Alice Whelan

Alice is a researcher at the Law, Science, Technology and Society research group. She is a PhD candidate on the European Research Council (ERC) funded DATAUNION project, for which Dr. Rocco Bellanova acts as Principal Investigator. Work on the project will explore the political implications of the construction of a 'European Data Union', through the notion of database interoperability, bringing 'Critical Making' practices to the study of its implementation on the ground.

Prior to joining VUB, in 2019 Alice obtained a B.A in Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology (PPES) from Trinity College Dublin. In 2023, she obtained an MSc in International Politics from Leiden University. During her MSc, she developed her interest in the security politics of computer vision technologies during her work as a Research Assistant on the ERC funded 'Security Vision' project.  

Alice's research interests lie across the fields of Critical Security Studies, International Political Sociology, and Science and Technology Studies. She is particularly interested in the notion of 'data subjects', as well as developing an engagement with 'making' methodologies to trace security practices.