Celebrating Women in STEM: Bogna’s Recent Impact Activities

Earlier this autumn, Bogna Liziniewicz (2023 cohort) had the opportunity to showcase her research and reflect on her interdisciplinary journey at the School of Computer Science’s Ada Lovelace Day event, celebrating women in STEM. She presented both a poster and a lightning talk alongside fellow researchers, highlighting the innovative work being carried out across the school.

Her poster outlined her PhD research on the factors that support the longevity of befriending schemes in collaboration with b:friend, as well as her planned studies, which include:

Conducting interviews with users and volunteers to gain an in-depth understanding of how friendships are formed and sustained through these schemes.
Using social data science to build a multidimensional profile of individuals experiencing loneliness, providing guidelines for tailored loneliness interventions.

In her lightning talk, Bogna reflected on her interdisciplinary research journey, which spans:

An undergraduate degree combining Spanish Studies and Psychology at Lancaster University, including an Erasmus year in Audiovisual Communication at UIC Barcelona.
Research assistant roles at Lancaster University’s Department of Psychology, exploring language, wellbeing, and behaviour analysis.
Transitioning to data science through her Master’s in Experimental Psychology with Data Science at the University of Manchester, where she explored trust in data visualisation and developed coding skills.
Research on behaviour in emergencies via a part-time RA role in collaboration with Lancaster University, the University of Sussex, and Dstl.

All these experiences culminated in her PhD at Horizon, where she applies social data science to explore loneliness from a multidimensional perspective, aiming to develop user-focused interventions.

Bogna described the event as

“a fun and inspiring event, especially getting to see what other women in computer science were working on PhD- or research-wise.”

Through her research and engagement activities, Bogna continues to demonstrate the real-world impact of interdisciplinary social data science, helping to inform practical interventions that can improve wellbeing and reduce loneliness in society.