Curriculum Vitae

Max L. Wilson

Max L. Wilson


Dr. Max L. Wilson

Associate Professor of Human-Computer Interaction

School of Computer Science
University of Nottingham
Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham
NG8 1BB

Tel: +44 (0) 115 84 66551
Email: first.lastname@nottingham.ac.uk


Qualifications

PhD: Developing an Analytical Inspection Method for Evaluating Information Seeking Interfaces.
     University of Southampton (2009)
     Examined by: Prof Gary Marchionini, UNC

MEng: First Class Masters Degree in Software Engineering.
     University of Southampton (2005)
     Dissertation Score: 92% (Active Navigation Award, 2004)


Research Keywords

Human-Computer Interaction, NeuroHCI, Mental Workload, fNIRS, Neuroethics, Cognitive Personal Informatics

Publications: (see full list in Appendix A)

Current Research

I lead the Brain Data Group, which focuses on measuring cognitive activity in everyday life. This involves a) measuring levels of mental workload as we interact with technology, b) evaluating how we experience mental workload over time, and c) the neuroethics concerns of neurotechnology becoming part of our lives. Since joining Nottingham in 2012, we have focused on demonstrating the validity and efficacy of using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) in HCI, as a method of measuring mental workload during interaction. With consumer brain scanners now available, our research also focuses on the inevitable future of living with neurotechnology and other wearables and systems that try to estimate and track our cognitive activity. We call this Cognitive Personal Informatics, where we consider how technology will try to show us this data, what goals people will have for their lives, and what neuroethical concerns this new type of personal data creates, both personally and for e.g. employers.

Research Funding

I have received ~£2.6M of funding as PI, as part of a wider network of £9.1M of collaborative projects, from UKRI, European, and Industry funding. This funding has enabled collaboration with neuroscience, human factors, robotics, mental health, brain health, and the arts.

Grants Awarded:

  • £1.4M - ELEVATE: European Excellence in AI-based Neural Engineering for Capacity Building in Widening Europe (€4.4M total). Patras (Lead), CYENS, Wilson (Notts PI), Maior, Clos, Bergin, Eke. EU Funding, 2026.
  • £183k - Combining fNIRS and Transcranial Photobiomodulation. Wilson (PI). Indusrty Funding (2025).
  • £18k - Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition - Our Future Living with Personal Brain Scanners. Wilson (PI). Hermes Impact Fund / Horizon CDT (2024).
  • £60k - DOMINOES: aDaptive human‐rObot teaMINg fOr rEmote taskS. Maior (PI), Kucukyilmaz, Wilson, Cobb. ConnectedEverythingII (UKRI), 2023.
  • £150k - CHAPTER ‐ Cognitive HumAn in the looP TEleopeRations. Wilson (PI), Maior, Kucukyilmaz. TAS (UKRI) 2022
  • £600k - Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Sheild (€2.4M total); Brain+ (Lead), Wilson (Notts PI), Craven, Oxford, Aarhus; Horizon2020 Fast Track to Innovation, Sept 2018
  • £1.9M - Digital Toolkit for optimisation of operators and technology in manufacturing partnerships (DigiTOP), Sharples (PI), Lawson, Wilson, Cranfield, Loughborough, UWE; EPSRC, July 2018
  • £10,000 - EPSRC Telling the Tales Grant, Sarah Martindale (PI), Benford, Wilson, Ramchurn; EPSRC Impact, Nov 2017
  • $65,000 - Studying Search Literacy; Max L. Wilson (Principal Investigator) and Michael Twidale (Co-Investigator); Google, August 2015.
  • £96,914.37 - Perspective Oriented Information Retrieval; Max L. Wilson (Principal Investigator), John Beer (Co-Investigator); Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship (KESS) Research Grant (in cooperation with Telecom Technologies Ltd.), October 2010
  • £96,914.37 - Advanced Visual Interfaces for Information Seeking and Retrieval; Robert S. Laramee (Principal Investigator), Max L. Wilson (Co-Investigator), Professor David Crawford (Co-Investigator); Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship (KESS) Research Grant (in cooperation with Telecom Technologies Ltd.), August 2010
  • £9,000 - Research Stimulus Equipment Grant; Max L. Wilson (Principal Investigator); EPSRC Bridging the Gaps Fund, July 2010
  • £8,452 - Web Science MSc Startup Grant; Max L. Wilson (Principal Investigator), David M. Berry (Co-Investigator), and John V. Tucker (Co-Investigator); EPSRC Bridging The Gaps Fund, March 2011
  • £20,000 - Travel Grants awarded for attending conferences and events; Royal Academy of Engineering.

Community Participation

Recent Awards:

Conference Organisation:

Committee/Board Membership: Workshop Organisation:

Keynote Talks:

  • Our Future Living with Consumer Neurotechnology, Dagstuhl, Oct 2025
  • The HCI Perspective on IR (updated), CHIIR2024 - March 2024
  • The HCI Perspective on IR, DIR2016 - Nov 2016

Invited Talks:

  • Studying Work & Recovery with fNIRS, KIT, Germany, 2026
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, Neurofeedback & neurotechnology - opportunities for care (conference), Sweden, 2025
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, NTU, Nottingham, 2025
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, RAEng, London, 2025
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, KIT, Germany, 2024
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, UCLIC, London, 2022
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, IWHEC at ChineseCHI (Online), 2022
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, Nokia Bell Labs (online), 2022
  • Mental Workload as Personal Data in the Future of Work, CHI Work Series (online), 2021
  • Physiological indicators of task demand, fatigue, and cognition during Work Tasks, University College Dublin, 2020
  • Brain-based HCI - What brain data can tell 
us about HCI, University of St Andrews, Oct 2019
  • Personal Brain Data and the Future of Work, MSR Faculty Summit, 2019
  • Mental Workload Alerts, University of Leicester - May 2019
  • Search Tactics for Real-World Tech Problems, Waseda University (Tokyo) - Oct 2018
  • Mental Workload Measurements, University of Strathclyde - June 2018
  • An HCI Perspective on IR, Universty of Sheffield - Apr 2018
  • An HCI Perspective on IR, University of Birmingham - May 2017
  • Search Literacy, Dagstuhl, Germany, Feb 2017
  • Analysing Social Media Campaigns, Content Marketing Show - Nov 5th 2014
  • Evaluating Sensemaking & Learning, University of Southampton - May 2014
  • HCI & Session Evaluation, Dagstuhl, Germany - October 2013
  • Search User Interface Design, Leeds University, UK - May 2013
  • HCI & Session Evaluation, NII Shonan, Japan - October 2012
  • Search User Interface Design, Glasgow University, UK - June 2012
  • Social Media for Business Use, at Software Alliance Wales, Swansea - December 2010
  • Casual-Leisure Information Seeking, at Enterprise Search Meetup, London - December 2010
  • Casual-Leisure Information Seeking, at Gregynog Colloquium, Wales - December 2010
  • Investigating Search Behaviour with Tweet Reports, at Erlangen University, Germany - March 2010
  • Investigating Search Behaviour with Tweet Reports, at UCL Interaction Centre Seminar - February 2010
  • Workshop on Capturing and Visualising Temporal Information in eScience. Hosted by INRIA, Paris, June 2008.
  • Seminar at Swansea University FIT Lab. July 2008.
  • Faceted Timeline Interfaces at Nokia. 2007.
  • Advanced Faceted Interaction at Endeca. 2007.

PhDs Examined: