Research Supervisor Details

This page provides additional information about our research supervisors. You can either browser supervisors by department or search for them by keyword. Most supervisors also have a personal webpage where you can find out more about them.

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Dr Pamela Abbott p.y.abbott@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My main research interests are: Global sourcing of IT and IT-enabled services – organization of, models for, issues, conflicts & resolutions Distributed collaborative work, knowledge processes, innovation and organizational learning ICTs and development, globalisation and its effect on societies, organization and work; location of global work Technology diffusion and its influence on organizations, work practices and new contemporary business models PhD supervision Some potential topics include: Studies investigating new forms of global sourcing such as impact or rural sourcing from any perspective, e.g. social, economic etc. that generates new information about these new models of doing outsourced IT work. Studies looking at distributed collaborative work such as the type of collaboration that is common in distributed software teams (distributed meaning separated by time, space, culture etc.) and determining how they maintain collaborative work practices and how they learn collectively in order to pursue innovative outcomes. Studies investigating phenomena around ICTs and development, i.e., the contested relationship between the development of ICT initiatives in poor, underdeveloped communities and the resulting influence this may have on development efforts in those environments.
Mr Leo Appleton l.appleton@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests Developing the library workforce (including LIS education; professional skills and competencies of library workers) Academic libraries Role, impact and value of public library services Health and NHS Library Services / Clinical Librarianship Critical librarianship practice Library classification systems (application / development / issues and challenges of bias)
Professor Jo Bates jo.bates@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research is in the field of Critical Data Studies. Critical Data Studies is an interdisciplinary field that uses social theory to inform examination of the social drivers, implications and power relations of emergent forms of data and algorithmic practices. My recent research broadly breaks down into three areas: (1) data and AI cultures of practice - including issues around Responsible data/AI practice, (2) data journeys & data friction - particularly climate and energy data flows, and (3) digital labour - particularly crowdwork. You can read more about my research in each of these areas on my website: https://lifeofdata.org/site/category/research-areas/ I am currently working on the following projects, which involve collaborations with a variety of organisations including GSK, JISC, BBC and DWP: - Patterns in Practice (Principal Investigator). AHRC funded. https://lifeofdata.org/site/patterns-in-practice/ - Living with Data (Co-investigator). Nuffield funded. https://livingwithdata.org/current-research/ - Energy data-sharing scoping study (PI). Internally funded. PhD Supervision I am interested in supervising PhD projects that advance the critical study of emerging data and algorithmic practices and flows. By critical I mean projects that in some way grapple with issues of power, ethics and justice as they relate to topics of data, automation, data science and/or AI. I tend to use qualitative research methods, including ethnographic methods and (policy) document analysis. There is a wide range of potential projects in this area. Applicants are advised to check out recent papers in key journals (e.g. 'Big Data and Society' and 'Information, Communication and Society') and conferences (e.g. Data Power, Data Justice) to get a sense for emerging topics.
Professor Peter Bath p.a.bath@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests are in Health Informatics and include the following areas: The use of e-Health resources by different consumer groups. Health information needs and information behaviours of patients, their families, carers and the general public. Evaluation of information systems within health care organisations. Applications of artificial intelligence and data mining techniques to analysing health information. Analysing health information in relation to the health and well-being of older people. Sharing of information and experiences by patients, carers and the public on social media, blogs and web-based discussion forums I am particularly interested in how patients, carers and health professionals seek, obtain and share information and advice in relation to their health and well-being through online digital resources.
Professor Briony Birdi b.birdi@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests and experience are broadly focused in the following areas: Public library services Library services for children and young people Reading research and the promotion of literature and reading. More specifically, my work relates to the social, political and educational roles of public and youth libraries in society, with a particular focus on diversity, social justice and reading. I am happy to supervise PhD projects related to any of these areas.
Professor Laurence Brooks l.brooks@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests sit around the area of ICT and people, whether at the individual, group or societal level. My research has examined: The ethics of current and emerging technologies, so not just that technologies such as AI or digital extended reality can be developed and applied, but should it and if so in what ways? Using and working with a range of social theories (ie. Sociomateriality, Structuration Theory, Actor Network Theory) to gain insights into how we and the world interact with and reflect ICT and other emerging technologies. I have engaged with research in a number of areas, including: social media eGovernment ICT4D (ICT with and for development) Healthcare PhD supervision Research is a vital part of the academic world and I am always keen to discuss possible research opportunities. If you are interested in a PhD studentship in Information Systems, Technology and Social Responsibility, ICT4D, eGovernment, eHealth, eEthics, etc.
Dr David Cameron d.s.cameron@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Human-Computer Interaction My research examines users’ experiences in their interaction with technology, particularly in terms of the user and autonomous systems as two agents in collaborative work towards shared goals. My work has also explored people’s emotional experiences in working with new technology, the reliability and performance of assistive technology in people’s intention to use, and children’s understanding of robots. PhD supervision I am particularly interested in hearing from research students focusing on the following areas: Human-robot interaction – particularly in social robotics People’s experiences in human-robot collaborative working User’s trust in automation and robotics
Professor Paul Clough p.d.clough@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on developing effective retrieval technologies that support users as they seek to fulfil their information needs. Specifically I have carried out research in the areas of: multilingual search retrieval of images geo-spatial search analysis of transaction logs text re-use and plagiarism detection the evaluation of search systems My background in natural language processing has allowed me to develop more sophisticated approaches to accessing information. In addition to developing techniques, I have also built up an understanding of the users of information access systems and their information needs, taking a more user-oriented view to my research. I am also interested in the creation of re-usable evaluation resources (corpora and test collections) for the wider research community, such as computational linguistics and information retrieval.
Dr Andrew Cox a.m.cox@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on a number of areas: The development of the information profession Artificial intelligence for information professionals Self tracking Research supervision Some topics I am particularly interested in supervising PhD work related to those themes: The changing role of the information profession The use of library and informal space in learning Impact of data and artificial intelligence Roles in user mental health and wellbeing
Dr Niall Docherty n.docherty@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research Interests My research interests are: Critical Algorithm and Data Studies Critical HCI and Interdisciplinary Theory Cultural Studies and Responsible Computing Capitalism Sociotechnical theory Digital Well-Being The digital good life and discourses of wellness Neoliberalism Power/Knowledge Research Supervision I can supervise a wide range of interdisciplinary topics that could involve, for instance, mixed method studies of platforms and their use, qualitative digital research, digital well-being, power, advancing sociotechnical theory, and responsible computational design. I would be interested in supervising PhDs in the following and related areas: Sociotechnical systems and responsible computing How people manage their digital well-being online The politics of data and platforms The production of ideal users in HCI Normative and exclusionary technologies Nudge technologies and their links to neoliberalism The digital good life and discourses of wellness The relationships between mediation, digital materiality and discourse
Dr Jayne Finlay jayne.finlay@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research Interests My research focuses on the provision of library services to people affected by incarceration. I have carried out research on family literacy initiatives in prison, prisoners’ engagement with library services, staff experiences of prison library provision, and policymaking in the prison library context. I am interested in supervising PhD students in the area of prison librarianship and prison education. I would welcome proposals related to: Information needs and/or information behaviour of people in carceral settings Collaboration between prison libraries and other library sectors such as public, health or academic libraries Training and professional development needs of prison library staff Prison library policy and how it has been implemented in different countries/contexts Participatory action research studies which allow those with lived experience of prison to help facilitate change in library policy and practice
Dr Jonathan Foster j.j.foster@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My main research interests are within the area of information management, with specialist expertise in information governance and ethics. I have led and worked with colleagues from across a number of disciplines on externally funded projects in this area supported by the EPSRC, ESRC, AHRC, and Innovate UK. I predominantly use qualitative and mixed-methods. PhD Supervision Information governance and ethics; AI governance, accountability and ethics; trustworthy and responsible AI; information management.
Professor Val Gillet v.gillet@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on: the development and application of chemoinformatics techniques that are used primarily in the design of novel bioactive compounds. data mining and machine learning methods including emerging pattern mining, multiobjective evolutionary algorithms and graph theory. Particular application areas include the identification of structure-activity relationships, toxicity prediction, 3D similarity methods and the de novo design of novel compounds. I also have expertise in developing novel representation methods for chemical structures with recent areas including reduced graphs, wavelet analysis and reaction vectors.
Dr Morgan Harvey m.harvey@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research Interests My research focuses on the following main areas: (Interactive) Information Retrieval, particularly mobile IR - how situational context and distractions impact search behaviour/performance and how this can be mitigated Recommender systems and personalisation, particularly to help improve people’s nutritional intake, meal planning and overall health Conversational agents and how these can be used to solve problems in search, recommender systems and health PhD Supervision I would welcome proposals related to any of the above topics and have experience working with a wide range of research methods. I am particularly interested in work that seeks to tackle problems with a mixed methods approach and that directly involves target users in research via co-design and user studies.
Dr John Israilidis Antoniou j.israilidis@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests currently focus on ignorance management, organisational learning and strategic decision-making. I am particularly interested in studying how our mind operates under bounded constraints, exploring the interplay between knowledge and ignorance to optimise the way in which we make decisions. My work also looks at strategies for enhancing knowledge sharing in organisations. Research supervision I am interested in supervising PhD students in the following areas: Strategic knowledge management Interproject and cross-organisational learning Managing knowledge in project environments Knowledge networks and boundaries
Dr Andrea Jimenez a.jimenez@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	My research revolves around the role of innovation in socioeconomic development. I explore this from two distinct dimensions: the internal processes within organisations, by looking at absorptive capacity, knowledge sharing and collaboration; and the wider geopolitical dimension around innovation discourses embedded in the international development sector. Research interests: Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), particularly in relation to projects with strong focus on development beyond economic growth. Social innovation in the global South, and the implementation of national policy on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). Gender and inclusion in technology workspaces, in particular applying intersectional feminism to reduce the gender gap in technology. Innovation and sustainability in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). PhD supervision I am interested in supervising PhD projects that explores the role of innovation and technology in socioeconomic development. This includes, but is not limited to, issues around: The role of ICTs in development efforts, including either poverty reduction, gender equality or environmental sustainability. Exploring national innovation systems and their challenges in addressing local contexts Adopting a decolonial lens to the role of technology and innovation in development
Dr Harry Kai-Ho Chan h.k.chan@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research Interests My research interests include data mining and analytics, data science, and big data. My research concerns foundations for efficient information retrieval, data management and knowledge discovery from different types of data, in particular those with spatial dimension such as spatial data, spatio-textual data, and spatio-temporal data. I worked on the problems of query processing on spatio-textual data, spatial co-location pattern mining, and in the area of indoor location-based services (LBS). I am also interested in applying machine learning models in databases to improve the quality and query efficiency of spatial data. Spatial database Data mining Indoor Location-based services My research has been published in top journals and conferences such as IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE), International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB) and IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE). You can find more about my research on my personal webpage. Research supervision I would welcome proposals related to any of the above areas. I am also interested in supervising PhD students in the following areas: Data mining and analytics for big data Machine learning for databases Spatial data science, data management and data querying
Dr Kushwanth Koya k.koya@sheffield.ac.uk Information School	I am currently working on projects to ascertain the information needs and their classifications, of young informal carers in the UK in collaboration with Strathclyde and Leeds Beckett. Along with colleagues at Northumbria, De Montfort and Suffolk, I’ am investigating the microblogging dynamics of NHS workers during the Covid19 pandemic. I’ am also working with two of my former students, Rob Frear (Chesterfield Royal Hospital) and Salime Mascarenas (Prometheus Group) to ascertain diabetes ketoacidosis readmission risks from hospital records and information needs of stakeholders towards developing trust in machine learning based manufacturing processes in the aerospace industry respectively. My recent research investigated the interpretation of GDPR principles by various UK Higher Education stakeholders, particularly focussing on the utilisation of student data and in collaboration with Santander Bank on a students’-led project, we investigated the factors responsible for digital banking adoption in young adults in the UK. My previous research has contributed towards identifying information practices influencing the attainment of UN Sustainable Development Goals and cultural sustainability. I was a named researcher in a JISC funded project which led to the development of a recommendations-based reading list prototype learning and resource management for UK higher education libraries, which further sparked interest to develop a novel ranking method for research datasets, based on quality and popularity. My research has been published in scholarly outlets i.e., Journal of the Association of Information Science & Technology (JASIST), Journal of Information Science, PlosOne, iConference and the Asia-Pacific Information Technology Conference (ACM organised).
Dr Zeyneb Kurt z.kurt@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Reserach interests My research interests cover use of data science and machine learning models to address problems in bio-informatics, computational biology and health-informatics fields. I would be happy to supervise PhD students who are interested in bioinformatics and health informatics. For example, developing/employing data science and machine learning models to understand the key mechanisms underlying diseases by integrating multi-omics data resources; to assess/monitor the change in wellbeing of the participants of a particular intervention study; employing explainable AI to predict the subtypes of different cancer types from the pathological images; predicting the associations between circular RNA, microRNA, and target genes which drive a particular type of cancer. PhD Supervision Example topics: -Prediction of biomarkers (e.g. circRNA, microRNA or mRNA) of a given cancer type. -Integrating multi-omics data resources for biomarker prediction in common human diseases such as cardiometabolic disorders. -Using explainable AI to analyse histopathological images to predict subtypes within a cancer cohort and extending this approach to other cancer types.
Dr Angela Lin a.lin@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on: information systems implementation use of IT in business evaluation of information systems the study of systems in use users acceptance of systems online consumer behaviours information systems and technologies that support e-commerce e-commerce business Research supervision I am interested in supervising PhDs in: Management Information systems related projects.
Dr Suvodeep Mazumdar s.mazumdar@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research explores developing scalable techniques and mechanisms for reducing the barrier for user communities in understanding very large complex multidimensional datasets. I conduct inter-disciplinary research on highly engaging, interactive and visual mechanisms in conjunction with complex querying techniques for seamless navigation, exploration and understanding of complex datasets. Research supervision Areas of PhD supervision: Large scale visual analytics of real-time multidimensional heterogeneous datasets Visualisation of large graph-based datasets using Augmented / Mixed / Virtual reality Citizen science and crowdsourcing techniques for complementing traditional sources of data (e.g. mobile, wearable sensing) using multimodal interactions
Dr Pamela McKinney p.mckinney@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on: Pedagogy for Information Literacy in Higher Education. The relationship between Inquiry-based Learning and Information Literacy, including how learners can be supported in their inquiries through the development of Information Literacy capabilities and how Information Literacy can be taught using Inquiry-based pedagogies Reflective practice for teachers and learners in Higher Education The development of teaching competencies in librarians. Students working in groups and the tools and technologies groups use to communicate and collaborate. Information Literacy and Information behaviour in everyday life contexts with a specific focus on health information literacy in marginalised comunities Self-tracking information practices PhD supervision I am interested in supervising PhD research projects in the areas of: Information literacy and Information behaviour in educational or everyday life contexts Health information literacy in marginalised communities The teaching practices of librarians, and professional development for teacher-librarians Self-tracking information practices I am interested in qualitative approaches to research, and welcome proposals for Phenomenography, grounded theory, situational analysis and visual methods
Dr Kate Miltner k.miltner@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on issues of power and inequality in digital systems, institutions, and cultures. This includes: Critical analysis of tech/digital industries Critical analysis of digital/technical practices Critical analysis of sociotechnical discourses Politics of digital platforms Politics of inclusion/exclusion/belonging in digital cultures, particularly concerning gender and race Inequality & digital labour Research supervision I am interested in supervising PhD research projects that contend with power relations and the digital. This includes, but is not limited to, projects relating to: Politics of digital technologies Inequality and the digital Digital identities and online communities Technical industries and cultures Sociotechnical practices and assemblages
Dr Denis Newman-Griffis d.r.newman-griffis@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests I study practical effectiveness and responsible design of artificial intelligence technologies for medicine and health. This includes: The intersection of data science and disability, including critical disability perspectives on data and technology. Data science design processes, including responsible and ethical design as well as understanding translational challenges of data science in practice. Practical natural language processing for health, including design of new NLP technologies and real-world evaluation. Text analysis for insight into data, including assessment of data bias and interactive exploration of text datasets. I am also interested in LGBTQ+/queer perspectives on data science processes, and on developing technology-enhanced pedagogical methods for teaching data science. Research supervision I am interested in supervising PhD research projects in areas such as: Critical evaluation of data science/AI technologies and development practices Design and implementation of disability-focused informatics technologies Real-world evaluation of health NLP technologies Intersections of NLP/text mining techniques and social inequalities in text data Data science pedagogy, including group-based and technology-enhanced learning
Dr Susan Oman s.m.oman@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research Interests I research how data and evidence work in practice, looking at particular policy issues, such as well-being, loneliness, inequality and class. My research focuses on the role of knowledge and information in social change and revealing the positive and negative effects of practices assumed benevolent and robust. I am particularly interested in projects which research data, tech, knowledge and policy issues in the creative and cultural industries, Higher Education, local or national governance, as well as social and cultural policy more generally. Potential Projects How data ‘work’ - in context: everyday data practices in organisations People’s perceptions and experiences of data practices Media representations of data practices and processes Issues related to processes of categorisation, i.e. census, demographic data or processes, such as segmentation History and philosophy of social science Research on, in, or with, the cultural sector - particularly evaluation of projects with a social impact aim Critical inequality research Critical well-being research Critical policy studies (document analysis, discourse analysis, historical analyses) Cultural and social policy studies
Dr Venet Osmani v.osmani@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School The Medical School	Research Interests My research interests are in developing machine learning methods, to address some of the fundamental questions in medicine. These include: - predictive modelling - explainable AI - generative adversarial approaches (GAN) - causal inference - health inequality and bias My work focuses on analysis of large-scale, longitudinal health records, including: - biomarkers - imaging - multi-omics - routine care data The aim is to optimise treatment strategies, improve patient care, and provide novel insights to health institutions. Apart from clinical data, I also work on incorporating human behaviour data, such as those generated from wearable devices, with a particular focus on mental health. The overarching objective of my research is to integrate predictive modelling in the bedside and bring the acquired evidence back, in a continuously improving feedback loop, consequently establishing a learning health system. PhD Supervision I will consider project proposals that relate to the aspects mentioned above.
Dr Monica Paramita m.paramita@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research focuses on the study of fairness and transparency in Artificial Intelligence, and information retrieval (search engines) more specifically. I am also interested in investigating information access across languages and different countries. PhD supervision I am interested in supervising PhD research projects in the areas of: Fairness and transparency in search engines, e.g., impacts of biases, technologies to mitigate biases, designs of search engines to improve users’ awareness of biases Bias in data across languages Multilingual information access Cross-lingual similarity in the Web, especially Wikipedia Development and evaluation of systems/technologies to support information access Information extraction Information seeking behaviour
Professor Stephen Pinfield s.pinfield@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on scholarly communication, research data management, open access and open science, digital scholarship, digital information resources management, research policy, and managing information and technology services in organisations. Recently, this has included work on open-access publishing and dissemination, library and information strategy, and higher education research policy. I work at the intersection between technology deployment, policy development, and cultural practices, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Much of this has to date concentrated on applied areas, stemming from my professional background as an information services manager before moving into an academic role. I have, however, combined this with working with a number of theoretical models in order to understand patterns of uptake of innovative approaches to scholarship and communication. I am interested in the relationship between theory and practice, and in how researchers interact with practitioners in information-related and knowledge-producing organisations. PhD Supervision I am interested in supervising PhD projects in any areas of my research interests.
Dr Judita Preiss judita.preiss@sheffield.ac.uk Information School	Research Interests My main interests are in text mining, both from semi-structured sources (such as publications) and unstructured sources (web, social media) and the application of natural language processing techniques for the purpose of knowledge extraction. I am particularly interested in applications in health, employment and education. PhD supervision I am interested in supervising PhD projects that exploit natural language, including: Combinations of text and speech within language models. Extraction of information from social media for the creation of (potentially structured) knowledge bases. Automatic organizing (hierarchical structuring) of information. Identifying and quantifying new information in text. Applications in the health domain, including literature based discovery or automatic diagnosis (assistance) based on natural text. Analyzing natural language (including native language identification) for applications in education.
Dr Lee Pretlove l.j.pretlove@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research Interests My research interests using qualitative methods focus on: - Self tracking practices in physical activity - Understanding personal privacy and information legislation rights - Post-custodial digital archival practice PhD supervision I am particularly interested in supervising PhD work related to those themes: - The behaviourial changes self tracking data and information makes in physical activity - The extent to which personal information rights are understood amongst the public when using online services and applications - The changing nature of the archive and the profession in digital societies
Dr Sophie Rutter s.rutter@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research Interests My research interests are at the intersection of critical studies of technology and society, social change, and information ethics. I focus on social appropriation and embodied experiences of technologies by different social groups, digital poverty, information privacy in the context of people’s migration and displacement, critical studies of information and communication technologies within sustainable development, and the role of public access to information in mis/disinformation. My research is qualitative and I use participatory and visual methodologies of research. Research supervision I am particularly interested in hearing from research students focusing on the following areas: The design and evaluation of health communications (text, images, different technologies and so on) and interventions How different people (i.e. children, professionals and so on) search for, and use, information, as well as the influence of the environment and the context of use The design of inclusive research methods / methodologies
Dr Laura Sbaffi Laura.Sbaffi@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on: Trust formation in health online information Information needs of healthcare professionals Online information needs of men and women in different contexts (e.g. e-commerce, health, finance, holidays, etc.) Non-compliancy issues in relation to chronic conditions (e.g. why people tend to not use medications as prescribed) How to understand and meet the needs of dementia patients’ cares How to understand and meet the needs of Alzheimer’s patients’ cares I would be interested in supervising PhD students in any of the above areas.
Dr Peter Stordy peter.stordy@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Please note - Peter Stordy is no longer accepting new PhD students
Professor Michael Thelwall m.a.thelwall@sheffield.ac.uk Information School	Research Interests I have two main research interests: bibliometrics and social media analysis. Bibliometrics involves primarily quantitative analysis of academic publications, including factors like citation rates, the role of collaboration, gender differences, and the relationship between citations and research quality. It also includes altmetrics, in the form of alternative quantitative indicators of research impact. In terms of social media analysis, I am interested in the development and applications of mixed quantitative-qualitative methods to analyse social web data for social science research goals. I am particularly interested in YouTube at the moment because of the availability of large scale data. Research supervision I am interested in supervising PhD projects in the following areas: Bibliometrics and research evaluation, whether methods development, broad applications, or the assessment of the influences of factors like gender and collaboration. Altmetrics for research evaluation: either developing new altmetrics or assessing existing altmetrics in new contexts. The accuracy and limitations of various types of scholarly peer review in research assessment. Artificial intelligence in research assessment. Equality and diversity in research assessment. Qualitative-quantitative methods to analyse social media data for social research goals, such as testing theory or investigating online or offline phenomena. Parasocial interaction between YouTubers and followers. Artificial intelligence methods for social media analysis.
Dr Sara Vannini Information School	Research Interests My research interests are at the intersection of critical studies of technology and society, social change, and information ethics. I focus on social appropriation and embodied experiences of technologies by different social groups, digital poverty, information privacy in the context of people’s migration and displacement, critical studies of information and communication technologies within sustainable development, and the role of public access to information in mis/disinformation. My research is qualitative and I use participatory and visual methodologies of research. PhD Supervision -Sustainability, Social Justice, and Sustainable Development: Issues connected to Information Systems/Information and Communication Technologies and social, socio-economic, and environmental sustainability / sustainable development. -People’s migration and human displacement and information issues - information practices, information activities, policy, politics, data justice, data privacy and security, datafication of migration, migration digital traces, digital identity, and digital status. -Digital poverty and public access to information - including role and potential for libraries or telecenters to address mis/disinformation; digital literacies and public venues to access information and communication technologies; role of digital inclusion networks. -Digital push backs - motivations not to adopt and not to use digital technologies by specific social groups. -Participatory methodologies to understand information activities, digital inclusion, or other information systems-related topics (e.g.: photo-elicitation, photo-voice, visual methods, theatre, playing and games).
Dr Ana Vasconcelos a.c.vasconcelos@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on the relationship between the management of information and knowledge, systems and innovation practices. Specific interests are: knowledge sharing knowledge boundaries and boundary spanning activities knowledge absorption, absorptive capacity and innovation information failure and organizational learning online identities, communities of practice and virtual communities information systems adaptation I bring a perspective to these themes influenced by Arenas/Social Worlds Theory, Practice Theory and approaches such as Discourse Analysis and Grounded Theory. I am interested in supervising PhDs in the above areas.
Dr Sharon Wagg sharon.wagg@sheffield.ac.uk Information School	Research Interests My principle research interest lies in digital inclusion and exclusion, access and use of information, and the influence of digitalisation on organisations, work and society: My current research investigates digital transformation, digital connectivity, and digital poverty, and the assemblage of situated and entangled sociomaterial practices within organisations and communities operating in this space. I am specifically interested in the conditions and practices that configure inequalities in accessing and using ICTs in the context of underserved or vulnerable populations. Other research interests include: organisation studies, digital divides, ICT4D, digital skills development, social dimensions of information systems, knowledge sharing and boundary spanning practices, and the future of work agenda with an emphasis on social inclusion. I have an interest in the application of Activity Theory, Arenas/Social Worlds Theory and Practice Theory to theorise the complexity of digital adoption, access to information, and the utilisation of responsible research and innovation in projects. Research supervision I am interested in supervising PhD projects in the following areas: Digital exclusion and remote working/learning Digital inclusion and the public library sector Mis/dis-information as connected to information literacy and access to information School libraries Digital infrastructure in rural communities Digital inclusion practices and management in organisations Organisational culture and digital adoption Digital skills development and future work practices
Ms Sheila Webber s.webber@Sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests My research interests focus on investigating information literacy and information behaviour in context. Contexts include: Virtual contexts e.g. information behaviour in computer gaming; information literacy in virtual worlds Cultural and lifestage contexts, e.g. information behaviour of carers; Media and Information Literacy of older people; information literacy as experienced in different countries; information behaviour in the workplace Educational contexts e.g. information literacy at different stages of education, and in different disciplines; information behaviour in distance learning I am also interested in research investigating the pedagogy of information literacy. I am a qualitative researcher, with particular expertise in phenomenography, autoethnography, action research and case study research. Research supervision I am interested in supervising PhDs in all the above areas. Potential research topics include: A case study investigating whether a specific university is information literate (using Webber & Johnston's indicators of the Information Literate University)
Professor Peter Willett p.willett@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Peter Willett is not currently taking on new PhD students.
Dr Jun Zhang j.zhang3@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	Research interests The general focus of my research pertains to the unravelling of the socio-technical aspects of IS innovations and emerging technologies, with a keen eye on the power dynamics among various stakeholders, such as citizens, businesses, local governments, and the state. Beyond examining IS research at the individual and organisational levels, I delve into its manifestation in urban and regional contexts. My particular interest lies in understanding and scrutinising radical innovations through a critical perspective. This endeavour has encompassed critical appraisals of prevailing smart city innovations, digital platforms, and urban AI and autonomous systems. In these empirical domains, my research aims to uncover the benefits that communities and citizens derive from these technological initiatives. More recently, I have shifted my focus towards urban AI, autonomous systems, and urban robotics, investigating issues of digital rights, governmentality, digital citizenship, and the discursive practices that shape the narratives of AI in urbanism. PhD supervision I am particularly interested in supervising PhD candidates in the following areas: - Power dynamics in smart city governance and governmentality - Critical research around urban AI, autonomous systems, and robotics - Social value creation in platform cooperativism and grassroots digital innovations. - Exploring digital inequality, digital rights, digital citizenship within digital platforms.
Dr Xin Zhao xin.zhao@sheffield.ac.uk Personal Webpage Information School	My main research interests can grouped into three interconnected areas: Internationalisation of Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities For example, the challenges that university and students face in an increasingly internationalised context from a cross-cultural perspective and/or information perspective. Learning and Teaching pedagogy in HE For example, projects examine the effectiveness of learning and teaching approaches for students of diverse backgrounds and learning needs, including face-to-face and Distance Learning modalities. Technology, Innovation, and Education For example, projects looking at the use of EdTech in supporting inclusive education practices.
Dr Mengdie Zhuang m.zhuang@sheffield.ac.uk> Personal Webpage Information School	My research is fundamentally interdisciplinary, and has applications both in academic, public service and in industry. The topics and methods I am interested in include, but are not limited to: Information Retrieval, Human Computer Interaction, Data Visualisation, Urban Analytics, Digital Health, Machine Learning, Spatial Data Science, Representation Learning. A detailed and updated list can be found here.

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Human-Computer Interaction

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Research supervision