First Akademiaavtale Funding for Infomedia Brings Leading AI Researcher Nicholas Mattei as Adjunct Professor
Infomedia has, for the first time, been awarded support through Akademiaavtalen, the research partnership between the University of Bergen and Equinor. As part of the agrrement, AI researcher Nicholas Mattei, whose work includes collaborations with NASA and IBM, joins the department as an adjunct professor for three years.
Hovedinnhold
The University of Bergen and Equinor have collaborated on research for several years through Akademiaavtalen, a partnership designed to support long-term academic cooperation.
The current agreement, the fourth in the series, runs for five years from 2024 to 2028 and focuses on several strategic priority areas, including offshore wind, CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation and storage), generic subsurface knowledge, and artificial intelligence.
For the first time, funding from this programme has been awarded to Infomedia. The support will contribute to the research project STIV – Social Trust Balanced with Individual Values, led by Professor Marija Slavkovik. The project examines how artificial intelligence systems can be designed to respect individual user values while maintaining social trust and long-term sustainability.
The Akademiaavtale funding enables the department to appoint Mattei as an adjunct professor (Professor II). In this role, he will contribute to the STIV project together with Slavkovik, Samia Touileb, Rustam Gallimulin, and Frode Guribye.
A Wealth of Expertise
Mattei is currently an associate professor at Tulane University in the United States and works at the intersection of artificial intelligence, decision-making systems, and the societal implications of automated technologies.
Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with organisations including NASA and IBM and has served as principal investigator on several research projects exploring human-centred AI and computational social choice.
His work has received significant recognition. In 2024 he was awarded the National Science Foundation CAREER Award for research on human-centred computational social choice and the design of AI systems that better align with human values.
His research and commentary have also appeared in media outlets such as The Guardian, Wired, and The Wall Street Journal.
Passionate about Teaching
Nicholas Mattei is also known for his close engagement with students. At Tulane University he has gained a reputation, half jokingly, as “the crazy guy willing to teach programming to students who have never done that before,” a role he embraces enthusiastically. In 2023 he received Tulane’s Outstanding Teaching Award.
He co-teaches the popular course The Digital Revolution, from Ada to AI, where students explore the history and societal impact of digital technologies, from early computing to contemporary artificial intelligence.
In the classroom, Mattei encourages students to engage critically with emerging technologies. Rather than banning generative AI tools, he invites young people to use them as learning assistants - comparing student work with AI-generated texts and discussing the strengths and limitations of machine-generated content.
The aim, he says, is not simply to show what AI can do, but to help students understand how it works, why it sometimes fails, and what its broader implications may be.
Visiting Bergen in June
Mattei will make his first visit to Bergen in June, where he will spend approximately one month working with researchers at Infomedia. During his stay, a series of talks and discussions will be organised.
Students interested in meeting him during the visit are welcome to get in touch. Those who would like to arrange a meeting can contact Marija Slavkovik by email.