Dr. Raian Ali

Professor and UNESCO Chair

Office location

Penrose House - A-101F

Dr. Raian Ali

Professor and UNESCO Chair

Educational Qualifications

PhD in Computer Science

BSc in Informatics Engineering

Entity

College of Science and Engineering

Division

Information & Computing Technology

Biography

Raian Ali has been a Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and a UNESCO chair in digital technologies and human behaviour (June 2025–June 2029). He obtained his PhD from the University of Trento, Italy, in 2010, and has previously worked at the University of Limerick in Ireland and Bournemouth University in the UK. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Latakia (formerly Tishreen University), Syria.

His research primarily focuses on technology and human behaviour, encompassing topics such as digital addiction, responsible technology use, and the impact of technology design on human well-being. He is a member of the steering committee for the Society of Persuasive Systems, and of the steering committee of the Behaviour and Social Computing community.

He has led projects with academic and industry partners, resulting in significant impact, outreach, policy change, and scientific publications. Notably, he leads the $3.8 million cluster on digital citizenship in Qatar (2022–2027), supervising six projects, collaborating with over 15 national and international partners, and managing a team of 50 personnel. Raian also provides consultancy both nationally and internationally.

PhD in Computer Science

University of Trento, Italy

2010

BSc in Informatics Engineering

University of Latakia, Syria

2003

  • Technology and human behaviour
  • Designing for digital wellbeing
  • Digital addiction
  • Human factors in AI

Professor

College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University

2020 - Present

Lecturer to Professor

Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, UK

2012 - 2020

Post-Doctoral Researcher

LERO – The Irish Software Engineering Research Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland

2011 - 2012

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Department of information engineering and computer science, University of Trento, Italy

2010 - 2011

Assistant Lecturer / Lecturer

College of Informatics Engineering, University of Latakia, Syria

2003 - 2005