Elena Simperl is a Professor of Computer Science at King's College London. She is also the Deputy Head of the Department of Informatics, and the department's Enterprise and Engagement lead for the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences. In March 2023 she was appointed Director of Research for the Open Data Institute (ODI) where she will lead on the Institute’s research strategy. She is also a Fellow of the British Computer Society and features in the top 100 most influential scholars in knowledge engineering of the last decade.

Professor Elena Simperl obtained her doctoral degree in Computer Science from the Free University of Berlin, and her diploma in Computer Science from the Technical University of Munich. Prior to joining King’s in 2020, she was a former Turing Fellow, and held positions in Germany, Austria and at the University of Southampton.

Her research is at intersection between AI and social computing, helping designers understand how to build smart sociotechnical systems that combine data and algorithms with human and social capabilities. Professor Simperl has been involved in forty European and national research projects, including more recently QROWD, ODINE, Data Pitch, Data Stories, and ACTION.

She is currently the scientific and technical director of MediaFutures, a Horizon 2020 programme that is using arts-inspired methods to design participatory AI systems that tackle misinformation and disinformation online.

Elena’s interest in leading initiatives within the scientific community has also taken form through chairing several conferences in her field, including the European and International Semantic Web Conference series, the European Data Forum, and the European Semantic Technologies conference. She is the president of the Semantic Web Science Association.

Research interests

• Knowledge graphs
• Knowledge engineering
• Semantic technologies
• Human and social computation
• Crowdsourcing
• Open data
• Human data interaction
• Data storytelling
• Human-centric AI

Public engagement

• Computerphile - Knowledge Graphs

Further information

• Personal website