People
Faculty
Matti Nelimarkka
Matti Nelimarkka teaches social data science at the University of Helsinki. His book [Computational Thinking and Social Science: Combining Programming, Methodologies and Fundamental Concepts](https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/computational-thinking-and-social-science/book268542) was published by SAGE Publishing in 2023. Beyond teaching computational methods for social scientists, he leads the Helsinki Social Computing Group, an interdisciplinary group examining both computers and society. They explore digital democracy and politics in the digital era as well as computational techniques in social sciences, especially workflows and connections between social science theories and code. He is affiliated with the Faculty of Social Science, University of Helsinki, Department of Computer Science, Aalto University.
Thamar Heijstra
Thamar Heijstra is a professor of Sociology at the University of Iceland and the Director of Academic Development at the School of Social Sciences. Her research interests center around academic teaching, organisational culture, work conditions, well-being, and gender relations, and she is currently involved in research projects on AI use in the labour market, remote work and well-being, and the social aspect of restoration projects.
Stefán Hrafn Jónsson
Stefán Hrafn Jónsson is a Professor of Sociology and the Dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Iceland. He received his PhD in Sociology and Demography from Pennsylvania State University. Stefán has contributed to numerous national and international research projects, focusing on public health, youth behavior, and social inequality. He has worked with the Directorate of Health and the Public Health Institute of Iceland. He led the Icelandic team in the European Social Survey and investigated smoking and drinking in films across six European nations (Smoking in Movies project). He participated in the ESPAD and HBSC projects and was the Principal Investigator in the first two waves of the national survey on Health and Well-being in Iceland in 2007 and 2009.David Reimer
David Reimer is professor of sociology of education at the University of Iceland (since January 2023). He also holds a part-time position at Aarhus University. His research focuses on questions related to inequalities in educational attainment. He is particularly interested in educational transitions - such as the transition from upper secondary education to higher education or the transition from compulsory school to the subsequent schooling alternatives. He is currently principal investigator for a major research project: [EDUCHANGE, Changing Inequality at Educational Transitions (ERC consolidator grant)](https://www.educhange.hi.is). In his work he often combine different sources of data – such as survey data from experimental interventions with administrative registry data. He haas also been working with digital trace data from a reading app for compulsory school students in Denmark and connected this data to registry and survey dataSpeakers
Teaching Assistants
Adeline Clarke
Adeline is a Project Planner at the University of Helsinki Centre for Social Data Science where she creates tools for analysis surveys containing open-ended questions in Finnish.Participants
Jon Edmund Bollom
I am a PhD student in Global Studies. My research foci include higher education and the social determinants of young people's aspirations. I hold a BA in Geography from the University of Exeter (thesis focus upon UK university tuition fee rises and impacts upon prospective students), a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education from the University of Exeter, and an MA in Development Studies from the University of Iceland (thesis focus upon the social determinants of alcohol and other drug use and criminality within school attending adolescents in Guinea-Bissau).
Helgi Eiríkur Eyjólfsson
Ph.D. student in socioloy in the School of Social Work in University of Iceland. Research project is on intergenerational social mobility and educational inequality in Iceland. I do my Ph.D. research part-time alongside a position as quantitative analyst in the Ministry of Education and Children. My background in in sociology and methodlogy/statistics.Olga Latapí
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Brent Pitchford
I am a postdoctoral research in the Icelandic Vision lab situated in the University of Iceland. My research interests are in visual cognition, attention, perception, as well as individual differeneces in these abilities. I received my PhD from Brock University in Canada.
Pitsiree Praphanwittaya (May)
Postdoctoral Researcher in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Iceland. My project aims to develop pharmaceutical products for commercial purposes
Rafnar Lárusson
Ph.D. student in the School of Business in University of Iceland. Research project is on Financial institutions and technological changes, and its affect on legitimacy. I do my Ph.D. research part-time alongside a position as the CFO of the National power company of Iceland, Landsvirkjun. My background in in business and finance.