ADAPT Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) and Associate Professor at UCD’s School of Information and Communication Studies, Dr Benjamin Cowan was recently selected as a Scholar-in-Residence by the Swedish inter-disciplinary research centre, Digital Futures. The opportunity will facilitate cross-country academic collaboration on latest research that lies at the juncture of psychology, human-computer interaction and communication systems. The research supported through this programme aims to investigate how design impacts aspects of user behaviour in social, collaborative and communicative technology interactions, all of which will be crucial for future digitalisation innovations.
As part of this programme, Dr Cowan engaged in collaborations with academics across the University of Stockholm, KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm and RISE Research Institute of Sweden, focusing on the design of language technologies for future digital interactions. As a Digital Futures Scholar-in-Residence, Dr Cowan further enriched academic activities in this area through research, teaching, events and mentorship of early career researchers. Whilst there, Dr Cowan was hosted by Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University, Dr Donald McMillan and his team.
Dr Cowan’s inter-disciplinary research work is path-breaking in the area of human-computer interaction. His work primarily focuses on applying theory/quantitative methods from psychological science to design user interactions with speech and language technologies. Some of his research also involves using design technology for habit change. The opportunity to collaborate on digitalisation technology research such as this, will allow for diverse global perspectives and broader societal impact.
Solving societal challenges through digital transformation, is a primary aim of Digital Futures, the cross-disciplinary research centre which chose Dr Cowan under their ‘Scholar-in-Residence’ programme. It was established in 2020 by KTH, Stockholm University and RISE, based on significant long-term support of a Strategic Research Area by the Swedish Government.
Through the Digital Futures ‘Scholar-in-Residence’ programme, non-Swedish university scholars like Dr Cowan receive support to enable short and longer-term visits to the Digital Futures environment. The hope for this programme of funding is to further encourage cross-border collaborations on digitalisation research to better influence progress.
Know more about Dr Benjamin Cowan’s work as part of this programme.
