Visiting Researchers

The Landecker Digital Memory Lab welcomes visiting fellows. We can offer funding for short stays, but you are welcome to join us for a self- or institution-funded study visit too. Please use our contact form to enquire.

2023-24 Visiting Researchers – Autumn

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Visiting Senior Research Associate – Dr Mykola Makhortykh

Mykola Makhortykh is an Alfred Landecker Lecturer at the Institute of Communication and Media Science, where he studies the impact of algorithmic systems and AI on Holocaust memory transmission. His other research interests include trauma and memory studies, armed conflict reporting, cybersecurity and critical security studies, and bias in AI systems.

A person with neatly styled dark hair is shown in a close-up portrait. They have a calm, confident expression, wearing a dark blazer over a blue top. The plain, light background keeps the focus on their face, emphasizing their poised and professional appearance.

Visiting Senior Research Associate – Maryna Sydorova

Maryna Sydorova is a data engineer and a scientific programmer at the Institute of Communication and Media Science at the University of Bern. Before working at the Institute, Maryna worked as a freelance data scientist and cloud architect with a particular emphasis on AI. She has been involved in multiple algorithm and AI audit projects as a full-stack developer responsible for the implementation of a cloud-based cross-platform audit infrastructures and post-audit data analysis. Many of these projects dealt with the representation and distortion of Holocaust memory and the propagation of conspiratorial information and hate speech in online environments. In addition to working on AI audits, Maryna has been researching the use of digital platforms and their affordances for Russian disinformation and propaganda in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the instrumentalization of historical memory by the Kremlin. Her publications on these topics appeared recently in Visual Communication, Eastern European Holocaust Studies, and HKS Misinformation Review.

Mykola and Maryna’s visit to the Landecker Digital Memory Lab is co-funded by the Lab and The Isaacsohn and André Families’ Visiting Fellowship, Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies.

2025 Visiting Researchers – Autumn

Visiting Senior Research Associate – Stefania Manca

Stefania Manca, PhD, is a researcher at the Institute of Educational Technology of the Italian National Research Council. Her work lies at the intersection of technology, education, and historical memory, with a particular focus on Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism. She holds a PhD in Education and ICT, where she examined the use of social media in Holocaust education through a learning ecology perspective. She is a member of the Network for Innovative Holocaust Education (NIHE) and the European Practitioners Network against Antisemitism (EPNA), and her research addresses antisemitism and Holocaust distortion on social media. Her current work explores digital strategies to enhance Holocaust knowledge, counter online antisemitism, and promote the constructive use of social media for digital peacebuilding and activism.

Stefania’s visit to the Landecker Digital Memory Lab is fully funded by the Italian National Research Council under the Short Term Mobility 2025 programme.