New People at the Department

Kunal Chand
Kunal Chand joined IKMZ in August 2026 as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the SNSF-funded project Visual Toxicity in the Digital Platform Age (VizTox), led by Prof. Dr. Meg Jing Zeng. Previously, Kunal (PhD, Queensland University of Technology) has worked on developing computational toolkits for analysing large visual datasets, helping digital media researchers better understand cultures and communities on Instagram through their visual media.
His research focuses bridging the affordances of computer science and software engineering methods to meet the evolving needs of digital media researchers and the growing prominence of visual media. His recent work focused on examining how computational methods can assist moderators of social media platforms in analysing and countering harmful visuals generated by AI.

We warmly welcome Kunal as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Omer Rothenstein
Omer Rothenstein joins the department as a new Research and Teaching Assistant in Computational Social Science, as part of Prof. Dr. Meg Jing Zeng’s SNSF-funded project VizTox, which examines toxic visual media.
Omer brings a rich interdisciplinary background from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree both in Computer Science and in Communication & Journalism, later receiving the Smart Institute scholarship during his master's studies in Internet & New Media. Before coming to Zurich, he contributed to the ERC-funded "DigitalValues" project led by Prof. Limor Shifman and worked alongside Dr. Blake Hallinan in the Participatory Governance Lab, while also serving as a teaching assistant in media technologies history and quantitative research methods.
Omer’s research focuses on the intersection of technology and society, examining the cultural politics of algorithms and AI to understand how computational systems shape what we see, know, and value. Combining his computer science training with communication theory, he develops digital methods to audit platforms and generative AI tools, such as auditing YouTube for media diversity in his Master’s thesis. His broader interests span digital culture, platform governance, and the ways humor interplays with online communication and computerization.

We warmly welcome Omer as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Victoria Vziatysheva 
Victoria Vziatysheva joined IKMZ in September as an Academic Associate in the division of Computational Social and Communication Science, led by Prof. Dr. Meg Jing Zeng. She will join the institute full-time as a postdoc in early 2027. Victoria will participate in two projects: VizTox, focusing on the spread of harmful visual content online, and NCCR CLIM+, studying communication about climate extremes.
Victoria recently earned her PhD from the University of Bern, where she continues working until fully transitioning to IKMZ. In her dissertation, she examined how citizens search for political information via search engines and AI chatbots, drawing on selective exposure theory. More broadly, her research sits at the intersection of political communication, human-AI interaction, and media psychology.
Her interests span information-seeking behavior, perceptions of media content, algorithmic bias, and the spread of problematic content in digital environments.
Victoria holds Master's and Bachelor's degrees in journalism and communication.

We warmly welcome Victoria as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Aliya Andrich
Aliya Andrich joined IKMZ in September 2026 as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Science Communication team. She will work on the NCCR Children & Cancer project, which is one of six National Centers of Competence in Research projects funded by the SNSF. She will explore how childhood cancer is discussed and understood in Switzerland. Using a mixed-methods design that includes large-scale surveys and computational text and visual analysis, she will analyze interactions between researchers, healthcare providers, patients, families, the media, and the public.
Aliya is a computational communication scientist who works at the intersection of natural language processing, computer vision, and human-computer interaction. She investigates how harmful communication emerges and spreads across textual and visual media, from subtle bias and stereotyping to incivility and AI-generated risks. Aliya also conducts experimental research on how technologies, such as virtual reality, affect user perception and well-being.
Prior to coming to Zurich, Aliya was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where she studied harmful multimodal content and AI systems. She studied journalism at Lomonosov Moscow State University and earned her PhD at Technische Universität Ilmenau. For her dissertation, she used large-scale computational text analysis and longitudinal modeling to examine biased representations in political communication.

We warmly welcome Aliya as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Calvin Yixiang Cheng
Calvin joined IKMZ in September 2026 as a Senior Research and Teaching Associate in the Science Communication division.
He holds a DPhil in Social Data Science from the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, and an MPhil in Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
His research spans natural language processing, misinformation diffusion, and debunking strategies on social media platforms. His research leverages computational methods to explore how we can communicate and correct misbeliefs in science, contributing to a more informed public. He is particularly interested in how artificial intelligence and digital technologies, combined with narrative strategies, shape science communication. At IKMZ, Calvin will continue his work on AI for science, examining AI not only as a transformative research method in the social sciences, but also as an effective channel for debunking scientific misinformation.

We warmly welcome Calvin as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Martina Mihaljevic
Martina Mihaljevic joined IKMZ as a Research and Teaching Assistant as part of the NCCR Children and Cancer project. Her research focuses on communication in the context of childhood cancer.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Lausanne and a Master’s degree in Clinical and Health Psychology from the University of Fribourg.

We warmly welcome Martina as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Gabriel Hales
Gabriel (Gabe) Hales joined IKMZ in September 2026 as a Senior Research and Teaching Associate within the Internet Use and Society research group.
Gabe holds a PhD in Information and Media (2026; MA, 2021) from the Department of Media and Information, College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University.
His research investigates how Internet access, use, and skills can enhance or constrain social and academic outcomes, and how they interact with face-to-face social networks. This work is primarily framed by digital inequality. His methodological experience includes advanced statistical analysis (Mplus, Stata, SPSS, R), in-depth qualitative interviewing, and the creation and implementation of survey research.
Most recently, his doctoral dissertation focused on cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of how young people access and mobilize the digital context for development, and the creation of human and social capital (e.g., academic achievement, aspirations, social networks, in-person interaction).

We warmly welcome Gabe as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Johanna Beutel 
Johanna Beutel joined the Media & Internet Governance division at IKMZ as a Research and Teaching Assistant in September 2026. Previously, she worked for the German daily newspaper taz.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics and Public Administration from the University of Konstanz, as well as a double degree with an MA in Politics and Public Administration from the University of Konstanz and an MSc in European Governance from Universiteit Utrecht.
Her research interests include the regulation of disinformation, the governance of bots and algorithms, and the implications of these developments for democracy and political polarization.

We warmly welcome Johanna as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Jiliane Hens
Jiliane Hens joined the Media & Internet Governance division at the IKMZ as a Research and Teaching Assistant in September 2026. She holds an MA in Media Studies and a BA in Media Studies and English Studies from the University of Bonn.
Prior to her doctorate, she gained practical experience at a media agency and at a German public broadcaster. Her doctoral research is conducted within RePIM (Rethinking Public Interest Media), a project investigating how public interest media can remain relevant, resilient, and impactful in a data-driven, platformised, and AI-powered media ecosystem.
Her research interests include AI governance, media policy, and platform studies.

We warmly welcome Jiliane as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Salomon Florian
Salomon Florian ist Teil des NCCR Children & Cancer, wo er derzeit als studentische Hilfskraft mit Bachelor-Abschluss tätig ist. Aktuell absolviert er sein letztes Semester im Masterstudium Kommunikationswissenschaft und Wissenschaftsphilosophie an der Universität Zürich. Anfang 2027 wird er im Rahmen des NCCR eine Stelle als Doktorand antreten.
Zu seinen Forschungsinteressen zählen Gesundheitskommunikation und Kommunikationstheorie. Seinen Bachelor-Abschluss in Allgemeiner Rhetorik und Politikwissenschaft erwarb Salomon an der Universität Tübingen.
Bevor er in die Wissenschaft wechselte, absolvierte Salomon eine Ausbildung zum Tischler und sammelte Berufserfahrung im Produktionsmanagement und im Unternehmertum.

We warmly welcome Salomon as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Laura Rivoletti
Laura Rivoletti joined IKMZ in the fall semester of 2026 as a Research and Teaching Assistant at Prof. Dr. Thomas Friemel’s Chair. As part of the NCCR Children & Cancer project, she will explore how childhood cancer is perceived and communicated among patients, families, healthcare providers and the public in Switzerland, with the aim of improving understanding, trust and decision-making while shaping future health policies. Building on these insights, she will develop evidence-based communication strategies tailored to different target groups and communication channels.
She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychology. During her Master’s studies, she co-authored a paper on bilingualism, theory of mind and developmental disorders.
She subsequently held a position as a research assistant at the Chair of Metacognitive Development during Childhood and Adolescence, where she worked on a paper in the field of metacognition. Her research interests lie at the intersection of health and social psychology, cognitive processes, communication science, media research, and the social sciences.

We warmly welcome Laura as a new member of the IKMZ team!

Ursula Kristin Schmid
Ursula Kristin Schmid joined the Science Communication division at IKMZ as a Senior Research and Teaching Associate in October 2026. As part of her work at IKMZ, she will also join the project "Science Communication in the Age of AI."
Ursula recently completed her PhD at the Department of Media and Communication at LMU Munich, examining humorous hate speech on social media and its potential to mainstream hostility.
Her prior research mainly focuses on the intersection of online intolerance and entertainment and how audiences perceive such content. Her work also concerns potential countermeasures against hateful communication, such as bystander intervention. At IKMZ, she will bring her expertise in qualitative and quantitative media reception research to bear on current questions in science communication.

We warmly welcome Ursula as a new member of the IKMZ team!