Submitted Papers - 2016

Talent Migration: Trends and Personal Experiences in Transatlantic Researcher Mobility

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Research funding from the European Union has been increasing researcher mobility between the US and European countries. In this talk I will report on personal experiences from a 15-month Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BUTE). In the framework of this project our team at BUTE worked with the Institute for Computer Science and Control of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to study collaboration and information sharing in immersive virtual environments. The data collection was carried out in the Institute’s Virtual Collaborative Arena (VirCA). VirCA provides an immersive collaborative platform where users can build, share and manipulate 3D content. They can collaboratively work with this content while being geographically dispersed. The results of the research showed that the immersive space can successfully support collaborative activities and problem solving. The results led to several publications, further research funding, and a continued collaboration.

In addition to the description of this particular project and experience, I will briefly describe recent trends in Trans-Atlantic researcher mobility and review funding opportunities available to US-based researchers. I will discuss the differences in the funding systems and describe lessons learned in applying for and implementing an EU-funded Trans-Atlantic Research Fellowship.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr. Anita Komlodi is an Associate Professor and the Graduate Program Director for Human-Centered Computing in the Department of Information Systems, University of Maryland Baltimore County. Her research areas span the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Human Information Behavior. She studies information behavior in various contexts and designs user interaction with information-intensive applications. In her current projects she focuses on information behavior and literacy across cultures and collaborative information behaviors in virtual reality environments. Dr. Komlodi received her Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Library and Information Science degrees from the University of Maryland and a Masters-equivalent degree from the Kossuth Lajos University in Library and Information Science and English.

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