Panayiota Tsatsou

My research lies in the broader field of digital media research. I research the areas of digital divides/digital inclusion and Internet studies and my work addresses phenomena concerning the digital inclusion/exclusion of vulnerable people, digital/Internet research, digital media and civic activism, children and the Internet, gender and the Internet, and digital policy and regulation.

I have published widely on digital media and the role of ordinary people, vulnerable populations and researchers as digital media actors. My work aims to contribute to innovative and evidence-based solutions to issues arising in people’s relationships with digital media. I have developed research collaborations in the UK and internationally and have presented my work in diverse venues.

I am the author of Digital Divides in Europe: Culture, Politics and the Western-Southern Divide (2011, Peter Lang), which examines the hotly debated subject of digital divides and addresses the Western–Southern divide in Europe. I am also the author of Internet Studies: Past, Present and Future Directions (2014, Ashgate), which offers a critical account of the past, present and future study of the Internet. I'm the co-editor of Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-enabled Services (Routledge, 2017), which explores a wide range of issues concerning innovative ICT-enabled digital services, their usability and their consequent role in social inclusion. I'm also the editor of Vulnerable People and Digital Inclusion: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), which offers an up-to-date examination of the role of digital inclusion in vulnerable people’s social inclusion and includes expert practitioner perspectives from those working to improve vulnerable people’s welfare.

In terms of externally and internally funded research: • In 2011, I led on an AHRC funded research project on digital inclusion and minority communities in Wales, UK. • In the period 2011-2014, I worked as Co-investigator in a British Academy funded research on digital inclusion, identity and literacy in the UK. • In 2014-2015, I conducted research on the role of digital technologies in social research in the UK that was funded by the EPSRC Communities and Culture Network+ (CCN+) and the College of Social Sciences at the University of Leicester. • In 2017, I completed a focus group research on digital inclusion of vulnerable communities in the UK, the published outputs of which inform and pave the way for future research on the current status and future prospects of digital inclusion of vulnerable people in the UK and the implications for those people's social inclusion and welfare.

Currently: • I am the Co-Investigator in an ESRC grant application for the study of discourses of blaming of ethnic and religious minorities for the spread of the Covid-19 in the UK and, in preparation of this application, I am currently involved in the conduct of Twitter data analysis. • I have secured internal funding for the conduct of pilot research entitled ‘Social lab for vulnerable people’s digital inclusion: a mélange of theory and real-life experiences’.

Prizes & Scholarships (professional, not study-related)

Superstar Awards: Best Lecturer Nominee, Leicester Students’ Union, University of Leicester. 2019-20, 2021-22.

University of Leicester Merit Award on Leadership for Curriculum Transformation 2017.

ESRC Methods Training Bursary Sentiment analysis: How it works and how to use it in the social sciences University of Manchester.

ESRC Methods Training Bursary Gathering and analysing social media data from Twitter YouTube University of Manchester.

Professional Esteem

Panelist, AHRC M4C Subject Area Panel, AHRC-funded Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, 16th January 2023.

Research Escalator mentor, Communication and Technology Division of the International Communication Association. 2022-23.

Committee Member, Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Nancy Baym Book Award, 2021.

Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) Peer Review College (PRC) Member, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Term: 2021-2025.

External Examiner of BA(Hons) Media and Cultural Studies (2016-18) & MA Contemporary Media (2016-20), University of Wolverhampton.

External Examiner of MA International Political Communication (2019-23). Bournemouth University.

Member of the External Evaluation Committee (EEC) for accreditation of the MA in Media, Law and Governance, Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education.

External Evaluation Committee (EEC) Chair/Member, Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education.

Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Expert, European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology.

Social Sciences Panel Member & Evaluator for FCT Investigator Call, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P.(FCT), Portugal.

Reviewer of Research Applications for the UK Research Councils: EPSRC, AHRC, ESRC.

Book Proposal Reviewer for: Routledge, Sage, Ashgate, University of Toronto Press.

Reviewer for: Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication; New Media & Society; Information, Communication & Society; Social Media + Society; The Information Society; Journal of Communication; International Journal of Communication; Telecommunications Policy; Learning, Media and Technology; Mass Communication and Society; Journal of Children and Media; First Monday; and others.