Noshir Contractor participated in the “Balancing AI across Regulation, Innovation & Safety” panel at the UK – India AI Conference 2025 today. He joined leading experts in two panel discussions, exploring the vital intersections of AI development concerning regulation, innovation, and safety. He started at the “Automation vs. Augmentation: Finding the Right Balance for the Future of Work” panel discussing theintersection of AI with workforce dynamics. He then contributed to “Balancing AI across Regulation, Innovation & Safety” panel.

The paper “The Differential Impacts of Team Diversity as Variability Versus Atypicality on Team Effectiveness,” published in Scientific Reports, examines how two types of team diversity—variability and atypicality—affect team performance. Authored by Neelam Modi, Alina Lungeanu, Leslie DeChurch, and Noshir Contractor, this research explores whether teams with varied backgrounds or those with members who all share an underrepresented status work better and why. This study provides important insights for organizations looking to improve their team strategies.

🔗  Access the full study here: Read it now!

SONIC Lab had a productive week at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop in Galveston, TX from Jan 28-31, 2025! Here are some highlights from our presentations:

Oral Presentations:

1. “Teams that SIRIUSly Go the Distance: Effect of Isolation and Confinement on Team Performance” – DeChurch, Chan, Lungeanu, Contractor
2. “TEAMSTaR: Supporting Resilient Teams to Go the Distance” – Contractor, Chan, Lungeanu, DeChurch, Bell

Poster Presentations:

1. “PRISM: Performance Reimagined in Spaceflight Multiteam Systems” – Chan, DeChurch, Contractor
2. “Paired for Success: Operationally Building Crew Communication” – Chan, Sudarsan, DeChurch, Lungeanu, Bell, Contractor
3. “Improving Space Mission Success Through Team State-Building Activities” – Qian, Chan, Lungeanu, DeChurch, Bell, Contractor

We also presented “Collective Attention in Spaceflight Multiteam Systems: Mitigating the Negative Impact of Communication Delays” at the workshop.

Professor Contractor, a distinguished researcher from Northwestern University, discussed innovative strategies in digital education that are shaping the future of learning. The session provided valuable insights into the integration of technology in educational settings, highlighting both current achievements and future potentials in digital learning.

Thank you for joining us at the International Conference on “Elevating Academic Standards and Practices in Higher Education”!

SONIC Director Noshir Contractor joined the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) to speak about network science and how it can support applied communication scholarship. Professor Contractor spoke as part of the second lecture in the Future Directions of Applied Communication Research Lecture Series (https://youtu.be/6WvVHpYpRkc). Read more here.

On July 15th, SONIC Director Noshir Contractor participated as a panelist at an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Internet, held at the Royal Society in London. Fellow panelists include Sir Nigel Shadbolt from Oxford, Dame Wendy Hall from Southampton, Vicki Nash from Oxford Internet Institute, and Hannes Werthner from Technical University of Vienna. Panelists were joined by respondent Vincent “Vint” Nerf, the co-inventor of Internet. Read more about the event here.

SONIC Director Noshir Contractor has been named Executive Director of Web Science Trust (WST), effective May 1, 2024. WST is a UK-based charity that promotes understanding of how the Web and society mutually influence each other through education and research in web science. Professor Contractor announced that he is honored and excited to, “shape a future where the Web and AI can synergistically benefit an equitable and inclusive humanity.” Congratulations! Read more about WST and Professor Contractor’s service here.

SONIC Director Noshir Contractor recently published an article alongside researchers Mengxiao Zhu, Ruoxiao Su, and Lin Liu. The article, titled “Communicate or not: Exploring the different effects of instrumental and expressive networks on thriving at work”, focuses on the ways in which employees are embedded in their social contexts. Using a structural equation model, the researchers found that communication relations differ in their connections to thriving at work depending on whether they are achieved via advice-seeking versus friendship relations. Read the article here.

As the academic year comes to a close, SONIC congratulates all team members who have received honors and distinctions! The student award winners by department are as follows:

PhD Award Winners:
– Neelam Modi: Best TA Award (IEMS)
– Vsevolod Suschevskiy: Outstanding TA Award (CS)

Communication Studies Award Winners:
– Jessica Cheng: George M. Sargent Award and Honors for Undergraduate Thesis
– Supraja Sudarsan: Departmental Excellence
– Glenna Wang: Departmental Excellence
– Alison Casler: Departmental Excellence

IEMS Award Winners:
– Mika Ng: IEMS Department Award, Academic Excellence Award
– Mark MacGuidwin: IEMS Department Award, Academic Excellence Award
– Victoria Shi: Academic Excellence Award

Congratulations to all!