Professor at Aberystwyth University awarded Fellowship

Professor Mark Whitehead will explore the impact of smart technologies on democratic processes.

Professor Mark Whitehead will explore the impact of smart technologies on democratic processes.

13 August 2018

An Aberystwyth University Professor has been awarded an Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) Fellowship for 2018/19 to explore the impact of smart technologies on democratic processes.

Professor Mark Whitehead from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences is one of six recipients throughout Europe selected for the prestigious fellowship.

The ISRF Fellowship supports independent-minded researchers to explore and present original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real world social problems.

Professor Mark Whitehead said: “The Fellowship will support my research into the challenges that big data, algorithmic technologies, and smart infrastructure present to personal freedom in the 21st century. Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year, the hope is that this project will offer fresh perspectives on the impacts of smart technologies on democratic processes.”

The findings will contribute to the wider research of the Aberystwyth Behavioural Insights Interdisciplinary Research Centre, of which Professor Whitehead is the co-director.

Professor Whitehead is also the author of Neuroliberalism: Behavioural Government in the 21st Century, which was published in October 2017.