Dr Monica Pereira
Lecturer in Computer Science

Summary

Monica completed her undergraduate degree at London Metropolitan University and was awarded the British Psychology Society Undergraduate Award. Monica then went on to study clinical neuroscience at University College London and had a particular interest in brain injury and electrical brain stimulation. Her journey to becoming a chartered psychologist was finalised when she went on to complete a PhD at Brunel University London in Affective Computing. Monica began her academic career in the Psychology Department at London Metropolitan University, University of Westminster and Birkbeck University. Now, Monica is a full-time lecturer in the Computer Science Department at Brunel University London and is a Chartered Cyberpsychologist. Monica is also involved in several external academic service activities.

Qualifications

PGCert in Learning in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Distinction)

PhD in Affective Computing – Brunel University London "Communication Skills Training Intervention Based on Automated Recognition of Human Emotion and Non-verbal Cues" 

MSc in Clinical Neuroscience – University College London

BSc (Hons) in Psychology – London Metropolitan University

Responsibility

Module leading and Tutoring

Monica is currently the module leader for a second-year (Level 5) module CS2003 Usability Engineering. This is a core module for Business Computing and Computer Science students. She is a tutor for the Level 4 Business Computing and Computer Science student's group project.

Supervision

Monica currently has a PhD student, Gerard Doran, who is looking to improve human-agent interaction using EEG in Virtual Reality. Monica also supervises third-year (Level 5) final-year projects for both Business Computing and Computer Science students. She also supervises MSc dissertations in Digital Service Design, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Science Analytics.

Employability  

Monica is also the Lead on the Department's Employability team in supporting Computer Science students with employability skills and job attainment upon graduation. As a result, Monica oversees the Placements (CS2555 - Work Placements) that students undertake on their sandwich degree as well as a second-year module (CS2554 - Graduate Development) developing skills for the job market. Monica takes a best-practice approach to teaching employability skills.

Athena Swan

Monica is on the Athena Swan Team and works on various projects focusing on equality in the Computer Science Department. Supporting teams such as the Outreach team, Staff Data team, and Communications team.

Human-Computer Interaction Research Group Co-Lead

Monica is the co-lead of the HCI research group and focuses on bringing a wider community of HCI researchers to Brunel to showcase their research for potential collaborations.