Team – Interaction Data Lab

Marc Santolini

Principal investigator

I study how small and large groups innovate, collaborate and learn, with a particular focus on citizen science communities and the open-source movement. I hold a PhD in Statistical Physics from Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, where I studied Complex Systems Physics and Philosophy of Science. Fascinated by the emergence of higher-order simplicity out of complex interactions, I specialized in network science applied to biological, medical and social contexts at the Barabasi Lab in Boston, before becoming a research fellow at the Learning Planet Institute in the Learning Transitions Research Unit where I lead the Interaction Data Lab. I am also a co-founder of the Just One Giant Lab Foundation that supports the development of emergent, large-scale open research communities through social and digital technologies. My current research ties network approaches and participatory methods to foster collaborative dynamics and relational well-being in open innovation contexts. My work has been supported at the national (ANR), European (Horizon 2020), and international level (NESTA, Botnar Foundation).

Personal resources: https://marcsantolini.com/ | Twitter | LinkedIn | Scholar

Robbie Ward

Visiting PhD Student

Robert is a doctoral student in Public Policy and a masters student in Computer Science at Georgia Tech where he works as a GRA for the Science Technology and Innovation Policy group, and a visiting student in the Interaction Data Lab. His research applies computational tools to uncover the organizational roots of innovation across academic, industrial and open science. In particular, he is interested in how the micro-level organization of information and work affects the production, dissemination and evaluation of new ideas. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, French National Research Agency, Google and the University of Vermont Complex Systems Center. Before coming to Georgia Tech he earned a BS in Molecular Genetics and his MPA from The Ohio State University where he worked briefly at the Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy.

Stephanie Chuah

Research Assistant

Stephanie’s work and research interest centre around youth-led innovation and challenge-based learning. She completed her MA thesis under the supervision of the Interaction Data Lab on the effect of virtuality on team collaboration and performance. Prior to this, she managed the Geneva SDG Summer School and the SDG Open Hack! in the Asian Pacific region, both programs designed to accelerate education for the Sustainable Development Goals. Currently, she divides her time between UNEP/GRID-Geneva, managing the sand and governance project, and the iGEM ties study.

COLLABORATORS

Liubov Tupikina

Research Scientist – Bell Labs

Liubov is a mathematician and a theoretical physicist by training, with a PhD from Humbolt University. She studies mathematics in Moscow State University (MSU).
She is interested in the complex networks and processes on them. She also develops the international scientists-schools network exploring potential of scientific networks.
She works on the interface of physics, maths, data analysis and also is interested in the data visualisation methods.

Personal resources: https://sites.google.com/view/liubovkmatematike/research-projects

Olga Kokshagina

Associate Professor, EDHEC Business School

Olga Kokshagina is an affiliated researcher at Learning Planet Institute (LPI). She is an Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at EDHEC Business School, France and Associate Researcher at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. She is a member of the EDHEC Foresight, Innovation and Transformation Chair, and Management in Innovative Health Chair Research Associate. She received a PhD in management science from Mines Paris PSL Research University, France. Her research was part of an industrial programme conducted in collaboration with STMicroelectronics where she worked on a range of innovative projects. Her work focuses on the areas of strategic management of design, the role of digital technologies in transforming the nature of work and interdisciplinary collaboration. She is an appointed member of the French Digital Council (CNNum) and co-author of The Radical Innovation Playbook (2020) and Envisioning the Future of Learning for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022). Her work has been published in leading management journals such as Research Policy and California Management Review. Her research has been supported by National, European and International fundings

Boaz Feldman

Affiliate Researcher, Harvard

Boaz B. Feldman (BBA, MSc, PgD) is a researcher, psychologist, trainer and contemplative acting for worldwide positive change. He ordained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, practicing mindfulness intensively for 3 years, then disrobed and trained as a counsellor at the University of Geneva (Switzerland). Boaz led numerous psychological first aid and staff welfare missions with International NGO’s (UNOCHA, Doctors Without Borders, International Medical Corps) in war zones (Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Myanmar) and low-income countries (Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa). Boaz currently leads Life Itself Research (France) and is currently a Research Scholar at Harvard University in implementation and community-based sciences with youth.