May 2025 round-up

If April was a month of the new beginnings, May was all about gathering speed, as detailed below. On the personal front, the month included a jazz concert, Star Wars’ day, coffee with a friend, lots of fresh asparagus and the kiddo’s last day of school ever (and, thus, my last school drop-off / pick-up).

But there was also confirmation that many colleagues will be leaving the University as part of the voluntary leavers scheme, which is really sad (and also worrying).

Research

One team completed the first round of interviews on the agentic AI project, and secured permission to do observations. Another completed data collection for the project about use of AI to support emergency call rooms. 

I reached out to another company also doing work with AI agents, and it looks like we will be able to start collecting data there, very soon. I also made progress on “negotiations” to access secondary data for another project; plus, I brainstormed with someone in Thailand about a project idea related to the use of GenAI for automation vs augmentation in universities.

On the negative side, I ended up dropping off a project that looks really interesting and with a great team because, frankly, I couldn’t really contribute much. I would be adding cost to the project for very little added value. I am sure there will other opportunities to collaborate with some of these very talented researchers, in the future.

Writing

Our paper on digital wellbeing was finally (!!!) accepted for publication. I am really looking forward to sharing the paper with you, soon.

Three submissions this month:

1. Worked on revisions for a paper about the use of ChatGPT in universities, and submitted the revised paper. Fingers crossed, the reviewers will be happy with the work done. 
2. Submitted an extended abstract for paper development workshop, and received rejections for the two that I had submitted last month. 
3. Worked on the report for the project about the use of AI to support emergency call rooms, and submitted it to the company that commissioned the research.

On the other hand, I had planned to submit a paper about use of AI for personalised learning support and another one about the use of GenAI in SMEs, but ultimately decided to change plans. The first, because the dataset wasn’t good enough – if we get more data, we can say more interesting things that will be truly consequential. The second, because analysis of the data revealed an interesting perspective that we had not considered initially – and we decided to focus on developing that perspective, instead.

Teaching

Marked dissertations, moderated reports, and dealt with student queries.

Discussed findings emerging from a PhD students’ data collection, prepared the annual review report, and was gearing up for their progression review, when it all came to a halt because they had to deal with a family emergency. You do feel very small and inconsequential, when those things happen to people around you.

Service

Contributed to the annual report for the SeNSS doctoral training network. Wrote a reference letter, reviewed a paper, and had meetings about the GDPR implications of using GenAI in research. Applied for a voluntary role.

What did May 2025 have in store for you?