Academic Career
University of Oslo (2016-present), Oslo Norway
I currently work as a Senior Researcher/Researcher (Forsker) in the Vulnerability in Robot Society (VIROS) project, in Robotics and Intelligent Systems (ROBIN) Research Group. During Spring 2023, I was a visiting researcher at the Human-Robot Interaction Lab, Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Previously, I took my Ph.D. degree at University of Oslo, in the Design of Information Systems (DESIGN) Research Group. My Ph.D. thesis title is: "Situated abilities: Understanding Everyday Use of ICTs".
My research area spans across Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and Universal Design (UD) aspects that can be seen orthogonal,as a gold thread, throughout my research.
My Ph.D. trial lecture title was "The Role of Language-Games in Universal Design: Theoretical and Practical Issues". You can see the full video-lecture here with auto-captions and at the speed you wish.
Current roles:
- Researcher VIROS (2021-) and Visiting Researcher at the Human-Robot Interaction Lab, at the Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University, Japan
- (Ph.D.) Co-supervisor to Ph.D. Candidate Adel Baselizadeh and to Ph.D. Candidate Marieke van Otterdijk
- Project partner in the following research projects:
- Universal Design of Robots (UD-Robots) led by the Norwegian Computing Center (2022)
- Ethical risks assessmeNt of Artificial intelligenCe in practice (ENACT) led by SINTEF Digital (2023-)
- Reviewer: RO-MAN, International Journal of Social Robotics, ARSO, DIS, IDxA Journal, CHI, AltCHI, NordiCHI, CSCW, ACHI, Journal of Web Semantics
- Member of The Norwegian Council for Digital Ethics (Norsk Råd for Digital Etikk) (2023-)
- Member of the Standards Norway Commitee on AI & Ethics (WG3) (2021-) -Currently reviewing the following ISO standards: (1) Risk Management; (2) AI Governance.
- Member of the IEEE Artificial Intelligence Standards Commitee, SG on Ethical Considerations of Cognitive Robots for Enhancing Human Efficacy (2021-)
- Member of the Artificial Intelligence in the Norwegian Health Services (Kunstig Intelligens i Norsk helsetjenste - KIN)
Previous roles:
- Ph.D. Candidate (2016-2020).
- UDFeed project coordinator (2017-2019)
- Positions of trust:
- Executive Board Member of The Norwegian Council for Digital Ethics (Norsk Råd for Digital Etikk) (2021-2023)
- Executive Board Member of the dScience Community Forum at University of Oslo, which is part of dScience center (2021-2023)
- Executive Board Member at Tekna Big Data (which has over 5400 members) (2021-2022)
- Member of the Advisory Board - UiODoc (2018-2020)
- Program Committee Member - Research Bazaar (2018-2019)
- Reviewer - International Journal of Social Robotics (IJSR), International Journal in Human-Computer Interaction (IJHC), Interaction Design and Architecture Journal (IxDa), RO-MAN, ARSO, NordiCHI, CHI, AltCHI, CSCW, ACHI
- NordiCHI SV chair - responsible for the recruitment of SV's (2018)
- Deputy Representative - University of Oslo Central Electoral Board (vara) (August 2018- July 2019) / Representanter for de midlertidig vitenskapelig ansatte i det sentrale valgstyret
- Member of the Executive Committee Board UiODoc - Secretary of the Executive Commitee (May 2017-May 2018)
- Member of the National Association of Doctoral Organizations in Norway (Stipendiatorganisajonena i Norge) (May 2017 - April 2018)
Previous projects and research:
- Multimodal Elderly Care Systems (MECS), focus on Situated Abilities and parts of SDG3. My research here is influenced by Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and Computer-Supportive-Cooperative Work (CSCW) fields.
- Universal Design in Higher Education (UDFeed), focus on Situated Abilities and parts of SDG3 and SDG4. My research here is influenced by Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer-Supportive-Cooperative Work (CSCW)/Computer-Supportive-Cooperative-Learning (CSCL) fields.
- Universal Design and the salutogenic concept that I have coined, namely of Situated Abilities, is present in both projects.
Awards:
- Best Paper Finalist Award - ARSO (2021)
- Best Paper Award, ACHI - IARIA (2018, 2020)
- Best Student Award, Kristianstad University, Sweden (2013)
- Best Student Award, Kristianstad University, Sweden (2009-2012)
Others:
- UN Student Association member, Oslo (2018), focus on SDG4
- Member of the Executive Committee - Program Associate, Global Women in Tech (GWiT) (2017-), focus on SDG5
Reports:
- Herstad, J., Saplacan, D. (2019), UDFeed report on Universal Design in Higher Education (Department of Informatics)
- UiODoc Annual report (2018) - As part of the UiODoc Advisory Board during 2018-2019, I contributed with the information in the report on the following: Notes during the Dinner with Representatives in 2018, Notes from the Public Lecture on 2030 SDG Agenda: Achievements and Challenges with Amina Mohammed (Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and former Minister of Environment of Nigeria), Response to a Hearing during 2018 - written together with Yasemin Nurcan Hacioglu.
- UiODoc Annual report (2017) - I was the main responsible for the report, but written it together with my colleagues at the time from the UiODoc board executive committee.
Cross-disciplinary collaborations at UiO:
- Co-organized the workshop together with colleagues from the Educational Department at University of Oslo, and OsloMet the workshop entitled: Inclusion through Design and Use of Digital Learning Environments: Issues, Methods and Stories, at NordiCHI 2018, which one of the most prestigious conferences within HCI field. My main responsibility was the recruitment of participants, coordination of work, and the preparation work prior the workshop. The workshop got an invitation to hold a special issue in IDxA Journal.
Other international participation
- International Summer School on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (2019), Italy: Foundations, Methods, and Technologies.
Some of the media apparitions:
- AI, robots, and their social impact - Aktualitet Symposium (24.03.2021)
- Debate at Kompetanse Norge (Skills Norway): Digital ethics in praxis (17.09.2020). Podcast available here.
- Guest in a Spotify podcast for Ph.D. candidates (2020).
- Uniforum debate, Why is it important to vote?, 23.05.2019 (Available in Swedish and English)
- IT-kanalen, Brännande behov av kvinnor inom tech, 26.05.2016
- Kristianstad University, MyNewsDesk, Brännande behov av vvinnor inom tech
- Hässleholms Kommun, Utbilda dig i Hässleholm och ta en rejält kliv mot arbetsmarknaden, s.2.
Kristianstad University (2013-2020), Kristianstad, Sweden
- Lecturer in Computer Science (2013-2020, on leave during my Ph.D. fellowship)
- Project facilitator and Demola representative at Kristianstad University (2014) - cross-disciplinary project
Other international participation:
- Linnaeus-Palme - design of exchange programme - Kristianstad University - Ubaya University, Surabaya, Indonesia (September, 2016)
- World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) @ITU, Geneva,Switzerland (May, 2016)
- ABI.local Amsterdam @Google, Amsterdam, Netherlands (April, 2016)
Part of the following research projects:
IoT:
- JoyTalk (2012-2014)
- Smart House (2013-2016)
- Interactive Smart Home (2013-2016)
- Smart solutions for people with disabilities (PTS project) (2016) - in collaboration with Usify and Evothings
Academia-Industry cooperation:
- HKr Sweden-Demola Oulu Finland (2015-2016) - ZEF
- HKr-Mobile Heights (2015-2016)
- Active Ageing (Vinnova project) (2014-2016)
- Universal Design for Learning (2016)
For more positions, outside of academia, please visit my Linkedin webpage.
Extra curriculum courses that were taken so far:
Project Management:
- IT Project Management - Malmö University (7.5 ECTS), DA367A
- Leadership and coaching - a modern way of tutoring - Uppsala University (7.5 ECTS), 1TG208
- Individuals and Teams in Projects, Karlstad University (7.5 ECTS), PLGA03
- Personal and Professional Development, Kristianstad University (7.5 ECTS), PA1580
- Time Management for Personal and Professional Productivity-University of California, Irvine, Coursera
Pedagogical courses:
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ICT and pedagogy for dual mode and distributed courses - Kristianstad University (7.5 ECTS), PE1952
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Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - Kristianstad University (7.5 ECTS), PE1982
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Main pedagogical course for PhD's and PostDocs/Fellesdelen for stipendiater og postdocs, University of Oslo, 2017
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Problem based learning/ problembasert læring/ problembaserad lärande, UiO, 2017
Innovation:
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NABC - 5 Disciplines of Innovation (5DOI) - ALMI Företagspartner Sweden, licensed by Stanford Research Institute International
Action research:
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Participatory Action Research - Kristianstad University (3 ECTS - Research Level)
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Participatory Research - Mälardalen University - focus on technology for the elderly (7.5 ECTS - Research Level)
Others:
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C#, Kristianstad University (7.5 ECTS), DA5621