Professor Vania Dimitrova elected President of the AI in Education society
Professor Vania Dimitrova from the School of Computing has been elected as President of the AI in Education society for 2021-2023.
The International Artificial Intelligence in Education Society (IAIED) is an interdisciplinary community at the frontiers of the fields of computer science, education, and psychology. It promotes rigorous research and development of interactive and adaptive learning environments for learners of all ages, across all domains.
The society brings together a community of leading researchers by organizing the AIED conference series, the International Journal of AI in Education (IJAIED), and related activities. IAIED is also a member of the International Alliance to Advance Learning in the Digital Era (IAALDE), an alliance of seven research societies that focus on advances in computer-supported learning.
Professor Vania Dimitrova leads research activity on human-centred artificial intelligence which builds intelligent systems that help people make sense of data, take decisions in complex settings, expand their knowledge, learn from experience, and develop self-regulation skills. Her research explores the use of data and knowledge models to get insights into user-generated content, understand users and influence behaviour, capture knowledge and support information exploration. Her research is conducted in cross-disciplinary collaboration with researchers from Medicine and Health, Engineering, Social Science, Education and Psychology, and actively involving end users.
Professor Dimitrova is currently Equality and Inclusion Lead for the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Co-Director of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Medical Diagnosis and. She was Co-Director of the Leeds Research Centre in Digital Learning and was Director of Technology Enhanced Learning Strategy at the Leeds Institute of Medical Education. She is Associate Editor of the International Journal of AI in Education, and Frontiers of AI: AI for Human Learning and Behavior Change. She was Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies (IEEE-TLT) and a member of the editorial boards for the personalisation journal (UMUAI). She chaired the premier international conferences on user modelling (ACM UMAP) and intelligent learning environments (AIED, ECTEL, ICCE), as well as a series of international workshops on key topics related to user modelling, social systems, intelligent exploration.
It is a great honour to serve as president of the International AI in Education society. We live in exciting times with many opportunities for the Society to make significant impact building on our strong portfolio in developing intelligent interactive systems that advance education. I will do my best to sustain the Society’s strong establishment while also growing its membership, topics and influence.
Professor Dimitrova said: “It is a great honour to serve as president of the International AI in Education society. We live in exciting times with many opportunities for the Society to make significant impact building on our strong portfolio in developing intelligent interactive systems that advance education. I will do my best to sustain the Society’s strong establishment while also growing its membership, topics and influence.”
The IAIED society is governed by an Executive Committee according to the IAIED Constitution, which seeks to support AI in Education developments throughout the international community. Membership statistics show that over 1000 members from 40 countries have joined since the Society's launch on January 1st, 1997. More information can be found on the IAIED’s website.
