UCLIC

𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗖𝗟 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲...

.. and are grateful to Professor Rogers for her inspiring leadership over the past 14 years.

Under current director, Professor Yvonne Rogers, UCLIC has grown to become the largest human-computer interaction group in the UK, making it an internationally recognised centre of excellence in human-computer interaction, expanding its academic team to 25 members and establishing dedicated research spaces to support its growth.

Professor Berthouze has long been a key figure in UCLIC, serving as Deputy and Acting Director since 2009. Building on Professor Rogers’ legacy, she now brings forward a compelling vision to strengthen UCLIC’s role as a world-leading centre for socially engaged, critically grounded interaction research.

On announcing the new appointment, Professors Peter Fonagy, Head of Division, Psychology and Language Sciences, and Danny Alexander, Head of Department, Computer Science, said:

“Yvonne’s vision has helped to forge new interdisciplinary pathways, including the development of research on digital mental health through joint appointments with the Centre for Behaviour Change and CEHP. We are deeply grateful for her leadership and the legacy she leaves behind.

“We are equally delighted to welcome Nadia into the role. Nadia brings a wealth of experience and a strong vision for UCLIC’s future. Internationally recognised as a pioneer in Affective Computing, her work bridges Computer Science and Psychology and has attracted more than £20 million in research funding from UKRI, the EU, and major industrial partners such as Bentley and NTT. She has a strong track record of nurturing talent, with former PhD students now holding academic positions around the world, including two Professors at UCLIC.”

𝗨𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲: 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲

The PhD Showcase is an annual event that brings together PhD students and Faculty, providing a space for students to present their research to the department. It’s an opportunity to share ideas, gain feedback, and celebrate the diverse work happening across UCLIC.

This year the event took place on 10 June, and featured 12 student presentations, 4 posters and 1 demonstration. The showcase offered a rich variety of research topics and approaches, reflecting the breadth of work taking place across the department. The poster and demonstration session took place over lunch, with a delicious spread and refreshments enjoyed by all. It was a lovely day marked by a great turnout, fruitful discussion, and a strong sense of community.

We’d like to thank everyone who joined us, and extend our congratulations to all the students for their hard work and impressive presentations.

Until next year!

𝗨𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿: "𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀: 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸"
23 July 2025, h.3-4pm
Speaker: Carolin Stellmacher
Zoom: ucl.zoom.us/j/98581580748

In this talk, Carolin Stellmacher presents a series of projects from her PhD research on augmenting handheld technology with haptic feedback to enrich interactions in immersive environments and mobile computing. She discusses how combining hardware-based methods, such as developing custom haptic prototypes, with software-based pseudo-haptic illusions can leverage the perceptual benefits of both physical and virtual feedback. These projects demonstrate how different sensory stimulations enable users to perceive the weight of virtual objects in virtual reality. The talk concludes with her latest work on enhancing smartphone haptics, providing user-driven insights into the potential for everyday mobile devices for haptic mobile interactions.

About the speaker: Carolin Stellmacher is a PhD candidate at the University of Bremen, Germany, where she explores new designs of handheld technologies to augment interactions with haptic experiences. She holds a degree in computer science with a specialisation in human-computer interaction.

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯/𝟮𝟰 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱

So proud that no less than 14 students from our MSc Human-Computer Interaction programme have earned a spot on the Dean's List for the highest achievers of the 2023-24 academic year.

Annually, Professor Alan Thompson, the Dean of Brain Sciences, acknowledges students who exhibit outstanding academic excellence across the Faculty. This distinction, for the year, was accorded to the top 5% of graduating students in the Faculty of Brain Sciences with a minimum of 74% overall along with a minimum of 74% in the Dissertation/Project.

A hearty congratulations to: Angeliki Koumani; Catarina Carreiro Figueiras Santos; Douglas Ng; Elena Martin Sierra; Jinyu Wang; Julia Wernersbach; Malak Ramadan; Rita Luis Costa; Roshni Wadhwa; Sarah Shokr; Sher Min Teoh; Stella Loukeri Woestman; Xin Xu; Zeyu Chen, and all our graduating students from the class of 23-24.

Dr Aneesha Singh, MSc HCI Programme Director, said: “We are immensely proud of our MSc students and their achievements and excited to see what they accomplish in the future!”

𝗔 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀!👏👏👏

Congratulations to Aneesha Singh and Diego Martinez Plasencia for being promoted this year to professor and for Akin Delibasi for being promoted an associate professor.

Aneesha Singh joined UCLIC as a lecturer in 2016 and is the Programme Director of our MSc in Human-Computer Interaction. Her research interests are in digital health, ageing, ubiquitous computing, multisensory feedback and wearable technology.

Diego Martinez Plasencia joined UCLIC in 2020 and his research interests include 3D Printing Using Acoustic Levitation, Ultrasonic Mid-air Haptics and acoustic displays. He is also co-founder of AcoustoFab, a start-up company that is developing advanced acoustic levitation solutions that enable precise, contact-free automation for industries demanding high accuracy, from lab automation to multi-material 3D printing and precision sorting.

Akin Delibasi joined UCLIC in 2023 and is the Programme Director of our MSc in Systems Engineering for the Internet of Things. His research interests include system identification, active vibration control of elastic structures, modelling and control of distributed parameter systems, and computational algebraic geometry.

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗯𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗯𝘂𝗹

Professor Duncan Brumby was one of four keynote speakers at the 11th International Symposium on Brain and Cognitive Science (ISBCS 2025), hosted this year by Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul. The symposium brings together researchers from psychology, neuroscience, AI, philosophy, and other disciplines to examine the nature of the human - and artificial - mind.

Brumby’s keynote, "Writing Now! Keeping the Human Voice in AI-Assisted Writing", was based on a recent chapter co-authored with Anna Cox and Sandy Gould. The title pays tribute to Harold Thimbleby’s influential chapter "Write Now!", originally published in Research Methods for Human-Computer Interaction, edited by Paul Cairns and Anna Cox (Cambridge University Press, 2008). While Thimbleby’s piece championed early writing and overcoming perfectionism, the new chapter explores how these same principles hold up in the age of AI. It argues that while generative AI tools can support writing by reducing friction and offering unexpected phrasing, they must be guided by human judgment to preserve clarity, integrity, and authorial voice.

Using a real-world case study, the talk traced the journey of drafting a public-facing article using AI - from dictated voice notes to iterative revision with a large language model. The process illustrated how AI can act as a helpful collaborator, but also revealed risks of over-reliance, such as factual inaccuracy and loss of authorial voice.

More about the conference: https://isbcs2025.bau.edu.tr

𝗨𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿: 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗱-𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻?

When: 2 July 2025, h. 3:00-4:00 pm

Speaker: Alan Blackwell, Professor of Interdisciplinary Design at Cambridge University

Zoom: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/98581580748

𝗨𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿: 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹: 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

When: 26 June 2025, h. 3:00-4:00 pm

Speaker: Professor Gina Grimshaw, School of Psychological Sciences, Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ

Zoom: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/96589706247

𝗨𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿: 𝗢𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 & 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗟𝗠𝘀

When: 24 June 2025, h. 3:00 pm–4:00 pm

Speaker: Nava Haghighi, PhD candidate in Computer Science, Stanford University

Zoom: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/91894817391.

Congratulations to Jo Pearson, UCLIC Senior Teaching & Learning Administrator, who has won the BEAMS Professional Services Awards 2025 in the "Giving our students the best support, facilities and opportunities" category.
The awards seek to recognise the positive attitude, outstanding performance and commitment that professional services staff in BEAMS (that is, Built Environment, Architecture, Engineering, and Mathematical and Physical Sciences faculties) bring to their work and celebrate how they are contributing to the UCL Strategic Plan 2022-27 and the UCL 2034 enablers.

The judging process was rigorous, with numerous exceptional nominations, making it a challenging task for the competition panel to come up with the final selection of winners, runner-ups and special mentions.

Aneesha Singh, HCI MSc Director, said: "Jo is one of the smartest and most organised people I’ve worked with and I’m always amazed at how much they care about their work. Their contribution to the MSc is massive and I wanted to highlight some of the wonderful work that Jo does behind the scenes so we get a sense of all the invisible labour that goes into making us a world-class MSc."

The official award ceremony will take place on 10 June 2025, at UCL Central House.

𝗨𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗠𝗦𝗰 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗛𝗜 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱

Congratulations to HCI MSc students Alyssa Li, Atira Nair, Paolo Mastronardi, Jane Walters and Annie Bai, who won this prestigious accolade with their project entitled "Purple: Combining Individual and Collective Action to Increase Online Sustainability".

The CHI Student Design Competition (SDC), now in its 21st year, has grown into a premiere venue for student s to demonstrate their skills in Interaction Design and User Experience. Each year, the competition receives approximately 60 submissions from 15 countries and serves as a fantastic opportunity to identify the field’s most talented students.

The proud winners said, “Our journey to CHI was a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience that taught us the importance of independent problem solving and internal collaboration. We’re proud of the product we created together as a team, and grateful for the opportunity to grow throughout the process. Thankfully, all our hard work paid off and we’re absolutely thrilled to have won the competition!”

𝗨𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁!

The past 12 months have been rich in success for our teams of academics, researchers and doctoral students! You can read more about their achievements, awards and cutting-edge work in the new issue of UCLIC News 2025, now available online as a Sway: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/l5O7VlyEtxb6ZUU2?ref=Link.