Johan Bollen
Computational Social Science University of Amsterdam · NetherlandsProfessor of Simulation of Complex Adaptive Systems at the Computational Science Lab, University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on how social media dynamics shape collective behaviour, public mood, and socio-economic outcomes. He is widely known for his pioneering work on large-scale sentiment analysis of social media data and its relationship to real-world phenomena including financial markets and public health.
Jesus Gomez-Gardeñes
Statistical and Nonlinear Physics Universidad de Zaragoza · SpainProfessor of Physics whose research focuses on the theoretical and computational modelling of complex systems, with a strong emphasis on data-driven approaches and the analysis of collective behaviour. His work spans areas such as epidemiology, ecology, systems biology, neuroscience, and the social sciences, employing tools from statistical physics, nonlinear dynamics, network science, and big data analysis to uncover the mechanisms and interactions that drive complex real-world systems.
Wagner Meira Júnior
Data Mining and Distributed Computing Federal University of Minas Gerais · BrazilFull Professor in the Department of Computer Science at UFMG, Brazil. His research focuses on scalable data mining and parallel and distributed computing, with applications to machine learning on massive datasets. He co-authored the widely used textbook Data Mining and Analysis: Fundamental Concepts and Algorithms. In recent years his work has expanded into social network analytics and disinformation, including highly cited research on political polarisation and public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a CNPq Level 1B research fellow.
José F. F. Mendes
Statistical Physics Universidade de Aveiro · PortugalProfessor of Physics at the University of Aveiro working in statistical physics. In recent years, his work has focused on the study of complex systems and the structure and evolution of complex networks, including the World Wide Web, the Internet, and biological networks. His broader research interests also encompass granular media, self-organized criticality, non-equilibrium phase transitions, and deposition models.
Marcos Oliveira Jr.
Data Science and Climate AI Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul · BrazilAssistant Professor of Data Science at UFRGS, Campus Serra, and Honorary Research Fellow at the Nature and Climate Impact Team (NCIT), University of Exeter. His research applies AI to climate-related challenges, including disinformation detection, geospatial analysis, and climate data. His work has been presented at COP30 and the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos, and connects computational methods with practical, public-facing applications in climate communication.
Diogo Pacheco
Data Science and Misinformation University of Exeter · UKDiogo Pacheco is a Senior Lecturer in Data Science at the University of Exeter whose research sits at the intersection of computational social science and misinformation. His work examines the cognitive and social biases that make people vulnerable to false information, and develops methods for detecting coordinated inauthentic behaviour on social media platforms. His research interests span misinformation detection, network science, and data science.
Carolina Scarton
Natural Language Processing University of Sheffield · UKSenior Lecturer in Natural Language Processing in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research focuses on Natural Language Processing (NLP), with particular interests in text adaptation, machine translation, online misinformation detection and verification, and the evaluation of NLP systems. She also explores applications of NLP in domains such as healthcare and robotics, as well as the development of dialogue systems.
Zeerak Talat
Artificial Intelligence and Media Studies University of Edinburgh · UKAssistant Professor in Responsible Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. Their research sits at the intersection of machine learning, science and technology studies, and media studies, focusing on critical perspectives on how machine learning systems can reproduce social and political power structures, and on developing alternative approaches that challenge these dynamics.
Marcelo Träsel
Media Studies Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul · BrazilProfessor of Cyberjournalism at the undergraduate Journalism program (Fabico/UFRGS) and in the Graduate Program in Communication at UFRGS. He has professional experience in print journalism, online media, audiovisual production, and advertising. Former president of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji).
Erdem Yörük
Political Sociology and Computational Social Science Koç University · TurkeyProfessor of Sociology at Koç University (Istanbul) and Director of its Center for Computational Social Sciences. He is also an Associate Member in the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford. He is Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded Emerging Welfare project, a large-scale comparative study of welfare state development in emerging market economies, spanning Brazil, Turkey, China, India, South Africa, Mexico, and Argentina. His research covers political sociology, social movements, welfare policy, and computational social science.