Dr Mehwish Nasim is a Computer Scientist working in the emerging field of social cybersecurity. Her research lies at the intersection of computer science, mathematical sciences, and sociology. Informed by sociological theories on human interaction, she develops mathematical models of social influence to combat the spread of misinformation on social media. She utilises large language models and computer vision techniques to identify hate speech online. Another fascinating aspect of her work lies in the visualisation of social networks.
Mehwish strives to develop state-of-the-art AI models that not only lead to a deeper understanding of online misinformation but also give valuable insights to policy-makers and decision-makers, helping them make well-informed decisions.
The aspect that she finds most exciting about her work is its interdisciplinary nature, which constantly helps her learn new theories and ideas from various disciplines.
Mehwish holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Konstanz, Germany. Currently, she works as a lecturer at the University of Western Australia, where she teaches subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, and Cybersecurity.
She is dedicated to increasing the percentage of underrepresented individuals in the STEM workforce, particularly women with caring responsibilities. For the past four years, she has been an active member of diversity and inclusion committees at the various organisations she has been a part of. Based on her own experience as a mother of a pre-schooler, Mehwish often expresses her views on how to provide better support for women working in academia.
