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TEAM Members

Dr. Meltem Alkoyak-Yildiz
TAG Lead
Head of Department
Department of Cognitive Sciences and Psychology
Research Interests: Learning Sciences, Cognitive Sciences, Compassion, Empathy, Technology Enhanced Learning and Teaching, Soft and Life Skills, Learning Analytics
meltemalkoyak@am.amrita.edu

Meenu P. Prakash
Research Associate; Zonal Lead
Research Interests: Communication Skill Training for Health Care Professionals
meenupp@am.amrita.edu

⁠Dr. J. Sophie von Lieres
Head of Research, School of Social and Behavioural Sciences; Assistant Professor, Department of Cognitive Sciences and Psychology
Research Interests: Mental Health and Well-Being: Psychological Coping; Protective Factors to Promote Mental Health (e.g., Social Support); Cross-Cultural Mental Health Research; Neurodiversity Research
dr.sophiavonlieres@am.amrita.edu

Bicky Kuriappan
PhD Scholar, Cognitive Sciences and Technology
Research Interests: Forensic psychology; Neuroscience; Empathy; Rehabilitation of prison inmates
bicky.kuriappan@ammachilabs.org

Ajay Balakrishnan
Associate Director, AMMACHI Labs
Research Interests: Learning technology for vocational skill development
ajay.balakrishnan@ammachilabs.org

Pranav Prabha
Research Project Manager
Research Interests: Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning, Robotics and AI, Human-Robot Interaction, and Computing Education
pranav.prabha@ammachilabs.org

Sandeep Murali
Lab Manager
Research Interests: Learning Experience Using Extended Reality, Haptics, and Robotics
sandeep.murali@ammachilabs.org

Arjun Venugopal
Research Assistant
Research Interests: Neuroscience, Brain Computer Interface, Computer Vision, Neurorobotics
arjun.venugopal@ammachilabs.org

Prof. Dr. Frank Fischer
Visiting professor
Professor for Education and Educational Psychology at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich, Germany
Research interests: Learning with digital media, collaborative learning, scientific reasoning and argumentation, use-inspired basic research and evidence based practice in education
frank.fischer@psy.lmu.de

Ongoing Projects

(Not yet funded)

  • Breaking Bad News (Dr. Meltem Alkoyak-Yildiz and Meenu Prakash)
  • Designing an Empathy-Based Rehabilitation Program for Prisoners using Technology (Dr. Sophia von Lieres and Bicky Kuriappan)
  • Experience of Empathy in the Autistic Population (Dr. Sophia von Lieres)

Publications 2022 – 2025

  • Pothancheri, G., Sankar, P., Kuriappan, B., & Ishika, I. (2025, January 16–19). AI-based TEL tools in classrooms: Exploring challenges of secondary school teachers [Conference presentation]. International Conference on Gender and Technology, Amritapuri, India. 
  • Prakash, M. P., Kannan, J., Nandini, J., & Alkoyak-Yildiz, M. (2025, January 16-19). AI technology-based communication training as a preventive measure to deal with breaking bad news and healthcare violence [Conference presentation]. International Conference on Gender and Technology, Amritapuri, India. 
  • Pothancheri, G., Latheesh, M., Ishika, I., & Kuriappan, B. (2024, December 6–8). AI in teaching: How engineering teachers’ views on AI-based TEL tools [Conference presentation]. Technology for Education (T4E) Conference, Gandhinagar, India. 
  • von Lieres, J. S. (2024, December 13–15). Community resilience and social support: A mixed-methods study of coping strategies among tsunami survivors in Kerala, India [Conference presentation]. International Conference on Tsunami Risk Reduction and Resilience, Amritapuri, India. 
  • Bavani, M., Von Lieres, J. S., Sowndaram, C. S., & Prasad, R. (2024, October). Online guided Integrated Amrita Meditation (IAM®) to Improve mental well-being and reduce perceived stress during COVID-19 in India. In 2024 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (pp. 446-453). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC62424.2024.10771539  
  • Bavani, M., Von Lieres, J. S., Gopalan, S., & Prasad, R. (2024, October). Integrated Amrita Meditation (IAM®): Towards sustainable rehabilitation in prisons using digital mental well-being intervention. In 2024 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (pp. 454-460). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC62424.2024.10771548  
  • Muravevskaia, E., Kuriappan, B., Shankar, S. K., Krishnaveni, M., & Swathi Lekshmi, A. S. (2024, July). Observing the gaps from theory to practice in rural Indian public school teachers’ pedagogical competencies in social-emotional learning. In 2024 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) (pp. 250-254). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT61570.2024.00079 
  • Muravevskaia, E., Kuriappan, B., Markopoulos, P., Lekshmi, S., Krishnaveni, M., & Schrier, K. (2024, June). Exploring empathic design for children based on role-play activities: Opportunities and challenges within the Indian Context. In Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (pp. 715-719). https://doi.org/10.1145/3628516.3659382  
  • Prakash, M. P., Manoharan, R., & Alkoyak-Yildiz, M. (2023, October). When words hurt: The praxis of delivering bad news to patients of healthcare professions in South Indian hospitals. An explorative study. In 2023 IEEE 11th Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Conference (R10-HTC) (pp. 656-661). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/R10-HTC57504.2023.10461865  
  • von Lieres, J. S., & Cauvery, G. (2022, September). The impact of social media use on young adults’ quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic in South India. In 2022 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (pp. 318-324). IEEE.https://doi.org/10.1109/GHTC55712.2022.9910989 
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