Many congratulations to Dr Lucas Anastasiou on the successful defence of his thesis entitled: “Computational Argumentation Approaches to Improve Sensemaking and Evidence-based Reasoning in Online Deliberation Systems.

Under the supervision of Prof Anna De Liddo and Prof Petr Knoth, Lucas’s study explored how computational methods can advance the current state of online discussion. His investigation specifically focused on computational argumentation mining to improve participants’ sensemaking and the overall quality of debate happening online.

The examiners, Dr Aisling Third (Chair), Prof. John Domingue and Dr Elena Musi (External examiner, University of Liverpool) praised Lucas’s work, commenting that “Lucas, you are now a world expert in the field of computational argumentation for public deliberation and you owe it to others to show us ‘what to do next’, so be adventurous!"

Prof De Liddo with great pride announced to KMi yesterday the news of our newest Doctor in the lab; we joined together both in-person and remotely for some bubbly and cake to say cheers to Lucas’ success.

Lucas has chosen to continue his career at the Open University and is looking forward to taking up the role of postdoctoral researcher in Prof. De Liddo’s Ideation and Deliberation in Society Research Group. He will work on the EU-funded grant, ORBIS, which aims to shape and support new democratic models developed through deliberative democracy processes.