In Short

Long Bio (English)

Dr. Sandra Cortesi is a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, a Senior Research and Teaching Associate at the IKMZ at the University of Zurich, and an Adjunct Researcher in Communication at the Department of Communication and Culture at BI Norwegian Business School.

At Youth and Media she collaborates closely with talented young people (ages 12-18) and engages with researchers in the field who share an interest in exploring innovative ways to understand, evaluate, and shape current and future social challenges emerging in the digital world.

Sandra Cortesi’s current work focuses on (interconnected) areas of youth’s life, including information quality and the news ecosystem; well-being; risks to safety and privacy; the future of work, digital skills, and lifelong learning; emerging technologies (e.g., AI, AR, VR); and spaces for youth participation, civic engagement, and innovation. All publications are available at https://blogs.harvard.edu/sandracortesi/research

Sandra Cortesi’s research, teaching, and outreach is often application-oriented and translational, combining different methods of social science research. Sandra is committed to engage in research with a real-world impact — particularly by translating findings from research for policy-making in the private and public sector — and to engage in participatory, multisectoral, interdisciplinary, and global research efforts.

Sandra Cortesi’s work has been featured in numerous popular media outlets including (see here) ABC, Bloomberg, Buzzfeed, CNBC, CNN, Education Week, El Espectador, El Pais, Fast Company, Financial Times, Forbes, Fox News, Gawker, Horizonte, Huffington Post, La Nacion, LA Times, La Semana, Mashable, Migros-Magazin, Newsweek, NBC, NPR, NZZ am Sonntag, O Globo, Orlando Sentinel, Persönlich, Slate, SRF, Swissinfo, Tages-Anzeiger, TIME, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, 20 Minutes and many others.

Her work has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, the Mercator Foundation, the Research Council of Norway, and the Wikimedia Foundation, among others.

Sandra Cortesi works closely with the Global Network of Internet & Society, the Digital Asia Hub, and many international organizations such as Unicef, Unesco, the ITU, the Council of Europe, and the OECD. She also advises governments around the world and serves on different boards. For a full list, see https://blogs.harvard.edu/sandracortesi/background

Formal Affiliations

Dr. Sandra Cortesi is a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, a Senior Research and Teaching Associate at the IKMZ at the University of Zurich, and an Adjunct Researcher in Communication at the Department of Communication and Culture at BI Norwegian Business School.

Short Bio (English)

Dr. Sandra Cortesi is the Director of the Youth and Media project. At Youth and Media Sandra collaborates closely with talented young people (ages 12-18) and engages with researchers in the field who share an interest in exploring innovative ways to understand, evaluate, and shape current and future social challenges emerging in the digital world.

Sandra’s current work focuses on (interconnected) areas of youth’s life, including information quality and the news ecosystem; well-being; risks to safety and privacy; the future of work, digital skills, and lifelong learning; emerging technologies (e.g., AI, AR, VR); and spaces for youth participation, civic engagement, and innovation.

Sandra’s research, teaching, and outreach is often application-oriented and translational, combining different methods of social science research. Sandra is committed to engage in research with a real-world impact — particularly by translating findings from research for policy-making in the private and public sector — and to engage in participatory, multisectoral, interdisciplinary, and global research efforts.

Sandra works closely with the Digital Asia Hub, the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers, UNICEF, and other international organizations.

Short Bio (German)

Sandra Cortesi, geb. 1983, ist die Direktorin des «Youth and Media» Projekts am Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society der Harvard-Universität. Seit 2009 ist sie dort unter anderem verantwortlich für die Forschungs-, Policy- und Bildungsinitiativen im Bereich Jugend (im Alter von 12-18 Jahren) und digitale Medien. Sie leitet auch die Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem Berkman Klein Center und UNICEF und hat in diesem Kontext die Digitally Connected und Conectados al Sur Netzwerke aufgebaut.

Basierend auf einem interdisziplinären und multisektoriellen Ansatz, fokussiert Youth and Media auf den Einbezug von Erfahrungen, Bedürfnissen, Meinungen und Perspektiven junger Menschen in den Forschungsalltag. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, eine Evidenzgrundlage zu schaffen, die einzigartige Einblicke in die kreativen und erzieherischen und Entfaltungsmöglichkeiten der Jugendaktivität im digitalen Raum bietet und gleichzeitig die echten Sorgen anspricht, die mit dem Leben im Internet einhergehen.

Thematisch beschäftigt Sandra Cortesi sich mit Themen wie Informationsqualität, Risiken für Sicherheit und Privatsphäre, digitale Bildung, Räume für Partizipation, gesellschaftliches Engagement und Innovation.

Sandra Cortesi studierte Psychologie mit Fokus Mensch-Maschinen-Interaktionen an der Universität Basel. Seit 2022 ist sie Oberassistentin an der Universität Zürich.

Short Bio (Spanish)

Dr. Sandra Cortesi es Fellow en el Centro Berkman Klein para Internet y Sociedad de la Universidad de Harvard y directora de Juventud y Medios de Comunicación. Ella es responsable de la coordinacion de las politicas, investigacion, iniciativas educativas en este tema y lidera la colaboracion entre el Centro Berkman Klein y UNICEF. Sandra colabora de manera cercana con jovenes talentosos y lidera investigaciones con miras en formas innovadoras para abordar los desafios sociales en el mundo digital. Sandra se enfoca en topicos como la inequidad en el acceso, la calidad de la informacion, riesgos para la seguridad y la privacidad, habilidades y alfatebismo digital, asi como tambien en espacio para la participacion, involucramiento civico e innovacion. Es colaboradora cercana del Hub Digital de Asia, think tank independiente y sin fines de lucro para la investigacion de Internet y Sociedad y ademas del Centro de Investigacion en derecho de la información en la Universidad de St. Gallen en Suiza.