Scientific Advisory Board

Professor Banducci has 20 years of experience on international, collaborative projects (such as the New Zealand Election Study and the European Election Study). Recently she has been involved as principal investigator and co-principal investigator in research projects supported by the UK’S Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the European Commission. Consequently Susan Banducci is also widely experienced in scientific collaboration on an international level and has served on a number of review panels including the FP7 review panel in Brussels, the Independent Research Council of Denmark and the ESRC's Grants Assessment Panel. She has held a number of academic management positions at the University of Exeter, including her service as Director of the Centre for European Studies, Head of Department of Politics and Associate Dean of Education in the College of Social Science and International Studies. She is currently the director of the Exeter Q-Step Centre.

Leen d’Haenens is Full Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute for Media Studies, KU Leuven. She holds an MA in Romance Languages, an MSc in Press and Communication Sciences (University of Ghent), and an MSc in Information Studies (University of Toronto). She is vice dean for international affairs of the Faculty of Social Sciences (as of 2012). Between 2007 and 2011 she was chair of the Communication Science program, responsible for implementing the academic integration of the journalism programs at the Antwerp and Brussels campuses into the Faculty of Social Sciences. Between 2002 and 2007 she chaired a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for the Interdisciplinary Assessment of Initiatives for Public Governance. As of 2010 she is a member of the expert panel for social, political and communication sciences of the Research Foundation Flanders. She is vice-chair of the Chamber for Impartiality and Protection of Minors of the Flemish Media Regulator (as of March 2009) and board member of the Netherlands Press Fund (as of April 2006). Her current areas of research include digital media and youth, news media (e.g. portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the news, longitudinal studies on news diversity), media and ethnic minorities (e.g., ethnic discussion forums as a source of social capital for ethnic minorities), and western media policy and governance mechanisms.

Ulf Hannerz is Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, Sweden and has taught at several American, European, Asian and Australian universities. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a former Chair of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, a former director of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences (SCASSS), and a former editor of the journal Ethnos. He has also served on various faculty organs and committees at Stockholm University and participated in international academic assessment activities. His research has been especially in urban anthropology, media anthropology and transnational cultural processes, with field studies in West Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. He was Anthropology editor for the International Enyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2001). In 2005 the University of Oslo awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Alan Irwin is a Professor in the Department of Organization at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and also the CBS Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. From 2007-14, he was Dean of Research at CBS. He was Acting President during 2011. Previously, he was Professor of Science and Technology Policy, and Dean of Social and Environmental Studies, at the University of Liverpool. His PhD is from the University of Manchester and he has held previous appointments at Manchester and at Brunel University. Currently, he is a member of the Strategy Advisory Board for the UK Global Food Security Programme. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, a foreign member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, and an Honorary Fellow of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Alan Irwin has published over a number of years on issues of science and technology policy, scientific governance, environmental sociology and science-public relations.

Professor Shearer West is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sheffield. Working closely with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Keith Burnett, Professor West serves as a member of the University executive team and leads areas of strategic importance to the University in the region, nationally and internationally. She has responsibility for delivering a number of the University's key aims and priorities, working collaboratively with academic and professional colleagues and students to shape a strong future for the University and all those who benefit from its work. Previously Head of the Humanities Division at the University of Oxford, Professor West is an art historian and the author and editor of nine books and many articles. She has held two fellowships at Yale University. Other previous positions include Director of Research at the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of Research Councils UK, and Head of the School of Historical Studies at the University of Birmingham. She has held a number of policy and advisory roles, including as a member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Committee of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), UK representative on the Humanities Scientific Committee of Science Europe and as a jurist for the Netherlands Spinoza Prize, the Flemish Odysseus Prize and the Times Higher Education University Awards.