Science Insights Seminar Series 2026/27: New Perspectives at the Intersection of Technology and Society

Monday, 9 November 2026 · 16:00–17:00 CET

Feeling protected, being protected, and why they need not match: security, safety, and privacy as people experience them

Speaker

Dipl.-Ing. Rafael Vrecar, BSc

Language

German

Zoom

tuwien.zoom.us/j/67004472968

Technical security can be measured, certified and compared. How protected people feel when they use a technology cannot, at least not easily. Still, people act on that feeling: they avoid password managers because "all my passwords in one place" seems risky, and they trust an email because it looks official. In everyday life, people hardly separate security, safety, and privacy. "I don't feel safe" can mean any of them. Rafael Vrecar therefore uses the term perceived protection for all three: how protected a person feels, whichever aspect is technically at stake.

In this talk, he shows when and why perceived and actual protection come apart and what role technologies, personal traits, and context play in this, from AI assistants to cookie banners. He presents results from his own studies and the instruments being developed to measure perceived protection. Finally, he turns to generative AI: it makes deception cheap, and increasingly it is also meant to decide for us what we share. Both change the question of what our sense of protection can still rely on.

About the speaker

Rafael Vrecar is a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researcher at TU Wien. His research focuses on perceived protection, that is, how protected people feel when using digital technologies and why this perception often differs from their actual level of protection. His doctoral project, Perceived Protection: Security, Safety, and Privacy as People Experience Them, is funded by a DOC Fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW).

More about the talk and the speaker

Tuesday, 24 November 2026 · 12:00–13:00 CET

Emerging Technologies and Violent Extremism: What AI Shows Us About Threats, Prevention, and Governance

Speaker

Dr. Kevin Marc Blasiak

Language

English

Zoom

tuwien.zoom.us/j/63311648571

Violent extremist movements have repeatedly been early adopters of new technologies, from online forums and social media to encrypted messaging and gaming platforms. Prevention and oversight have tended to arrive only later. Generative AI is the current and most consequential example of this pattern.

This talk uses the case of AI to ask what responsible engagement with an emerging technology looks like in counter-terrorism and violent extremism prevention (CTVE). The talk first maps the threats: persuasive synthetic propaganda produced at low cost, conversational systems that can become part of a user's radicalisation, and a wider erosion of trust in information and institutions. It then turns to what AI can realistically offer for prevention, such as reaching at-risk individuals online, connecting people to support, detecting coordinated campaigns with accessible open-source tools, and supporting frontline workers.

Finally, Kevin Marc Blasiak argues that the hardest questions are about governance rather than technical capability. Prevention depends on trust and legitimacy. A system that quietly shifts from supporting people to monitoring and triaging can undermine both. Drawing on recent multi-stakeholder research, the talk asks how such systems should be classified and overseen, who is accountable when they fail, and how to design them around the values of the people they affect. The aim is to offer a transferable way of thinking about deploying emerging technologies in a domain where mistakes are costly and societally consequential.

About the speaker

Kevin Marc Blasiak is a Lecturer in Information Systems at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. His research examines digital harms such as online extremism, how technology can be governed to mitigate these harms, and the responsible design of systems that counter and prevent such harms. He is a digital harms and emerging technologies expert with UNOPS and supports UN work on technology and countering violence. Kevin is a member of the VOX-Pol Network of Excellence, a contributor to the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) and a Fellow of the CTSi at TU Wien, where he previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher. He completed his PhD at the University of Queensland in 2024.

Monday, 14 December 2026 · 16:00–17:00 CET

Who Does the User Interface Serve Today? Exploring the Tension Between Usability, Market Logic, and Agentic AI

Speaker

Philipp Pieh Sandpeck, MA

Language

German

Zoom

tuwien.zoom.us/j/67404826993

Usability promises, by definition, that digital systems should be effective, efficient, and satisfying to use (ISO 9241-11). Within today's attention economy, however, this principle increasingly conflicts with the business models of many digital platforms. Search engines assess relevance partly based on user engagement, while advertising-funded services depend on every additional minute of attention.

As a result, the interfaces that are rewarded are often not those that help users achieve their goals quickly, but those that keep them engaged for as long as possible. Designers therefore find themselves serving two masters with fundamentally different interests.

This talk examines the tension between usability and market logic and explores possible ways forward. Can value-based, AI-supported design approaches help counteract these dynamics, and if so, whose interests should they ultimately serve?

About the speaker

Born in Vienna in 1986, Philipp Pieh Sandpeck originally aspired to become a journalist. During his school years, he developed a passion for typography and graphic design, although he initially hesitated to pursue this interest professionally. After studying economics and musicology, he began working as a freelance designer for a Vienna-based agency specialising in cultural communication.

With the rise of smartphones, he became increasingly interested in how physical and digital design could merge into coherent brand experiences. In 2015, he founded Gebrüder Pixel OG to support organisations in developing such hybrid experiences. He further expanded his expertise through executive education programmes, including courses at the Yale School of Management, and later completed a Master's degree in User Experience Management at Technikum Wien.

Today, his work focuses on the intersection of business, technology, and design. He received the internationally renowned iF Design Award in both 2025 and 2026 and is a certified UXQCC Usability Engineer. He also teaches Interface Design at the New Design University in St. Pölten.

January 2027 · date to be announced

Sustainable Tech Education: A Critical and Cross-Cultural Student Experience

Speakers

Lucien Stoven, Julian Schlör and Lukas Wurth

Language

English

Zoom

Zoom link coming soon

As sustainability and ethics have been more broadly identified as critical imperatives in tech research and industry, engineering and computer science students need thorough exposure to these themes.

Being computer science students themselves, Lucien Stoven (IMT), Julian Schlör (TU Wien), and Lukas Wurth (TU Wien) will share collected experiences in education on this topic, critically evaluate the visibility of the field at their universities, the different teaching methodologies, and the topic's integration into the curricula in France and Austria. Finally, they will discuss areas in which they see potential for improvement, leading to an open discussion.

About the speakers

Lucien Stoven is an informatics engineering student from IMT (Institut Mines-Télécom) in France. Long interested in sustainable tech, they pursued a double diploma in a political science school to study political ecology. They were student representative at IMT and a member of the EULiST Student Board. This singular education journey led them to research the relation of engineering students to ecology. Nowadays, Lucien is involved in sustainable tech associations in Lille (France).

Julian Schlör is a computer science student at TU Wien. His engagement with Digital Ethics and Digital Humanism began at the Digital Humanism Summer School 2024 in Vienna. Since then, he attended various events on the topic, volunteered at the first Digital Humanism Conference in 2025, and presented a poster on Digital Humanism at the EULiST Student Conference 2026. Moreover, he works at the Department of International Affairs at TU Wien's student union, and is a student board member in the EULiST University Alliance.

Lukas Wurth is a chemical engineering doctoral student at TU Wien, doing research on the use of digital engineering for enhancing processes for the production of sustainable fuels. As part of his teaching he co-created a new interdisciplinary course on sustainability, in which students of all bachelor programmes of TU Wien collaboratively work on sustainability topics. He used to serve as part of the executive committee of TU Wien's student union (HTU Wien), being responsible for the agenda of teaching, research, internationalisation and PhD students. He currently is a member of the EULiST Student Board and works in the Department of International Affairs at TU Wien's student union.

February 2027 · date to be announced

Title to be announced

Speaker

Richard Pfeifer, M.A.

Language

German (provisional)

Zoom

Zoom link coming soon

The Science Insights Seminar Series will conclude with a final seminar in February 2027. Further details regarding the topic and exact date will be announced in due course.

About the speaker

Richard Pfeifer, M.A., is a University Assistant at the Research Department of Urban Culture and Public Space at TU Wien and a doctoral candidate in sociology. His research focuses on social inequality, urban development, housing policy, and the formation of urban publics. As part of his doctoral research, he investigates the relationship between housing governance and urban inequalities in European cities, with a particular focus on Vienna and Brussels. His presentation will explore current perspectives drawn from his research and professional context. Further information on the seminar topic will be announced soon.