Future Leaders Fellow Dr Leonie Tanczer joins UCL Computer Science as Associate Professor

Dr Tanczer will bring her Gender and the Internet of Things (IoT) Research Team with her to UCL Computer Science. 

Having been awarded a UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) Future Leaders Fellowship this year in recognition of the potentially world-changing and transformative nature of her research, Dr Tanczer will be using her UKRI FLF funding to build a new "Gender and Tech” lab within Computer Science, a new area for the department.

Every year, more than a million women and girls report experiencing domestic abuse in the UK, while at the same time, the growing interconnectedness of the world puts even more at risk for online harassment and violence.

In response to this, the team which includes Research Associates, PhD students and future Postdocs, will study how abusers might exploit the ever-expanding digital landscape in order to design new technologies, systems and policies to combat emerging abusive behaviours and protect victims and survivors of intimate partner violence.

Leonie also brings with her the following grants:

• The ‘Violence, Health and Society’ project, which is funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) and will span five years from 2021 to 2026.
• The 'Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network', which aims to reduce the prevalence of mental health problems among children, adults, and the elderly, by bringing together experts with different ways of thinking about violence, abuse and mental health
• Respond XR - a project that explores the socio-technical challenges posed by the adoption of XR (extended reality) technology, providing the foundations for further research on the safe, secure, and ethical use of immersive training technology for enhancing the response of policing in England.
• The UK Computer Misuse Act 1990 and cases of technology-enabled domestic violence and abuse - this project examines the occurrence and prevalence of technology-facilitated abuse (“tech abuse”) in court cases prosecuted through the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in England and Wales.

On moving over to UCL Computer Science, Leonie said: "I am so excited by this transition and can’t wait to become an active faculty member at UCL’s Department of Computer Science.

In my previous role, I have been working hard to set a clear trajectory for my research, teaching, and policy engagement on the intersection of security, gender, and tech and I look forward to seeing these efforts flourish and grow.

I am, of course, sad to say goodbye to many amazing colleagues and our brilliant students at UCL STEaPP but I honestly cannot wait for the opportunities that lie ahead.

I am particularly happy to be given the chance to build a welcoming and intellectually engaging home for my “Gender and Tech” Research Lab and thrilled to bring my current team, projects, and grants – including the prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship I have been awarded - along with me”.