ADM+S Alumnus Louisa Bartolo recognised in AoIR’s 2025 Annual Dissertation Award
Author
Date 9 July 2025
Dr Louisa Bartolo, alumnus of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society at QUT has received Honourable Mention in the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) 2025 Annual Dissertation Award.
Dr Bartolo’s dissertation, entitled ‘Algorithmic Recommendation as Repair Work: Towards a More Just Distribution of Attention on Cultural and Entertainment Platforms’ was recognised by the AoIR awards as an exemplary, original, empirical study of algorithmic recommendation systems.
The study develops an empirically grounded conceptual approach to algorithmic recommendation, and presents clear recommendations for how this could be done otherwise. The dissertation clearly articulates the findings of empirical evidence of recommendation systems across two platforms.
Dr Bartolo’s research offers alternative designs for recommender systems to work towards more reparative ends.
In the 2025 Annual Dissertation Award announcement, the AoIR stated that the research “makes strong methodological contributions, as well as an original contribution to the field, and is highly relevant to debates about platform politics and algorithmic culture”.
Reflecting on the recognition, Dr Bartolo posted “I am extremely grateful and proud to have received the Honorable Mention in this year’s Associate of Internet Researchers thesis award.
A PhD takes a lot out of you, but a bit over a year since submission I am so aware of how much it has given me back.” [Link: Dr Louisa Bartolo’s LinkedIn post https://bit.ly/46yLDLY]
Each year, the AoIR Dissertation Award honours the best in doctoral research that advances the field of internet studies. The award includes a cash prize and recognises scholarly excellence, originality, and contribution to critical issues in digital culture.
Dr Bartolo will be formally recognised and presented with the award during the Association’s General Meeting at the AoIR 2025 conference this October.
