Dr. Sandra Cortesi is a Senior Research and Teaching Associate at the IKMZ at the University of Zurich and a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

At Youth and Media she collaborates closely with talented young people (ages 12-18) and engages with researchers in the field who share an interest in exploring innovative ways to understand, evaluate, and shape current and future social challenges emerging in the digital world. 

Sandra Cortesi’s current work focuses on (interconnected) areas of youth’s life, including information quality and the news ecosystem; well-being; risks to safety and privacy; the future of work, digital skills, and lifelong learning; emerging technologies (e.g., AI, AR, VR); and spaces for youth participation, civic engagement, and innovation. All publications are available at https://blogs.harvard.edu/sandracortesi/research 

Sandra Cortesi’s research, teaching, and outreach is often application-oriented and translational, combining different methods of social science research. Sandra is committed to engage in research with a real-world impact — particularly by translating findings from research for policy-making in the private and public sector — and to engage in participatory, multisectoral, interdisciplinary, and global research efforts. 

Sandra Cortesi’s work has been featured in numerous popular media outlets including (see here) ABC, Bloomberg, Buzzfeed, CNBC, CNN, Education Week, El Espectador, El Pais, Fast Company, Financial Times, Forbes, Fox News, Gawker, Horizonte, Huffington Post, La Nacion, LA Times, La Semana, Mashable, Migros-Magazin, Newsweek, NBC, NPR, NZZ am Sonntag, O Globo, Orlando Sentinel, Persönlich, Slate, SRF, Swissinfo, Tages-Anzeiger, TIME, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, 20 Minutes and many others. Her work has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, the Mercator Foundation, the Research Council of Norway, and the Wikimedia Foundation, among others.

Sandra Cortesi works closely with the Global Network of Internet & Society, the Digital Asia Hub, and many international organizations such as Unicef, Unesco, the ITU, the Council of Europe, and the OECD. She also advises governments around the world and serves on different boards. For a full list, see https://blogs.harvard.edu/sandracortesi/background