ADM+S Higher Degree Research students selected for the Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Programme
Author Kathy Nickels
Date 4 April 2023
Higher Degree Research Students (HDR) Anand Badola, Dominique Carlon, and Kunal Kaveesh Chand have been selected to attend the Oxford Internet Institute annual Summer Doctoral Programme at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
The annual Summer Doctoral Programme (SDP) brings together a selection of up to 30 outstanding doctoral students engaged in dissertation research relating to the Internet and other digital technologies from around the world for a fortnight of study at the world-leading University of Oxford.
SDP students come from a wide variety of disciplinary and methodological traditions; what they all share is a genuine intellectual curiosity and a willingness to consider these different perspectives.
Anand Badola, Dominique Carlon, and Kunal Kaveesh Chand, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) at QUT will travel to Oxford in July 2023 to take part in the SDP.
Anand’s research looks at the flow of discourse across social media platforms in the Indian context focusing on aspects of disinformation, polarisation and populism across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Anand said he is thrilled to be part of this year’s prestigious Oxford Internet Institute’s Summer Doctoral Program.
“It is a great opportunity for me to explore and contribute to cutting-edge research on the intersection of technology, society, and democracy,” said Anand.
“I am excited to learn from some of the world’s leading scholars in this field. I am also looking forward to meeting fellow researchers from diverse backgrounds from across the world and hopefully collaborating with them in the future. It is very exciting, it is Oxford!”
Dominque’s research explores the life stories of Reddit bots, examining how they came to be created, how they are used, and how they evolve over time. Recognising the capacity of bots to generate expressions of humour, skill, and creativity, Dominique examines the role that Reddit’s distinctive culture plays in fostering an environment that appears to welcome bot creation and use, as well as the influence that bots have in shaping or contributing to the platform environment.
“I am excited to learn about innovative methods and interdisciplinary perspectives on emerging societal and technological issues. I also look forward to forming genuine connections with scholars from around the word and learning about diverse topics of research,” said Dominique.
Kunal’s research focuses on building information visualisation tools that enable digital media scholars to examine how visual social media platforms (like Instagram) are using automated decision making (ADM) systems to aid in their operations, such as content curation and information retrieval.
“I am looking forward to improving my knowledge of the newest digital technologies impacting society at the world’s oldest learning institution that has a history of outstanding scholarship, while also meeting amazing scholars from around the world focusing on similar, impactful research,” said Kunal.
The SDP provides students with an academic framework to share and discuss their research and build collaborative connections across the globe.
