Organisers
Bogdan Mamaev
Australian Internet Observatory (AIO), Deakin University
Dr Bogdan Mamaev is Research Training Manager at the Australian Internet Observatory (AIO) based at Deakin University. With a PhD in Political Science from Griffith University, he develops research training programs and resources that help social scientists integrate digital methods and computational tools into their work. His own research applies these methods to the study of protests, political regimes, and contentious politics.
Kateryna Kasianenko
ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S), QUT
Dr Kateryna Kasianenko is a Research Fellow at the QUT node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S). Her work examines how searching practices and search interfaces shape (and are shaped by) real-world events such as wars and crises, as well as social phenomena like partisanship. She develops computational approaches—including LLM-based discourse modelling, network analysis, and practice mapping—to identify online community practices at scale.
Olga Boichak
University of Sydney
Dr Olga Boichak is Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures and Founder of the Computational Social Science Lab at the University of Sydney (DECRA Fellow and 2025 Westpac Research Fellow). A media sociologist, she studies networks, narratives, and cultures of activism in the digital age, with expertise in influence operations, civilian participation in conflicts, and transnational humanitarianism. She develops and applies computational tools for large-scale analysis of online communication and information warfare.
Sally Storey
ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S), RMIT
Sally Storey is Manager of Research Training and Development at the RMIT University node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S). With a background in documentary film production, research administration, grant-making, and higher-education research on creative industries, she designs and delivers programs that build research capability in digital media, automation, and computational social science.
Organising Committee Members
Amanda Lawrence
Australian Internet Observatory (AIO), RMIT
Dr Amanda Lawrence is Engagement Lead at the Australian Internet Observatory (AIO) at RMIT University. She brings extensive experience in social research infrastructure, digital libraries, research communication, and policy analysis (including 12 years as Director of the Analysis & Policy Observatory). Her work focuses on enabling accessible, responsible access to digital data and tools for computational social science research.
Daniel Angus
QUT Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC)
Prof. Daniel Angus is Professor of Digital Communication and Director of the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) at Queensland University of Technology. A Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S), he develops computational methods—including visualisation, natural language processing, and topic modelling—for the study of communication, media, and digital platforms.
Matteo Vergani
Deakin University
Dr Matteo Vergani is Associate Professor in Sociology at Deakin University and Director of the Tackling Hate Lab. He combines social science, psychology, and data science to investigate the causes of prejudice, hate crime, and extremist violence, and to evaluate strategies that address them. His research develops innovative computational methodologies and measurement tools for analysing online hostility, radicalisation, and collective mobilisation.