Affiliation: TIB, Hannover
Keywords: Knowledge management, Artificial Intelligence in Education, Technology Enhanced Learning, Learning Analytics, Researcher Mental Health and Wellbeing
Full profile:
Since I obtained my summa cum laude PhD in management sciences (information management) in 2012, I have been concentrating my research efforts on the multi-disciplinary area of matching processes between education, labour market, and individuals. Within this field I have been carrying out research on 1) Artificial Intelligence (AI) and (in)formal learning 2), Utilising Open Educational Resources (OERs) for upskilling and re-skilling of individuals, 3) changing nature of work and its impact on education, 4) role of knowledge and the assessment of knowledge in bridging the education – labour market divide. Usually my work has both strong technical and social components. A major output of these research efforts is an open, AI driven learning platform, called eDoer.
Currently, I work on the above mentioned research topics as the head of the Learning and Skill Analytics Research Group at the TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology in Hannover, Germany. Previously, together with Dr. Stefan Mol, I founded the Center of Job Knowledge Research at the Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam (UvA). Since then I have supervised nine doctoral researchers in four different organisations, in the intersection of Knowledge Management, Learning Analytics, Data Science and Organisational Behaviour.
During the past 18 years most of my research was funded by EU and national (German, Dutch and Hungarian) research and innovation grants (e.g. COST, Horizon2020, Horizon Europe (HE), FP7, Erasmus+, BMBF). I participated in 29 research projects with a total value of €19,5M. From these 29 projects I was coordinating 9, and the funding which was directly fed into my research was €4,3M. I have been successfully shaping up and managing large scale innovation networks (e.g. Eduworks with a budget of €3,6M and a working staff of 25-30 people), smaller scale innovation projects (e.g. oscar-ai.eu with a budget of €500k and a working staff of 10-15 people), and research project proposals. In addition, I am a member of expert panels reviewing proposals for EU funding (HE, COST).
When it comes to academic life, I put strong emphasis on the improvement of the academic environment. Therefore I’m an initiator and member of bottom-up, researcher led initiatives. I was elected as the chair of the Researcher Mental Health Observatory (ReMO) COST Action (250+ members from 41 countries). Previously, I chaired the Career Development and the Research Funding Working Groups of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA). I’m the first author of two signature publications, the Declaration on Sustainable Researcher Careers by the MCAA and Eurodoc, and the Researcher Mental Health and Well-being Manifesto of ReMO.
As the coordinator and lead investigator of the Eduworks EU FP7 MSCA ITN project, I have developed a multi-disciplinary training programme for doctoral researchers. This includes the development of a transversal (e.g. writing and communication skills) and a personalised, research specific training programme covering methodological (advanced statistical methods, research design) and technical (data science, basic coding skills) courses for social scientists. Utilising the above-mentioned training, I co-organized a number of summer and winter schools. Further, I worked out a complex quality management system to monitor the training progress of a multi-disciplinary group of graduate students. These efforts led to a non-profit, social startup called SciLink Foundation, which I led during its incubation period.