Professor Corina Sas
ProfessorResearch Overview
Research interests include human-computer interaction, with a specific focus on designing and evaluating technologies for wellbeing, mental health, memory support, creative and reflective thinking in design, as well as novel tools for designing such technologies. My work explores and integrates wearable bio sensors, mobile and lifelogging technologies.
My research was supported by grants totalling over £15.1 million, and I was Coordinator of two prestigious EC-funded Innovative Training Networks. I have spent sabbaticals as Visiting Professor at Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), University of California Irvine, and University of California Santa Cruz.
My research received extensive media coverage as well as 5 Best Paper and Honourable Mention Awards at flagship ACM CHI and DIS conferences. I have also received the AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar Honorable Mention in Human-Computer Interaction (2022), Digital Female Leader Award for Science (2019) from Global Digital Women, Lancaster University Outstanding Contribution Staff Award (2019), and Highly Commended Nomination for Researcher of the Year Dean’s Award (2019).
In 2022 I was made Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) for strategic international leadership of interdisciplinary large scale doctoral training programmes.
I am interested in supervising PhD projects in HCI and digital health. I have supervised to completion 15 PhD students, and in 2021 I was shortlisted by the UK Times Higher Education for the Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year Award.
Profile
Corina leads award-winning research in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), playing a key role in shaping the School’s growing research agenda in digital health. Her publication track includes top journals such as the flagship ACM Transactions on Computer Human Interactions (TOCHI), Taylor and Francis Human-Computer Interaction, ACM CHI and DIS conferences.
Corina has outstanding track record in earning research income and managing large scale interdisciplinary networks (over £15.1 million, with over £6 million as Principal Investigator). She regulary acted as Associate Chair for both the ACM CHI and DIS conferences, and is member of the Editorial Boards of the ACM Transactions in Human-Computer Interaction Journal, and Taylor and Francis Human-Computer Interaction Journal.
Corina started her academic career at Lancaster as lecturer in 2004, and senior lecturer in 2010, to become in 2017 the first female Professor in the School of Computing and Communication. Prior to joining Computing Department she was a scholar reading for a PhD in Computer Science at the University College Dublin, Ireland. Her previous studies include a MA in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science, and a BA in Psychology, from the "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu, Romania, where she also worked as Assistant Professor.
Research Grants
AffecTech: Personal Technologies for Affective Health, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (€3,888,273). European Commission
Role: Prinicipal InvestigatorDates: 2017 – 2021Website: http://www.affectech.org/
Digital threads: Towards personalised craft production in Malay cottage industry through distributed ledger technologies and demand chain management (£117,558). AHRC.
Role: Prinicipal InvestigatorDates: 2017 – 2019Website: https://www.digitalthreads.co.uk
Designing Multisensory Interactions: Emotional User Experience of 3D Printed-Food Consumption. (£100,000) EPSRC CASE Studentship
Role: Principal InvestigatorDates: 2016 – 2020
PACTMAN: Trust, Privacy and Consent in Future Pervasive Environments (£1,008,820) EPSRC
Role: Co-InvestigatorDates: 2016 – 2018Website: http://pactman.uk/
RECALL: Rethinking and redefining memory augmentation (>£1.5m) European Commission
Role: Co-InvestigatorDates: 2013 – 2016Website: http://recall-fet.eu/
CaTalyST - Citizens Transforming Society: Tools for Change (>£1.45m) EPSRC
Role: Co-InvestigatorDates: 01/11/2011 – 31/10/2014Website: http://www.catalystproject.org.uk/
Sav-e - Sustainable Added Value e-chain (>£589K) Technology Strategy Board
Role: Co-InvestigatorDates: 01/11/2011 – 31/10/2014
Mobile Technologies for Supporting Reflective Design Practices (>£22K) VINNOVA
Role: Principal InvestigatorDates: 1.09.2012– 31.08.2013
DESIRE - Creative Design for Innovation in Science and Technology (> €3.24m) European Commission
Role: Principal InvestigatorDates: 01/09/2009 – 31/08/2012Website: http://www.desirenetwork.eu/
External Roles
Member of the Executive Committee of the British HCI group for British Computer Society: promoting the education and practice of HCI and supporting HCI people in industry and academia, contributing to the development of programme of events, overseeing the group budget and liaising with the BCS financial officer.
Career Details
Academic qualifications
Ph.D. Computer Science, 2004
Executive MBA, 2018 (Distinction)
B.Sc. Mathematics and Computer Science, 1998 (1st Class Hons)
M.A. Industrial and Organisational Psychology, 1997
B.Sc. Psychology, 1996 (1st Class Hons)
Employment
Professor in HCI and Digital Health, School of Computing and Communications, Lancaster University, 2017 - present
Senior Lecturer in HCI, School of Computing and Communications, Lancaster University, 2010 - 2017
Lecturer in HCI, School of Computing and Communications, Lancaster University, 2004-2010
RA/PhD student, Department of Computer Science, University College Dublin, 2000-2004
Teaching Assistant, Department of Informatics/Department of Psychology, Lucian Blaga University, 1996 – 2000
Current Teaching
SCC120 Fundamentals of CS
Research Interests
My research interests include human-computer interaction, with a specific focus on designing and evaluating technologies for wellbeing, mental health, memory support, creative and reflective thinking in design, as well as novel tools for designing such technologies. My work explores and integrates wearable bio sensors, mobile and lifelogging technologies.
My research focuses on technologies which aim to make a difference in people’s lives. I see technology as a means to an end, either for studying and understanding human behaviour, or as a tool for supporting people to reach their potential.
My Role
Assistant Dean for Research Enhancement Faculty of Science and Technology, Lancaster University, UK
Director of HighWire Doctoral Training Centre on Digital Economy, Lancaster University, UK
Pervasive Systems - Group Lead, School of Computing and Communications
Professional Role
Editorial board member of ACM Transactions in Human-Computer Interaction Journal (ToCHI)
Editorial board member of Taylor and Francis Human-Computer Interaction Journal
Technical Program Co-Chair (TPC) for the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2024)
Co-Chair of the ACM Creativity and Cognition Conference (2021, 2022)
Associated Chair: ACM CHI, ACM DIS (since 2014)
Co-Chair of the British HCI conference (2007)
PhD Supervision Interests
I am interested in supervising PhD projects in HCI-related areas, particularly those pertaining to my research interests.
Digital Health: Innovative engineering technologies to improve the understanding and management of fatigue (FATIGUE)
10/01/2022 → 20/12/2024
Research
Future Places: A Digital Economy Centre on Understanding Place Through Pervasive Computing
01/10/2020 → 30/09/2025
Research
Digital Threads : Towards Personalised Craft Production in Malay Cottage Industries
14/02/2017 → 13/02/2019
Research
Digital Threads:Towards a Personalised Craft Production in Malay Cottage Industries
14/02/2017 → 13/02/2019
Research
H2020: AffecTech - Personal Technologies for Affective Health
01/01/2017 → 31/03/2021
Research
PACTMAN: Trust and Consent in Future Pervasive Environments (DSI)
01/09/2016 → 28/02/2020
Research
RECALL: Enchanced Human Memory Recall
01/11/2013 → 31/10/2016
Research
Mobile Technologies for Supporting Reflective Design Practices VINNOVA
02/04/2012 → 30/09/2013
Other
SAV-e (Sustainable Added Value e-Chain)
01/04/2012 → 30/09/2013
Research
Citizens Transforming Society: Tools for Change
01/11/2011 → 30/04/2015
Research
FP7: DESIRE (Researchers linked to CSD7831)
01/09/2008 → …
Research
Invited talk: Ethical design for wellbeing and mental health. UCLIC Research Seminar Series
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Designing (with) AI for Wellbeing Workshop at CHI 2024
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Doctoral Consortium at ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2023
Symposium
Keynote: Ethical design for wellbeing and affective health
Invited talk
Smell, Taste, and Temperature Interfaces Workshop at CHI 2023
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invitd talk: Reflecting on the value of food for human -food interaction research. University of Leicester Seminar Series (~30)
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Invited talk: Ethical design for wellbeing and affective health. University College Dublin HCI Seminar Series (~40)
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Invited talk: Design for emotion and attention regulation. Trinity College Dublin. SIGCHI Ireland Seminars (~20)
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Invited talk, Seminar Series: Ethical design for digital wellbeing and mental health. HCI Seminar Series, Computer Science Department, Stanford University
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Invited talk: Blockchain trust: Stakeholders’ perspectives on cryptocurrency transactions, Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion, University of California Irvine
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Invited talk: Technologies for mindfulness practices, Computational Media, University of California Santa Cruz
Invited talk
Invited talk, Seminar Series: Technologies for emotional awareness and regulation, Computational Media Department, Seminar Series, University of California Santa Cruz
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Keynote: The ethics of big data for digital wellbeing and mental health, Mental Wellbeing Workshop at DIS'20
Invited talk
Keynote: HCI research and wellbeing, Science and Spirituality Conference, Cambridge UK
Invited talk
Invited talk: Emotional wellbeing and affective health, NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal
Invited talk
Invited talk: Technologies for wellbeing and affective health, Design Lab, University of California San Diego
Invited talk
Invited talk: HCI and affective health, University of Kent
Invited talk
Dagstuhl Seminar Invited Talk: Body-centric computing: neurofeedback, affect, memories, gestures
Invited talk
Keynote: Rituals of Disposal, Materializing Memories Mini-Symposium, Univ of Technology Sydney
Invited talk
Dagstuhl Seminar Invited Talk: Emotional memories: cueing, forgetting and digital disposal
Invited talk
Best Paper Honourable Mention Award ACM CHI 2019
Prize (including medals and awards)
Best Paper Honourable Mention Award ACM CHI 2019
Prize (including medals and awards)
CHI 2019 Special Recognition for Outstanding Reviews
Prize (including medals and awards)
Lancaster University Outstanding Contribution Staff Award 2019
Prize (including medals and awards)
Executive MBA Best Student Award 2018
Prize (including medals and awards)
Pilkington Teaching Award 2009
Prize (including medals and awards)
Nominated for the TransTech200 list of key innovators 2016
Prize (including medals and awards)
Nominated for the TransTech200 list of key innovators 2017
Prize (including medals and awards)
Dean's Awards in Faculty of Science and Technology: Highly Commended Nomination for Researcher of the Year 2019
Other distinction
Digital Female Leader Award 2019: Science Category
Prize (including medals and awards)
CHI 2016 Special Recognition for Outstanding Reviews
Prize (including medals and awards)
CHI 2016 Special Recognition for Outstanding Reviews - Notes
Prize (including medals and awards)
Best Paper Honourable Mention Award ACM CHI 2020
Prize (including medals and awards)
Best Paper Honourable Mention Award ACM DIS 2020
Prize (including medals and awards)
Best Paper Honourable Mention Award ACM CHI 2019
Prize (including medals and awards)
CHI 2021 Special Recognition for Outstanding Reviews
Prize (including medals and awards)
Higher Education Academy: Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year; Shortlisted nomination
Other distinction
AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar Honorable Mention in Human-Computer Interaction
Prize (including medals and awards)
Best Paper Award ACM CHI 2022
Prize (including medals and awards)
DIS 2023 Special Recognition for Outstanding Reviews
Other distinction
ACM Distinguished Speaker, (2022-2025)
Other distinction
SCC (Pervasive Systems)
- Digital Health Group
- Institute for Social Futures Fellow
- SCC (Pervasive Systems)