Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience – University of Edinburgh
Thomas H. Bak is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh, with a background in medicine and clinical work in psychiatry and neurology across Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. His research focuses on the relationship between brain and language, with particular attention to aphasia, dementia and cognitive disorders.
His recent work investigates the impact of language learning and multilingualism on cognitive functioning across the lifespan, including in clinical populations affected by neurological conditions such as dementia and stroke. His research is based on international and cross-cultural studies involving diverse populations.
He previously served as President of the World Federation of Neurology Research Group on Aphasia, Dementia and Cognitive Disorders and is actively engaged in public outreach and knowledge exchange, contributing to scientific communication across multiple platforms and languages.
Website: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/persons/thomas-bak/
Professor of Social Psychology – Complutense University of Madrid
Simone Belli is a Professor of Social Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid. His research explores the intersection of emotions, language and digital technologies, with a focus on how online platforms shape human interaction and collaborative processes.
His work is grounded in critical psychology and addresses key issues related to digital transformation, scientific collaboration and organisational dynamics. He is particularly interested in the role of technology in higher education, including its impact on teamwork, leadership and gender balance.
He has developed an extensive international academic career, with experience across Europe, Latin America and the United States, and is the author of Critical Approaches to the Psychology of Emotion.
Email: sbelli@ucm.es
Website: https://produccioncientifica.ucm.es/investigadores/164854/detalle
Senior Assistant Professor in Developmental and Educational Psychology – University of Bologna
Martina Benvenuti is a Senior Assistant Professor in Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Bologna (Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”).
Her research focuses on the impact of digital technologies across the lifespan, including artificial intelligence, with particular attention to developmental transitions from adolescence to emerging adulthood (18–29 years). Her work explores individual and group well-being within these transitions, adopting an interdisciplinary perspective that integrates developmental, educational and technological dimensions.
She is currently involved in several national and international research projects and contributes to the advancement of research on the relationship between technological innovation and psychological development.
Junior Professor of E-Mental Health and Transcultural Psychology – Freie Universität Berlin
Maria Böttche is a Junior Professor of E-Mental Health and Transcultural Psychology at Freie Universität Berlin. She is a licensed psychological psychotherapist (behavioural therapy) and has extensive experience in clinical and research settings focused on trauma and mental health.
From 2015 to 2023, she co-headed the research department at the Center ÜBERLEBEN in Berlin (formerly the Treatment Center for Torture Victims), contributing to the development of clinical and research activities addressing trauma-related conditions.
Her research focuses on the assessment and treatment of trauma-related disorders, with particular attention to internet-based interventions and to populations that are often difficult to reach, such as survivors of war and torture and refugee populations. She is a board member of both the German-Speaking Society for Psychotraumatology (DeGPT) and the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS).
Email: maria.boettche@fu-berlin.de
Lecturer and Researcher – Complutense University of Madrid
Gema Bonales Daimiel is a Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Applied Communication Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid. She holds a PhD in Audiovisual Communication, Advertising and Public Relations, awarded with the Extraordinary Doctorate Award, and has a background in marketing and commercial management.
Her research focuses on the impact of emerging digital technologies on communication, advertising and creative industries. In particular, she investigates how social media platforms, immersive environments and digital ecosystems — including videogames, the metaverse and Web3 — are transforming the ways in which organisations, brands and institutions engage with audiences.
She has developed both academic and professional experience in the field of communication, having worked in advertising agencies, media and strategic marketing, alongside her academic career. Her research also explores virtual environments and gaming spaces as emerging contexts for persuasive communication and identity construction, with particular attention to Generation Z and immersive user experiences.
Email: gbonales@ucm.es
Website: https://www.ucm.es/cap/profra-gema-bonales-daimiel
ORCID: 0000-0003-2085-2203
Researcher in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience – University of Bologna
Michela Candini is a tenure-track researcher in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Bologna (Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”), where she leads the Neuropsychology Lab.
Her research focuses on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the interaction between the body and the surrounding space in both typical and clinical populations, including individuals with autism and brain damage. Her work lies at the intersection of neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and developmental and social psychology.
She adopts a multimethod approach, integrating behavioural and physiological measures with advanced techniques such as virtual reality and non-invasive brain stimulation. Her research is supported by national and international collaborations and contributes to interdisciplinary developments in cognitive neuroscience.
Alongside her research, she is actively involved in teaching at undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels and supervises students’ research projects and theses.
Associate Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology – University of Bologna
Marco De Angelis is an Associate Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Bologna and a member of the “Human Factors, Risk and Safety” research unit. His research focuses on the impact of advanced technologies in the workplace, with particular attention to human-centred integration processes, artificial intelligence and automation adoption, and strategies to support organisational resilience and innovation.
He investigates key themes related to digital transformation, including upskilling and reskilling, and the development of approaches that align technological change with organisational goals, sustainability and employee well-being.
He is a member of the European Practice Community on Human-Centricity in Industry 5.0 and serves as scientific coordinator of the ProMentoHR project. His work combines academic research, European project management and applied expertise in organisational change, leadership, non-technical skills, work-related stress and digital well-being.
Associate Professor of Applied Sociology – Complutense University of Madrid
Claudia Finotelli is an Associate Professor at the Department of Applied Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Münster (Germany).
Her research focuses on migration control, integration policies and citizenship in comparative perspective, with particular attention to Southern Europe. She has extensively published on irregular migration, labour migration policies and citizenship and integration regimes.
She has led and contributed to several major research projects, including the project “The subjective dimension of citizenship: conceptions, juridical practice and individual strategies in Italy and Spain” (CIVITES) and the Horizon Europe project “Measuring Irregular Migration” (MIREMM).
Email: cfinotel@cps.ucm.es
Researcher in Work and Organizational Psychology – University of Bologna
Federico Fraboni is a researcher in Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Bologna, with expertise in human factors, cognitive ergonomics and human–technology interaction. His research focuses on cognitive workload, human–robot collaboration and the design of human-centered work systems, with particular attention to safety, performance and well-being in complex organizational environments.
He has been involved in several national and international research projects, including Horizon Europe initiatives, contributing to the development of methodologies and tools for the assessment and improvement of human–technology interaction in industrial contexts.
His work is characterised by a strong integration of theoretical and applied research, combining methodological rigor with a focus on real-world impact. He regularly collaborates with interdisciplinary teams across psychology and engineering and is actively engaged in teaching, doctoral training and knowledge transfer activities.
Email: federico.fraboni3@unibo.it
Assistant Professor – Jagiellonian University
Magdalena Kossowska-Lai is an Assistant Professor at Jagiellonian University and a psychologist working at the intersection of psychology, management and organizational transformation in international and interdisciplinary contexts.
Her research focuses on the psychological factors shaping responses to technological change, including processes of adaptation, innovation and uncertainty management. She is particularly interested in the human dimensions of transformation, with attention to well-being, resilience and organizational behaviour in evolving work environments.
Her academic profile is complemented by professional experience in global business contexts, including project management, people leadership and process improvement, which informs her applied research perspective.
Email: magdalena.kossowska@uj.edu.pl
Website: https://kossowskalai.com/
Senior Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology – University of Bologna
Giulia Landi is a Senior Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Bologna. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the same institution, with research focused on the impact of parental chronic illness on youth caregiving experiences and psychosocial adjustment.
Her research lies in the field of clinical and health psychology, with a particular focus on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and its applications in mental health promotion and prevention. She is especially interested in adolescent and young adult mental health, as well as in the psychological adjustment to chronic illness in individuals and families.
Her current work includes the development and evaluation of online ACT-based interventions aimed at supporting psychological flexibility and well-being among university students and young adult carers.
Website: Giulia Landi — University of Bologna
Professor of Behavioural Genetics – University of Edinburgh
Michelle Luciano is a Professor of Psychology (Personal Chair of Behavioural Genetics) at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the genetic and environmental determinants of behaviour, with particular attention to cognitive abilities, personality and psychological well-being.
She employs a range of advanced methodologies, including twin and extended pedigree designs, genome-wide association studies, epigenetic analyses and genetic sequencing, to investigate the interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping individual differences.
Her work has contributed to the understanding of the biological basis of well-being, including early evidence of a genetic link between personality and life satisfaction, and continues to explore the role of gene–environment interactions in mental health and related traits.
Prior to her current position, she held research fellowships in the United Kingdom and Australia, focusing on the genetic bases of well-being, cognition and language development.
Website: https://edwebprofiles.ed.ac.uk/profile/michelle-luciano
Associate Professor of Philosophy of Language – University of Bologna
Sebastiano Moruzzi is an Associate Professor at the University of Bologna (Department of the Arts), where he teaches Philosophy of Language and courses on artificial intelligence, problem solving and semantics.
He obtained his PhD in Philosophy of Language from the University of Eastern Piedmont and has held research positions at the University of Bologna and the University of St Andrews.
His research lies at the intersection of philosophy of language, logic and epistemology, with a particular focus on truth, disagreement, relativism and the epistemology of post-truth and misinformation. He has also worked extensively on vagueness, logical pluralism and the role of epistemic communities in knowledge production.
Alongside his theoretical work, he is actively engaged in educational innovation, developing projects on philosophy with children and inquiry-based learning, and participating in several European research initiatives.
Kaya Peerdeman is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies Leiden, within the Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit at Leiden University, the Netherlands.
Her research focuses on how expectations can be leveraged to improve healthcare outcomes. She investigates placebo and nocebo effects, namely beneficial and adverse treatment responses not directly attributable to active treatment components, and examines how factors such as uncertainty, expectation violations and cognitive flexibility influence physical symptoms, including pain.
Her work spans from experimental laboratory research to clinical applications, with a strong emphasis on the translation of findings into healthcare practice and public engagement. She adopts a biopsychosocial perspective, considering the role of psychological and contextual factors, such as doctor–patient communication, in shaping health outcomes.
She completed her PhD at Radboud University Medical Center and Leiden University, with a dissertation on harnessing placebo effects by targeting expectancies, and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher before assuming her current position.
Assistant Professor – Complutense University of Madrid
Alberto Ruozzi López is an early-career scholar in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the Complutense University of Madrid. He obtained his International PhD in Business Administration in 2025, with a thesis focused on the work–life balance of employees with mental disorders and the role of job demands and resources.
His research focuses on work–life balance and mental health in organizational contexts, with particular attention to employees experiencing mental health conditions and related disabilities. He also investigates the impact of artificial intelligence on well-being and human development across different settings, including work, education and entrepreneurship.
His work has been presented at major international conferences, including the Academy of Management (AOM) and the European Academy of Management (EURAM), and has received several national awards for doctoral research.
Email: aruozzi@ucm.es
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7098-7571
Dr. Akrati Saxena is an assistant professor at the LIACS, the computer science and AI institute of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University. She leads the AlFa (Algorithmic Fairness) research group, which develops fairness-aware heuristic, approximation, machine learning and deep learning-based methods for complex network data. Her research lies at the intersection of Social Network Analysis, Complex Networks, Computational Social Science, Data Science and Algorithmic Fairness. Her current work focuses on understanding inequalities in complex networks and advancing fairness-aware algorithms, including bias analysis, fairness metrics and computational frameworks. She is currently working on early detection of mental health concerns through multimodal data analysis.
Researcher in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience – University of Bologna
Francesca Starita is a tenure-track researcher in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Bologna, where she is a member of the Neuroscience of Motivation, Decision and Learning (MoDeL) research group.
Her research focuses on the neural and psychophysiological mechanisms underlying human motivation, reinforcement learning, decision-making and affective processing, with particular attention to fear and pain. She employs an integrative methodological approach combining behavioural and psychophysiological measures with advanced techniques such as electroencephalography and transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Her work is supported by national and international competitive funding and is conducted in collaboration with interdisciplinary teams, including experts in biomedical and computational engineering. Alongside her research activity, she is actively involved in teaching at graduate and postgraduate level in Psychology, Artificial Intelligence and Biomedical Engineering, and supervises student research projects and doctoral theses.
She obtained her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Bologna and holds an MSc in Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology from University College London, as well as a BSc in Neuroscience from King’s College London. She has also conducted research visits at New York University and Yale University.