Cosmos at UALR

Congratulations, Prof. Nitin Agarwal!

UA Little Rock has announced the recipients of its 2026 Faculty Excellence Awards, recognizing outstanding faculty members for their contributions in teaching, research and creative works, public service, social justice, and rising faculty achievement.

Selected from college-level honorees, this year’s winners represent the highest level of achievement across the university. Winners are recognized for excellence in the classroom, advancing knowledge in their fields, and making meaningful contributions to communities across Arkansas and beyond.

“Our faculty continue to demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to teaching, research, and service that strengthens both our university and the communities we serve,” said Provost Ann Bain. “These awards reflect the depth of talent and dedication across our institution.”

We are thrilled to share another edition of the COSMOS Newsletter, which celebrates global impact in AI, social computing, and cognitive security.

🎤 Prof. Nitin Agarwal selected for the prestigious IEEE Distinguished Visitor Program, recognizing his leadership and research excellence.

📊New publication in Springer’s Journal of Social Network Analysis and Mining introduces SEPS, an AI-driven framework to detect anomalous YouTube behavior.

🧠Award-winning studies presented at the 18th International SBP-BRiMS 2025 conference reveal insights on democratic trust in TikTok and generational dynamics in online toxicity.

🌟Welcome Richa Pokhrel, Graduate Assistant, contributing to social media intelligence and interdisciplinary research.

COSMOS continues to advance socially impactful research, bridging technology, human behavior, and real-world digital challenges. ➡️ Read the full newsletter at https://cosmos.ualr.edu/newsletter/.

We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Arkansas Research Alliance, the Maulden- Entergy Endowment, and the Donaghey Foundation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for their support.

Newsletter – COSMOS Newsletter Prof. Nitin Agarwal delivered Invited talk on LLMs’ influence on Social Networks Prof. Nitin Agarwal, Director of COSMOS at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, delivered an invited talk at the 17th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mini...

🚀 Presenting COSMOS’s February 2026 Newsletter Highlights: A month of strong growth and impactful research in social computing, cognitive security, and interdisciplinary innovation.

🎤 Prof. Nitin Agarwal represented UA Little Rock at the 17th IEEE/ACM ASONAM in Niagara Falls, discussing LLMs’ transformative potential—and risks—in social networks, emphasizing transparency and human–AI collaboration.

📊 New study in the Journal of Applied Network Science reveals how symbolic content shapes algorithmic bias in YouTube’s recommender ecosystem, reinforcing echo chambers and adversarial narratives.

🧠 At SBP-BRiMS (Carnegie Mellon), COSMOS showcased cutting-edge research on digital deception, recommender “traps,” and AI-driven narrative detection.

🌟 Featuring COSMOS alumnus Dr. Ahmed Al-Taweel and welcoming new Ph.D. student Hakan Erdem.

We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Arkansas Research Alliance, Maulden- Entergy Endowment, and the Donaghey Foundation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for their support.

➡️ Read the full February 2026 Newsletter at https://cosmos.ualr.edu/newsletter/.

cosmos.ualr.edu

COSMOS begins the year with major research milestones, global conference presence, award-winning publications, and new team members. Our research addressed critical challenges in the digital information ecosystem through premier international conferences and high-impact publications.

🔹Prof. Nitin Agarwal presented COSMOS’s research at the 46th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2025), reinforcing UALR’s visibility among world-leading information systems scholars.

🔹COSMOS published “Modeling Polarized Information Diffusion with Stance based Epidemiological Model” in Springer’s Journal of Social Network Analysis and Mining, introducing a novel stance-based framework to analyze polarization, skepticism, and manipulation.

🔹At the 59th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, COSMOS research advanced socially informed deep learning, neural-symbolic toxicity detection, behavioral narrative diffusion, and media ecosystem analysis—driving interpretable and ethical AI. Two COSMOS studies at HICSS 2026 were nominated for the Best Paper Award, highlighting the quality and relevance of the research.

🔹We spotlight three of our studies that demonstrate how mathematical modeling and data-driven approaches can mitigate harmful behaviors in high-stakes socio-digital environments. One of these papers, “Modeling Quarantine Intervention for Varied Toxic Intensities” received the Best Paper Award at the 15th International Conference on Social Media Technologies, Communication, and Informatics (SOTICS 2025) in Lisbon. The other two papers are published at the 18th International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, & Prediction (SBP-BRiMS 2025) at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.

🔹We welcome Atharvaa Rane, Data Engineer, bringing expertise in data pipelines and analytics to support COSMOS projects.

COSMOS remains committed to interdisciplinary, ethical, and socially grounded research—bridging theory and practice to address real-world socio-technical challenges in 2026 and beyond.

We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation (NSF), Arkansas Research Alliance, Maulden- Entergy Endowment, and the Donaghey Foundation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for their support of our efforts.

➡️ Read the full January 2026 Newsletter:

cosmos.ualr.edu

At this point, we might need a standing “COSMOS in the news” segment! 😄👏

Huge congrats to Dr. Nitin Agarwal on earning the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on AI-Based Media Innovation in Venice, Italy! His award-winning research uses AI to analyze how emotion and tone shift across layers of YouTube content, helping uncover the difference between attention-grabbing headlines and a video’s deeper message.

This latest recognition adds to COSMOS’ growing list of honors and highlights the impactful research happening right here at UA Little Rock! Follow them on Facebook to stay updated: Cosmos at UALR

Read more about this research here: https://ualr.edu/news/2026/01/27/ua-little-rock-professor-earns-best-paper-award-for-ai-research/

🎄 Warm Christmas and New Year greetings, and welcome to the COSMOS December Newsletter!

This December, we celebrate a year of impactful research, innovation, and growth in AI and cognitive security at the COSMOS Research Center.

🔹Prof. Nitin Agarwal delivered an invited talk at the UA Little Rock Provost Leadership Council on mitigating AI-enhanced cognitive threats and data-driven defense strategies.

🔹Prof. Agarwal was featured in The Baltimore Sun for his expert insights on ethical and responsible AI governance.

🔹COSMOS research has been published at 39th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2025), the world’s most prestigious AI conference, showcasing our leadership in next-generation multimodal AI.

🔹16 COSMOS studies were accepted in the 14th International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications (Complex Networks 2025), highlighting global leadership in network and computational social science.

🔹COSMOS research, published in Springer’s Social Network Analysis and Mining (SNAM) journal, introduces a scalable framework to detect anomalous and coordinated engagement in YouTube discussions.

🔹COSMOS researchers showcased cutting-edge studies at 17th International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM 2025), exploring how visual persuasion, recommendation algorithms, and bias shape influence and fairness in today’s digital ecosystems.

🔹We proudly welcome Bhushan Shelke as our new Data Engineer, strengthening our large-scale data and analytics capabilities.

➡️ Read the full December Newsletter: https://cosmos.ualr.edu/newsletter/

We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Arkansas Research Alliance, the Maulden- Entergy Endowment, and the Donaghey Foundation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for their support of our efforts.

Wishing everyone a joyful Christmas and a successful New Year! 🎆

cosmos.ualr.edu

We are super thrilled about this big win! Under Dr. Nitin Agarwal's leadership, we look forward to developing novel AI techniques to mitigate modern cognitive warfare and help shore up our nation's defenses. Read more about COSMOS at cosmos.ualr.edu and check out the career opportunities at COSMOS if you are interested in working in this area.

UA Little Rock Professor Receives $5 Million to Counter AI-Amplified Information Warfare Dr. Nitin Agarwal, Maulden-Entergy Chair and Donaghey Distinguished Professor of Information Science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has received a $5 million award to research and develop ... UA Little Rock Professor Receives $5 Million to Counter AI-Amplified Information Warfare

🦃 Warm Thanksgiving greetings and a heartfelt welcome to our November Newsletter! 🎉

This month, we celebrate major achievements in research and innovation in the field of cognitive security.

🔷 Prof. Nitin Agarwal was featured in Arkansas Business Magazine’s Executive Q&A and delivered an invited talk at the DCSTEM Leadership Council meeting (hosted by COSMOS center) on combating AI-enabled influence operations.

🔷 Our Research Spotlight segment showcases COSMOS’s cross-platform narrative modeling studies presented at the 17th International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM 2025), advancing our understanding of information diffusion.

🔷 In our Hot off the Press section, we highlight our new publication on symbolic signals and visual influence on Instagram, revealing how social and cultural symbols shape engagement and trust, published by Springer's Social Network Analysis and Mining (SNAM) journal.

🔷 COSMOS presented three peer-reviewed studies at the 37th IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI 2025), reinforcing our global leadership in transparent, responsible, and socially informed AI.

🔷 We’re excited to welcome Hassam Khan, our new full-time Data Engineer, bringing strong cloud, DevOps, and data pipeline expertise.

🔷 Our Cosmographer Corner features Dr. Tuja Khaund, spotlighting her inspiring journey from being a COSMOS researcher to Senior Data Scientist at Walmart.

These milestones reflect COSMOS’s continued commitment to interdisciplinary innovation, cognitive security, and impactful research for societal good. Read the full November 2025 newsletter and previous editions here https://cosmos.ualr.edu/newsletter/.

We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Arkansas Research Alliance, the Maulden- Entergy Endowment, and the Donaghey Foundation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for their support of our efforts.

cosmos.ualr.edu

It is an honor to be featured in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's 2025 Annual Report, released by Chancellor Christina Drale. Kudos to Prof. Nitin Agarwal's leadership and the invaluable contributions from cosmographers! Our work on fusing AI and social computing to mitigate toxicity, combat scams, and counter cognitive warfare was featured in the research and innovation segment on "Real World Impact - Right Now". Learn more about COSMOS Research Center from https://cosmos.ualr.edu

Grateful for the support from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and grants from the U.S. Department of Defense, National Science Foundation (NSF), Arkansas Research Alliance, the Maulden - Entergy Endowment, and the Donaghey Foundation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock that support our efforts.

With University of Arkansas at Little Rock – we just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

🎃 COSMOS October 2025 Newsletter is out! 🎃

This month at the COSMOS Research Center marks a period of growth, innovation, and collaboration.

🔷 Prof. Nitin Agarwal delivered an invited talk at the NSF Workshop on AI & Digital Health on developing AI + Social Computing for Mitigating Cognitive Threats.

🔷 Our Research Spotlight highlights three cutting-edge studies presented at ASONAM 2025 on narrative diffusion, anomalous behaviors, and toxicity contagion in online communities.

🔷 In our Hot off the Press section, we feature the journal article “Constructing a Multi-Theoretical Framework for Mob Modeling” published in Springer’s Journal of Social Network Analysis and Mining.

🔷 COSMOS researchers presented seven impactful studies at SBP-BRiMS 2025 at Carnegie Mellon University.

🔷 We’re excited to welcome Praveen Sundar as our new Data Engineer!

🔷 Our Cosmographer Corner features Ugochukwu Onyepunuka, now a Data Engineer at Amazon, sharing how COSMOS shaped his professional journey.

These milestones reflect our mission to advance social computing, cognitive security, and responsible AI through interdisciplinary research and collaboration. Thank you for your continued support as we strive for excellence in education and research.

➡️ Read the full October 2025 newsletter and previous editions here

cosmos.ualr.edu

Meet Richard Young, a former COSMOS researcher and graduate of UA Little Rock, now thriving as a UX Designer at Gravitate. His journey from data and design research at COSMOS to creating human-centered digital solutions reflects the power of innovation, creativity, and purpose-driven design.
✅Read more here: https://cosmos.ualr.edu/cosmographer-corner-richard-young/
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