2003-06 Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Florence, Italy

1996-01 Laurea (equivalent to B.Sc. + M.Sc.) in Communication Sciences, University of Siena, Italy

2018 Fellowship (FHEA), UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching in higher education.Higher Education Academy, UK

Elisa Rubegni has developed a rich and interdisciplinary research activity focused on the ethical, cultural, and educational dimensions of digital technologies. Her work explores how artificial intelligence, extended reality, and digital platforms influence identity, inclusion, and social justice — with particular attention to children and vulnerable communities.

Her main research area is Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and child-computer interaction with technology.

Elisa Rubegni's main research themes include AI literacy and algorithmic bias, participatory design for responsible innovation, and digital inclusion in education. She studies how digital platforms and AI systems influence cultural narratives, identity formation, and social justice.

Recently, her work has concentrated on algorithmic fairness and AI literacy, exploring how participatory and design-based methods can promote responsible and inclusive innovation.

Children (TICTAC) group at Lancaster University. Her collaborations with Microsoft Research, META, and the Micro:bit Educational Foundation exemplify her commitment to bridging research, education, and industry for inclusive technological development.

Dr. Rubegni’s research contributes to the international debate on ethical AI, algorithmic justice, and digital empowerment, combining empirical studies with participatory and design-based approaches to foster socially responsible technology.

Journals (selected)

1. Gail Collyer-Hoar and Elisa Rubegni. 2025. "Won't somebody please (actually) think of the children?" AI Ethics for Children: A Scoping Review. ACM J. Responsib. Comput. Just Accepted (June 2025). https://doi.org/10.1145/3745031
2. Malinverni, L., Rubegni E. Schaper, M., Reflective AI Literacy through Speculative Fiction: A Framework for Scaffolding Children’s Critical Reflection on Intelligent Technologies, (2025) International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction. (6.8 CS) Volume 43, 2025, 100727, ISSN 2212-8689, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100727.
3. Rubegni, E., Landoni, M., Malinverni, L., & Jaccheri, L. (2022). Raising Awareness of Stereotyping Through Collaborative Digital Storytelling: Design for Change with and for Children. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102727 IF = 4.8, 157, 102727.
4. Rubegni, E., Dore, R., Landoni, M., Kan, L., 2021. “The girl who wants to fly”: Exploring the role of digital technology in enhancing dialogic reading. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction: 100239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2020.100239
5. Rubegni, E., Gentile, V., Malizia, A., Sorce, S., Kargas, N. Child Child–display interaction: Lessons learned on touchless avatar-based large display interfaces. Pers Ubiquit Comput (2020) (IF = 3) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-020-01451-x

Conferences (selected)

1. Gail Collyer-Hoar, Elisa Rubegni, Bernard Tomczyk, Alexander Baines, and Lidia Gruia. 2025. “Suits as Masculine and Flowers as Feminine”: Investigating Gender Expression in AI-Generated Imagery. In Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’25), July 5–9, 2025, Funchal, Portugal. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 14 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3715336.3735749
2. Gail Collyer-Hoar, Aurora Castellani, Lala Guluzade, Ben Tomczyk, Hania Bilal, and Elisa Rubegni. 2025. Experts Unite, Kids Delight: Co-Designing an Inclusive AI Literacy Educational Tool for Children. Proceedings of the 24th Interaction Design and Children. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 852–857. https://doi.org/10.1145/3713043.3731495
3. Jesse Josua Benjamin, Joseph Lindley, Elizabeth Edwards, Elisa Rubegni, Tim Korjakow, David Grist, and Rhiannon Sharkey. 2024. Responding to Generative AI Technologies with Research-through-Design: The Ryelands AI Lab as an Exploratory Study. In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1823–1841. https://doi.org/10.1145/3643834.3660677
4. Gail Collyer-hoar, Elisa Rubegni, Laura Malinverni, and Jason C. Yip. 2024. “It’s kind of weird talking to a sphere”: Exploring Children’s Hopes and Fears on Social Robot Morphology Using Speculative Research Methods. In Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’24), July 01–05, 2024, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 13 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3643834.3661526
5. Lorraine Underwood, Thomas Ball, Steve Hodges, Elisa Rubegni, Peli de Halleux, and Joe Finney. 2024. MicroCode: live, portable programming for children via robotics. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST Adjunct '24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 81, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1145/3672539.3686334
6. Lorraine Underwood, Joe Finney, Elisa Rubegni, and Steve Hodges. 2024. Tangible tools for data science education. In Proceedings of the 19th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research (WiPSCE '24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 39, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1145/3677619.3678134

2024 ACM DIS 2024 Best paper Award, (Top 3% of Submissions), July 2024

2022 ACM IDC 2022 Best paper Award, (Top 3% of Submissions), June 2022

2020 ACM IDC 2020 Award for the “Excellence for the service” by ACM as ACM IDC general chair

2013 ACM SIG CHI 2013 Best Paper Honorable Mention Award (Top 5% of Submissions), May 2013

Journal editorial board: British Educational Research Association (BERA) journal: British Journal of Educational Technology, Impact Factor: 6.7

Journal editorial board: International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, ISSN: 2212-8689 (Citation Score: 7.1)

Member of the executive steering committee: ACM IDC, conference on Interaction Design and Children

Member of the executive steering committee: FabLearn Europe, conference on Computing, Design and Making in Education

Program Chair: ACM TEI 26, conference on Tangible Embedded Interface

Technical chair: ACM IDC 26, conference on Interaction Design and Children

Associate chair: ACM SIGCHI, 2016-present, leading the international conference on Human-Computer Interaction

General chair: ACM IDC 2020, conference on Interaction Design and Children

General chair: ACM FabLearn Europe 2020

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Chair: ACM IDC 2021-Present

Long and short paper chair: ACM IDC 2018-2019

Journal reviewer: IEEE Pervasive Computing journal (IF=1.6), Interacting with Computers (IF=2.1), International Journal of The International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IF=4.8)

Conference reviewer: ACM INTERACT (2013-21), ISEUD 2021, ACM IDC (2009-22), ACM SIGCHI (2009-present), ACMTEI International conference on Tangible and Embedded Interaction(2014-23), ECCE conference of the European Association of Cognitive Ergonomics (2006-15), Ubicomp (2013), MUM International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (2012), Mobile HCI (2013), IEEE IPCC International Professional Communication Conference (2010), CSCW Computer Supported Cooperative Work (2009-17).