Project Lead (PI) | Professor of Migration and Racial Justice | Heriot Watt University

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My research explores the relationship between the lived experiences of individuals with a migration history and the engagement of public and other organisations with such individuals. Areas of focus include minoritised ethnic communities’ access to, experiences of and outcomes of engaging with key public services (including housing, health and social care services); participation in the labour market and creative industries; identity negotiation in multilingual physical and virtual environments, and approaches to tackling hate crime. Many of these interests have informed and will continue to shape the PRIME project.

Co-Investigator | Professor of Computer Science | Heriot Watt University

Prof. Lynne Baillie has a PhD and MSc in Computing. She is currently the Director of the Interactive and Trustworthy Technologies Research Group at Heriot-Watt University. She was a Senior Researcher at the Telecommunications Research Centre in Vienna (FTW) from December 2002 - December 2008. She has been successfully involved in the user centered design of home, mobile and rehabilitation technologies for over fifteen years. She has a strong track record over 15 years in research management and leadership at a senior level in two countries (Austria and UK). She has been awarded grants from prestigious research councils (MRC/EPSRC, FFG), international companies (Orange, Telecom Austria, Alcatel-Lucent, Siemens, Microsoft), charities (Heritage Lottery Fund, CHSS, Paths to Health, Calman), and Governments (local, national and EU). She has over a 100 peer reviewed scientific papers in her specialist area.

Open University

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Dr Liz FitzGerald is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Educational Technology at the Open University and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is the chair for the OU’s Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), module chair for the microcredential HZFM888 ‘Teacher Development: Using Scholarship to Improve Practice’ and was the founding Director of the LTI Scholarship Centre (LATIS) from 2018-2020. She provides expertise in distance learning and teaching and knowledge exchange and previously taught on the Masters (MA) in Online and Distance Education. She is also the EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) champion for IET. Her overarching research interests are concerned broadly with professional digital learning, situated learning and sense-making in educational technology. This has included research into mobile and location-based learning; the role of technology in changing or maintaining professional practice; and how personalisation in TEL can contribute to effective learning and teaching. She supervises doctoral students in a number of educational technology areas.

Co-Investigator | Open University

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Agnes worked in the fields of linguistics and language learning before expanding her expertise to encompass online education and learning technology. Her PhD was non-technical computer users’ attempts to understand computer security. Within her role as Professor at The Open University she leads the Learning Futures Research and Innovation Programme. Her research has a focus on informal learning with smartphones. She is currently leading several projects investigating mobile technology, teacher education, and English language use in low-income countries and among marginalised communities including migrants and refugees.

Postdoctoral Research Associate | Open University

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Dr Sara Bailey holds a PhD in the Sociology of Human Rights from the University of Essex's Human Rights Centre. She is currently a Research Associate at the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University. Her present research interests are centred on the ways in which structures of class, 'race', age and gender faciliate or impede access to social rights in an era of rapid technological transformation. Before commencing her PhD, Sara worked at the intersection of human rights and international development for UN agencies and NGOs in the UK, the Middle East and East Africa. Sara has published in the areas of social rights and human rights.

PhD Student | Heriot Watt University

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Eunice is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Urban Studies at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK. Her research project examines refugee women's experiences in accessing digital mental health services. Eunice earned her Master’s in health sciences from the University of Lethbridge, Canada and a Bachelor’s in health services administration from the University of Ghana. Eunice has an academic and professional experience in women and child health, refugee and migrant issues, social innovation, youth empowerment, entrepreneurship, program development, and creating and analysing health databases.

PhD Student | Research Associate | Heriot Watt University

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Kefan Chen is currently a Ph.D Student at Heriot-Watt University under the guidance of Prof. Lynne Baillie and Dr. Wei Pang. His research focuses on Explainable AI, AI fairness, and Human-Computer Interaction. Kefan earned his Bachelor's degree in Electronic Information Science and Technology in 2018. In 2019, he achieved a Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, graduating with distinction. Following his academic accomplishments, Kefan gained valuable industry experience by working in a game development company and a software company's research lab for two and a half years. Currently he is also a part-time RA in the PRIME project.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow | University of York

Dr. Sebati Ghosh is working as a Research Associate in University of York, UK, with Prof. Siamak Shahandashti. She is a part of the PRIME project where her main focus area will be security and privacy. In particular she will be responsible with constructing Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) for minority ethnic communities. From November, 2021 to April, 2023, Sebati has worked as a postdoctoral fellow in University of Bern, Switzerland. There she has worked on authenticated data structures with Prof. Christian Cachin. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science, under the supervision of Prof. Palash Sarkar, in August, 2021 and M.Tech in Computer Science in 2015 both from Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. She is Rashi Ray Memorial Gold Medal awardee for standing first in her batch of M.Tech in Computer Science. She earned her B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Institute of Engineering and Management in Kolkata under West Bengal University of Technology in 2009. Till now she has primarily worked in the area of symmetric key cryptology and she has published in journals including Designs, Codes and Cryptography and IACR Transactions on Symmetric Cryptology.

Postdoctoral Research Associate | Cranfield University

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Mennan Guder is currently a research fellow working on the PRIME project, where he employs machine learning and agent-based modelling techniques to extract valuable insights from data. His role involves collaboration with other universities.

Mennan holds a BSc degree in Computer Engineering, an MSc degree in Data Mining, and a PhD degree in Deep Learning. Additionally, he has a minor in mathematics.

During his 17-year tenure at the National Scientific Council of Turkey, Mennan served as a system architect and applied researcher. His extensive contributions encompassed diverse fields such as power distribution, avionics, cybersecurity, distributed systems, and mission-critical systems.

Mennan's expertise spans a broad spectrum of technologies, showcasing professional proficiency in Java, Java EE, C, C++, Spring, Spring Boot, ReactJS, and databases like Oracle and PostgreSQL. In addition to technical skills, he has gained substantial knowledge in agile methodologies, CI/CD pipelines, Git, Jira, Confluence, and machine learning.

Co-Investigator | Postdoctoral Research Associate | Heriot Watt University

Dr. Farjana Islam is an experienced researcher with an interest in exploring the dynamics of socio-spatial exclusions and inequalities to manoeuvre strategies for equity and inclusion. She has empirical experience of working with socio-economically disadvantaged and minoritised communities in the UK and in the countries of the Global South. She is a co-convenor of the BSA Race & Ethnicity Study Group and currently her works focus on exploring shapes and forms of health inequalities and housing challenges as perceived by the underserved and marginalised groups in the UK. Previously, her doctoral research explored how the Olympic 2012 legacy-led regeneration was contributing socio-economic exclusions to the three distinct ethnic minority communities (e.g. South Asian-British Bangladeshi, Black African and Black Caribbean) in East London. In addition to her work on PRIME she also works as a Research Fellow at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London.

Co-Investigator | Professor of Sustainable Energy Transitions | Cranfield University

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Prof Nazmiye Ozkan has a chair in Sustainable Energy Transitions at Cranfield University. Building on her interdisciplinary training as an urban planner, her research focuses on developing socio-technical systems frameworks, models and tools to identify and manage risks, opportunities and challenges associated with digitisation and decarbonisation of energy and transport systems. Over the last twenty years, she has been principal or co-investigator on research projects worth over £16M funded via Research Councils UK, the European Commission as well as government agencies and industry.

Co-Investigator | Associate Professor at the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences | Heriot Watt University

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Dr Wei Pang is an Associate Professor at the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. Previously he was Senior Lecturer (2017-2019), Lecturer (2012-2017), and Research Fellow (2009-2012) at the University of Aberdeen. His research interests include bio-inspired computing, machine learning (e.g. deep learning, autoML), qualitative reasoning, and most recently, explainable and accountable AI. He has authored 130+ papers with an H-index of 20. His research has been funded by EPSRC, ESRC, NERC, Royal Society, Royal Society of Edinburgh, and Cancer Research UK.

Postdoctoral Research Associate | Glasgow University

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Dr Aunam Quyoum is a researcher at the University of Glasgow. Aunam holds a PhD in Education from the University of Sheffield funded by the ESRC. Her research experience and interests align to themes of anti-racism, social justice and participatory methodologies. She is co-lead on a work package for PRIME which will bring together a range of stakeholders across England and Scotland to exchange knowledge and co-design solutions to ethnicity related bias and digital discrimination in AI and digital services. In 2020, Aunam co-led on a project exploring algorithmic decision making in children’s social care for the Behavioural Insights Unit at the Department for Education, England and has also worked in research roles in the third sector.

Postdoctoral Research Associate | Heriot Watt University

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Dr Mehdi Rizvi is a researcher working on the PRIME project, with expertise in Human Computer Interaction. Rizvi’s research focuses on the design of interdisciplinary tools and platforms for citizens and domain-experts. Such tools often follow the no-code/low-code paradigm, tangible interaction, or easy to use toolkits, making the interaction by end-users easier. Outcomes of his work have been published in various international research journals and conference proceedings, and also have been exhibited to general public in the form of interactive art exhibitions. His work in PRIME focuses on creating and evaluating Privacy Enhancing Toolkits (PETs) for minority ethinic communities.

Co-Investigator | Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) | University of York

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Dr. Siamak F. Shahandashti is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Cyber Security & Privacy at the University of York, UK. His research interests include privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), applied cryptography, device and application security, and human factors in cyber security and privacy. His research has directly contributed to increasing the security and privacy of security standards such as ISO/IEC 11770-4, security applications such as password managers, payment systems such as contactless payment and Bitcoin payment Protocol (BIP70), and everyday applications such as mobile browsers. He is a member of the ICO PETs Expert Forum, an Expert Fellow of SPRITE+, and a programme committee member of international conferences such as ACM CCS, ESORICS, SEC @ ACM SAC, and PST.

Project Manager | Heriot Watt University

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Laura completed a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Nottingham in 2004. After a brief stint in adult education, Laura retrained to teach secondary school in 2006. Several enjoyable years of teaching teenagers Maths, Physics, and Astronomy were followed by a move to Chicago to work at the Alder Planetarium as an educator and web-developer for the Zooniverse, the world’s largest and most popular online citizen science project. Laura was eventually promoted to run the Zooniverse team alongside the Adler’s Teen Programs and Hack Day portfolio. She has recently joined Heriot Watt to work on Public Engagement for the SECRIOUS project and to act as Project Manager for the PRIME project.

Co-Investigator | Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Research Methods | University of Glasgow

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Dr. Mark Wong is an expert in digital society and policy, algorithmic harm, and inclusive data-driven innovation. His research examines harms and bias of data/AI on Minoritised Ethnic people. He has served in advisory roles for the Scottish Governemnt and Publich Health Scotland, contributing to addressing issues of systemic racism in data design and infrastructure in Scotland. He is also a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator for several projects funded by the EPSRC, ESRC, and NERC, e.g. “Multilayer Algorithmics to Leverage Graph Structure” (EPSRC, EP/T004878/1) and “What Data Means to You” (ESRC IAA). He is passionate about promiting more responsible, equitable, and sustainable use of data and AI. He is also interested in co-design and “ethical by design” appraoches in developing AI and data systems, focusing on marginalised communities’ participation. He is the Deputy Theme Lead of the Advanced Research Centre (ARC), a University of Glasgow’s strategic intitiatve to promote interdisciplinary collaborations and external engagement.

Postdoctoral Research Associate | Heriot Watt University

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Yingfang Yuan works as a researcher on the PRIME project. He focuses on using machine learning techniques to uncover insights from data and support collaborative work with other universities. He also aims to propose novel methods for solving ethnic minority related issues. His academic interests lie in machine learning and deep learning, with a particular focus on graph neural networks and AutoML. Additionally, he is interested in blockchain technology, XAI, and evolutionary computation.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Cranfield University

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Dr Zinat Aboli is a researcher at Cranfield University. Zinat holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Mumbai. Her research experience and interests include themes related to gender, socio spatial segregation, social justice, and inclusion. Presently her work in the PRIME project involves engaging with a range of stakeholders across England and Scotland to understand ethnicity related bias and digital discrimination in AI and digital services. As an Assistant Professor she taught a variety of academic university courses on media education to undergraduate and graduate students in India. She has empirical experience of working with disadvantaged and marginalised communities and has worked on higher education, creative industries, and entrepreneurship in the global south.

Research Assistant

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Andy is a 1st year Edinburgh Centre for Robotics student researching the use of Hybrid Machine Learning Models to improve the strategic decision-making of autonomous robotic agents. Andy has an MSc in Artificial Intelligence from Heriot-Watt University. His main research interests are Reinforcement Learning and Robotics.