foundation Prize for her collaboration on the exhibition "Dream x Reality/Art and Propaganda 1939–1945," which became the most visited exhibition of the year. As an academic leader and curator, Dr. Koklesová has advised on numerous exhibition projects and has been instrumental in shaping contemporary discourse around Slovak visual culture. She has curated or co-curated significant exhibitions including "The Eighties – Postmodernism in Slovak Fine Art," the "Zone of the Edge" series, and "In the Shadow of the Third Reich." Her curatorial work often focuses on mapping contemporary Slovak photography and examining historical periods through visual media. Dr. Koklesová is actively involved in the academic and cultural community as a member of AICA (International Association of Art Critics) since 2012 and serves on various artistic and scientific councils of important Slovak cultural institutions including the Slovak National Gallery, Slovak National Theater, and others. In 2019, she co-founded the non-profit organization Spoločnosť Jaromíra Krejcara dedicated to preserving functionalist architecture.
Maeve Sterbenz is an Assistant Professor of Music at Smith College specializing in interdisciplinary music theory research at the intersection of human movement and musical experience. Her educational background includes: Ph.D. and M.A. from Columbia University B.A. from Columbia College Sterbenz's research examines how ballet shapes musical perception beyond score-based analysis, as demonstrated in her "Listening to Ballet" project developed during a San Francisco Ballet residency. She also investigates gender and sexuality in hip hop/R&B music videos, with award-winning publications analyzing visual-musical narratives. Her scholarly output reveals consistent focus on embodied musical experiences across concert dance, film, and popular media formats. Scientific recognition includes: 2018 Adam Krims award from the Society for Music Theory’s Popular Music Interest Group No documented graduate advisees or research grants are evident from available information. Sterbenz maintains creative collaborations with dancers as a composer but no formal research laboratory structure is described.
Johannes Schöning is a Professor of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at the University of St. Gallen and leads the Ubiquitous Media Technology Lab . His research focuses on developing user interfaces that empower individuals and communities through data-driven decision-making, with interdisciplinary applications in geographic information science, public health, medical contexts, and extreme environments like space missions. He emphasizes methodological rigor from AI, computer graphics, and cognitive psychology. Organizes AlpCHI 2026 Chair of ACM Eugene Lawler Award Committee Editorial Board, AI Perspectives (Springer Nature) Research Trends : His publications from 2025–2024 reveal a focus on Mixed Reality (autoethnography, weight perception), Accessibility (visual impairment support), Environmental HCI (CO2 eco-feedback), and Geospatial Technologies (navigation externalities, map analytics). Interdisciplinary work appears in journals like Nature and PLOS ONE . Scientific Recognition : ACM Distinguished Member Best Paper & Accessibility Awards (Interact 2019, MobileHCI 2015) Junior Fellow, Gesellschaft für Informatik (2013) Academic Service : Active in conference leadership (SIGCHI Switzerland Chair 2021–2023, ISS 2016 Program Chair) and reviewing for top venues including ACM CHI , Ubicomp , and IEEE VR . Regular reviewer for European science foundations and DFG/BMBF proposals.
Hazel Doughty is an Assistant Professor at Leiden University in the Leiden Institute for Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) . Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam and completed her PhD at the University of Bristol under the supervision of Prof. Dima Damen and Prof. Walterio Mayol-Cuevas. Research Interests: Video Understanding, Skill Determination, Self-Supervised Learning, Temporal Attention, and Adverb Recognition in Instructional Videos. Grants: Co-Applicant for DUAL-IMPACT (NWO High Tech Systems and Materials, €1.25M); Main Applicant for NWO Veni grant ( From What to How: Perceiving Subtle Differences in Videos , €280K). Scientific Recognition: Veni Grant (2023) ELLIS Member (2022) Outstanding Reviewer for CVPR, NeurIPS, ECCV, and ACCV Academic Service: Organizer of workshops at CVPR 2024, BMVC 2023, NCCV 2024, and NeurIPS'21. Area Chair for CVPR, ICCV, NeurIPS, AAAI. Teaching: Courses on Computer Vision (BSc) and Advances in Deep Learning (MSc) at Leiden University. Her work focuses on fine-grained video understanding with weak or incomplete supervision , including adverb analysis, self-supervised learning, and egocentric vision datasets. Her recent publications analyze benchmark sensitivity, motion-focused video-language models, and generalized category discovery. Collaborations include the HAVA lab at the University of Amsterdam and the EPIC-Kitchens-100 project. She leads the DUAL-IMPACT initiative on high-tech systems and co-organized workshops at CVPR, ICCV, and NeurIPS. Her students include PhD candidates Luc Sträter and Kaiting Liu , and former advisees like Fida Mohammad Thoker (now postdoc at KAUST) and Piyush Bagad (now PhD at Oxford).
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Rosar has held the Chair of Sociology II at the Institute of Social Sciences, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf , since 2010. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at HHU Düsseldorf (2015–2019) and was re-elected as Deputy Spokesperson of the Düsseldorf Institute for Internet and Democracy (DIID) in December 2023. His academic work bridges political sociology , sociological inequality analysis , and empirical social research methods . Research Focus: Political sociology (candidate attractiveness, voting behavior, media influence); inequality analysis (implicit biases in electoral outcomes, structural disparities); empirical methods (ALLBUS data, longitudinal studies). Publications: Recent work examines physical attractiveness in elections (2005–2021 German federal elections), digital campaigning trends , and social media’s impact on electoral success (2023–2025). Earlier studies include ALLBUS data analysis (2020) and historical political discourse (2018).
Minna Valjakka is a Senior Researcher at the University of Helsinki , affiliated with the Department of Cultures and the Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies (Urbaria) . She also holds a Professor position at Leiden University (2022–2023) and has served as a Docent in East Asian Studies at the University of Turku and in Art History/Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki. Education: PhD in Art History, University of Helsinki (2011) MA in East Asian Studies, University of Helsinki (2005) Docent (Habilitation) titles in East Asian Studies and Art History Teaching: Designed courses on interculturality, urban creativity, and environmental art at Leiden University Promotes critical pedagogy, sociocultural learning, and decolonial frameworks Research Focus: Explores urban creativity , environmental art , and civil society in East and Southeast Asia. Highlights include analyzing art-science collaborations for sustainability, gendered dimensions of urban art, and transcultural dynamics in public space. Publications: Her work spans topics like ecological citizenship , urban resilience , and artistic responses to censorship , with a strong emphasis on decolonial and interdisciplinary frameworks. Scientific Recognition: Awarded the Kanava Award (2016) for her contributions to art and gender studies. Supervision: Mentored 13+ MA theses and served as a co-supervisor for PhD candidates at Leiden and Helsinki universities. Projects: Leads EcoConjunctions (2024–2028), examining art-science collaborations for civil society, and Shades of Green (2020–2022) on environmental art in Asia.
Gina Kim is a Professor at the School of Theater, Film and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is a critically acclaimed filmmaker whose works have screened at major international film festivals including Berlin, Venice, Sundance, and Pusan, as well as institutions like MoMA and Centre Pompidou. Kim has taught film production and theory at Harvard University (2004–2007, 2013–2014) and served on juries for prestigious festivals like Venice and Torino. Key Films: Invisible Light (2003), Never Forever (2007), Final Recipe (2013) Notable Achievements: First Asian woman to teach at Harvard’s Department of Visual and Environmental Studies Her research and creative work focuses on transnational narratives and cross-cultural collaborations in cinema. Kim has received recognition for her contributions to Korean and global independent film. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Seoul National University and a Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. Special Award, Seoul Women’s Film Festival (2004) Jury Prize, Deauville American Film Festival (2007)
Professor Lyudmila Mihaylova is a distinguished academic at the University of Sheffield's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, where she holds the position of Professor of Signal Processing and Control. She has established herself as a leading researcher in the fields of signal processing, Bayesian methods, and autonomous systems, with significant contributions to particle filtering techniques for intelligent transportation systems. Her work bridges theoretical developments with practical applications across multiple domains including transportation, healthcare, and industrial automation. Prof. Mihaylova's research interests center on nonlinear filtering, sequential Monte Carlo methods, statistical signal processing, and sensor data fusion. Her work spans both theoretical advancements and practical implementations, with particular focus on high-dimensional problems including vehicular traffic flow estimation, image processing, and localization in sensor networks. She has extensive experience with various image modalities such as optical, thermal, LIDAR, SAR, and hyperspectral imaging. Her group actively develops novel methods for autonomous intelligent systems focusing on sensing, tracking, decision making, and machine learning applications. Analysis of Prof. Mihaylova's recent publications reveals a strong trend toward uncertainty quantification in machine learning models, particularly for safety-critical applications. Her work increasingly integrates traditional signal processing techniques with modern deep learning approaches, with applications spanning sewer inspection robotics, medical diagnostics (particularly sleep apnea detection), UAV swarm tracking, industrial manufacturing, and autonomous vehicle systems. A significant portion of her recent research focuses on developing robust methods that can handle incomplete or outlier-corrupted data while providing reliable uncertainty estimates. Among her notable professional achievements: President of the International Society of Information Fusion (ISIF) Senior member of the IEEE Signal Processing Society Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems Associate Editor for Elsevier Signal Processing Journal Prof. Mihaylova has successfully mentored numerous PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, many of whom have gone on to prominent academic and industry positions. Her research has been supported by major funding bodies including EPSRC, EU, MOD/DSTL, and industry partners, with recent projects including 'Protecting Environments with UAV Swarms' (InnovateUK, 2022-2024), 'ShiRAS: Towards Safe and Reliable Autonomy in Sensor Driven Systems' (NSF-EPSRC, 2019-2023), and 'Confident safety integration for Cobots' (Lloyd's Register Foundation, 2019-2020). Her research group follows a collaborative approach with the philosophy 'We share knowledge, we grow.' Prof. Mihaylova maintains active research collaborations with institutions worldwide and has held previous academic positions at Lancaster University (2006-2013) and University of Bristol (2004-2006), along with research visiting positions at the University of Ghent, Katholic University of Leuven, and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Siew, Shu Qin Cynthia is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore, specializing in psycholinguistics and cognitive science. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Kansas University (KU) and a B.Soc.Sci. (Hons.) from NUS. Her research focuses on applying network analysis to study cognitive structures like the mental lexicon and semantic memory. Education: Ph.D. in Psychology, KU M.A. in Psychology, KU B.Soc.Sci. (Hons.) in Linguistics, NUS Her work integrates cognitive psychology experiments, computational modeling, and linguistic corpora to explore two core themes: (1) How lexicon structure influences processing (e.g., phonological/orthographic similarity affecting word recognition), and (2) How lexicon structure evolves over time (e.g., language acquisition across monolinguals and bilinguals). Recent publications highlight her innovative use of network science to model phonological and semantic networks and software tools like spreadr for simulating spreading activation. This work bridges computational methods with empirical studies on lexical retrieval and memory organization.
