Farewell 2020

Social Informatcis staff and students all centre meeting December 2019

The way we were, December 2019. L to R: John Marshall, Peter Cruickshank, Lyndsey Middleton (now graduated with PhD), Katherine Stephen, Rachel Salzano, Marina Milosheva, Laura Muir (now retired), Hazel Hall, Leo Appleton (now graduated with PhD), Ella Taylor-Smith, David Haynes, David Brazier, Frances Ryan (now Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen), Colin Smith, Wegene Demeke, and Bruce Ryan.

Just over a year ago, on 22nd December 2019, I summarised the the previous six months of activities of the members of the Centre for Social Informatics. I illustrated this account with a jolly photograph of us all bunched closely together around the table a few days earlier in room C34a of Edinburgh Napier University’s Merchiston campus. Continue reading

Nominations announced for the ENSA Excellence Awards 2020

ENSA student-nominated excellence awards 2020 logo Congratulations to all Edinburgh Napier University colleagues who have been nominated for the Edinburgh Napier University Students’ Association (ENSA) 2020 Excellence Awards, and especially to the 18 members of staff from the School of Computing. Continue reading

Centre for Social Informatics ‘all centre’ meeting December 2019

Social Informatcis staff and students all centre meeting December 2019

At the Social Informatics ‘All centre’ meeting, L to R: John, Peter, Lyndsey, Katherine, Rachel, Marina, Laura, Hazel, Leo, Ella, David H, David B, Frances, Colin, Wegene, and Bruce

Every six months the staff and research students from the Social Informatics group at Edinburgh Napier University gather for an ‘All centre’ celebration of their recent achievements. The December 2019 gathering took place on Wednesday 18th December, with 19 participants. The format of the meeting allowed for a maximum 5 minute update from each person. Continue reading

Congratulations Dr Alicja Pawluczuk!

Alicja Pawluczuk Gemma Webster

Dr Alicja Pawluczuk and Dr Gemma Webster

Congratulations to our Centre for Social Informatics colleague Dr Alicja Pawluczuk! Alicja was one of nine School of Computing PhD graduands at the Edinburgh Napier University graduation ceremony at the Usher Hall yesterday afternoon.

Alicja’s PhD is entitled Youth digital culture co-creation: measuring social impact in Scotland. The purpose of the research was to develop knowledge of social impact evaluation of youth digital projects in Scotland. Dr Gemma Webster was Alicja’s Director of Studies, her second supervisor was Dr Colin Smith, and I was her third supervisor. For further information about the specifics of the research questions, outcomes, theoretical contributions, and recommendations from the work, please see Alicja’s #digiIMPACT page on her web site at www.alicjapawluczuk.com.

Following the graduation ceremony, several of Alicja’s colleagues and fellow PhD students joined her at Café Grande in Bruntsfield to toast her success. Continue reading

Centre for Social Informatics at the Edinburgh Napier University research conference 2017 #NapRes17

CSI colleagues Frances Ryan, Hazel Hall, Iris Buunk, Brian Detlor, David Jarman (Business School), Bruce Ryan, Peter Cruickshank, Lyndsey Jenkins and Lynn Killick

Centre for Social Informatics colleagues Frances Ryan, Hazel Hall, Iris Buunk, Brian Detlor, David Jarman (Business School), Bruce Ryan, Peter Cruickshank, Lyndsey Jenkins and Lynn Killick at the Edinburgh Napier Research Conference 2017 (Photo credit Bill Buchanan)

It’s currently conference season in academia and over the past couple of weeks the staff and research students from my research group have participated in a number of events, both in Edinburgh and beyond. Indeed PhD student Alicja Pawluczuk is still on the road this week, flying the flag for the Centre for Social Informatics at the 2017 British HCI Conference, organised by the HCI research groups at the University of Sunderland and Edinburgh Napier University in conjunction with the Interaction Specialist Group of BCS. Continue reading

Power to the population? The population census under review

Lynn Killick ACTIS 2015 badgeIn November 2015 Lynn Killick, who works with me within the Centre for Social Informatics, presented some preliminary results from her doctoral study at the Asian Conference on Technology, Information and Society (ACTIS) 2015. Lynn’s AHRC-funded PhD is entitled An investigation into the population census as a tool for building the good society: policy, ethics and social informatics. Its focus is the future of the population census, and its role in informing the good society. Continue reading