The Connected Community’s main objective is to train future professionals, such as students in therapy and special education, in the use of new technologies for people with special needs. These technologies include haptic, audio, and visual interfaces, robotics, virtual reality (VR), connected tools, and software. The CC focuses on special needs education and aims to establish a joint master's program in the long run.
The CC has a strong interdisciplinary character and will actively collaborate with several stakeholders in society, such as schools, municipal authorities, ministries, and organizations dedicated to supporting people with physical limitations. One of the important aims of our CC will be to democratise access to skills and know-how in order to promote equality for people of different genders, ages, cultural backgrounds and physical abilities, with particular focus on the latter.
Connected Community Activities
Planned Education Activities
Students of different levels (BA, MA, PhD) will be involved in research activities, and encouraged to present their research findings, to share their work, and receive feedback.
Research Methodology Trainings will be offered by postdocs and PhDs.
Peer discussions, group projects, and research clubs will encourage collaboration among students and equip them with the necessary skills to conduct independent research.
The exchange of best practices in teaching and curriculum development is encouraged.
A MOOC Course on “New Technologies for Social inclusion” will be implemented until mid of 2024.
Annual summer schools and several workshops per year will support the long-term aim: A joint Degree M.Sc. Program on “New Technologies for Social inclusion” (until the end of 2026).
Planned Research Activities
The CC contributes to the existing body of knowledge in the field by generating new findings.
Co-authored articles by CC members will be published.
Public lectures and exhibitions will be offered.
A conference is planned, which is open for all researchers in the field and students to present their work.
New educational materials and teaching methods will be developed.
Partnerships/collaborations between researchers from multiple universities across the Connected Community will be fostered.
The Connected Community PIs will apply for research and teaching grants (including student mobility) for increased interdisciplinary research and cross-pollination of ideas.
Lead: Prof. Ercan Altinsoy (TUD) | Email : ercan.altinsoy@tu-dresden.de
Ercan Altinsoy - Ercan Altinsoy Biography:
Ercan Altinsoy received a graduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany, in 2005. After receiving his Ph.D. degree, he worked with HEAD Acoustics as a Consulting Engineer. Since 2006, he has been with TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany, where he is currently a Professor in acoustic and haptic engineering. His research interests include perception-based engineering, vibroacoustics, vehicle acoustics, virtual acoustics, virtual reality, haptic interfaces, haptic perception, product sound, and vibration desig
Partner: Prof. Sophie Sakka (CY) | Email: sophie.sakka@inshea.fr
Sophie Sakka - Sophie Sakka Biography:
Sophie Sakka is a full professor at the National Superior Institute for Inclusive Education (INSEI, France) since 2023. Her research profile is multidisciplinary, related to cybernetics between human and robotic systems, particularly applied to social identity and learning capacity. She had initial training in Solid Mechanics (UPMC, 1997), specialized in robotics (Ph.D., UPCM, 2002), specialized in humanoid robotics (post-doctorate, AIST-Tsukuba, Japan, 2003-05), specialized in biomechanics human (Associate Professor, University of Poitiers, 2005-16). She set up the real-time imitation of human movements by a humanoid robot during a guest researcher stay at IIT-Genova (Italy, 2006-07), and continued this work at IRCCyN (associate researcher, 2010 -16) and Centrale Nantes (Associate Professor, 2016-22). In 2014, she founded the non-for-profit organization "Robots!". One of its objectives was to carry out experiments in social robotics in society, to finance them, to perpetuate them, and above all to involve the general public in the reflection around the social change associated with the robotization of society. For her commitment and high-impact results with autistic and Alzheimer's audiences, she was elevated to the rank of Knight of the National Order of Merit in 2016. Her recent projects focus on the cognitive applications of social robotics applied to autism spectrum disorders and active learning processes of individuals.
Partner: Prof. Heidi Ottevaere (VUB) | Email:Heidi.Ottevaere@vub.be
Heidi Ottevaere - Heidi Ottevaere Biography:
Heidi Ottevaere is since 2009 a professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). At present, she chairs the Applied Physics and Photonics Department which is responsible for the Photonics Education Curriculum at VUB. She is responsible for the Instrumentation and Metrology platform at the Photonics Innovation Center and for the research unit ‘biophotonics’ of the Brussels Photonics Team B-PHOT. Her current research interests include biophotonics, interferometry, holography, and imaging. At Faculty level, she chairs the Committee for International Relations.
Partner Prof. Muriel Epstein (CY) | Email: muriel.epstein@cyu.fr
Muriel Epstein - Muriel Epstein Biography:
Muriel Epstein, an associate professor at CY Cergy Paris Université, specializes in digital environments and professional development for teachers. Her journey started as a math teacher, later delving into sociology to study student dropouts. Following her research, she founded an association promoting active learning to prevent dropouts, culminating in a successful history MOOC created by 200 dropout students.
Her current focus centers on inclusive education, leveraging digital transformations to train teachers and prevent dropouts. Muriel’s research endeavors aim to explore how digital transformations can foster inclusive teaching practices and support educators in diverse learning environments. She is particularly passionate about utilizing technology to improve teaching methods and enhance educational opportunities for marginalized students.
Alongside her academic pursuits, Muriel engages with EUTOPIA, connecting with a diverse network and fostering
Partner Prof. Kerstin Person (GU) | Email: kerstin.persson.waye@amm.gu.se
Kerstin Person Biograpy:
Prof. Kerstin Persson Waye earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health in 1982 and has been with Gothenburg University's medical faculty since 1985. She completed a PhD in Environmental Medicine, focusing on community low-frequency noise effects. Her research extended to low-frequency noise impacts on work performance and sleep, and later pioneering wind turbine noise studies. She held an associate professorship at Aalborg University from 2002 to 2005, and a visiting professorship within hearing research, at the University of Örebro during 2019-2020.
Her primary research investigates human reactions and long term health impacts to sounds, emphazising perceptual qualities. Progressing from a lectorate to a professorship in Environmental Medicine, particularly in noise research, she leads a cross-disciplinary team at the Sound and Health research unit. Their studies explore young children’s perception and reactions to noise and the effect on wellbeing, mental health and hearing. Research also focus on hearing disorders in communication-intensive workplaces, mechanisms for noise and vibration induced sleep disturbance and the long term impact of environmental noise on sleep and health. The prime aim is to comprehend sound exposure mechanisms and health outcomes.
Prof. Persson Waye continues her work at Gothenburg University, contributing internationally as a member of the WHO's General Guideline Group for noise criteria and on the expert panel of the Canadian Council of Academies for wind turbine and health reports. She has been a member of the board of International Commission for Acoustics (ICA), chair of ICBEN team 3, and currently a member of the executive committe at ICBEN. Presently she is Vice president within I-INCE for Europe and Africa, 2022-2025.
Jolan Kegelaers - Jolan KegelaersBiography:
Jolan Kegelaers is lecturer in health psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. In a broad sense, his research focusses on the promotion of mental health, with a specific interest in sports and other performance domains. He completed his PhD on the development of psychological resilience in talented and elite athletes. Currently he is involved in multiple research projects aimed at developing and evaluating novel interventions, including through the use of Virtual Reality (VR), to promote mental health and well-being across different populations. He is currently also working as the performance psychologist for the Flemish Judo federation and is a member of the ethics board of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Partner Dr. Chiao-I Tseng (GU) | Email: chiaoi.tseng@ait.gu.se
Chiao-I Tseng - Chiao-I Tseng Biography:
Chiao-I Tseng, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She specializes in empirical multimodal communication research. Her work delves into narrative strategies and impact across various media such as film, graphic narratives, news videos and interactive narratives.
She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Bremen (2010), alongside degrees from universities in the UK and Taiwan. Her expertise lies in developing discourse methods for analyzing multimodal cohesion, narrative impact, and temporal-spatial aspects.
Chiao-I’s research is highly interdisciplinary. Her current collaborative research includes a project on children's understanding of space and time in audiovisula narratives, a cross-faculty project on misinformation detection in public and online news videos and an EUTOPIA collaboration on documentary film on immigrants in virtual reality.
Partner Dr. Martijn Van Heel (VUB) | Email address: Martijn.Van.Heel@vub.be
Martjin Van Heel - Martijn Van Heel - Martijn Van Heel Biography:
Martijn Van Heel is an assistant professor in developmental and educational psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His research focuses on the impact of digital technology on the (sub)optimal development of children. More specifically, there are research lines on how online social interaction can improve youngster’s mental health or play a role in their identity development. Furthermore, there is also ongoing research on the use of VR technology as intervention for compulsive behavior in a clinical population. This research contributes to the connected community by ‘translating’ psychological processes to the context of new technologies.
