PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Elisabeth Lex

Elisabeth Lex is a computer scientist whose research connects psychology with recommender systems. She studied telematics at TU Graz, earned a computer science PhD there in 2011, and held postdoctoral roles at UNSL and RWTH Aachen; from October 2011 to January 2012, she held a Marie Curie IRSES fellowship at UNSL. Her work includes AFEL-REC, leadership of Social Computing at Know-Center, a 2020 autoencoder paper on job recommendations and a 2021 study of music relistening. She received an ISSI Outstanding Paper Award in 2015 and became an ELLIS Scholar in 2025. Since June 2025, she is a professor of Human Computer Interfaces and Inclusive Technologies at TU Graz and leads AI for Society.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 2011

    Telematics and postdoctoral research

    She studies telematics at TU Graz and earns a computer science PhD there in 2011. She works as a postdoctoral research fellow at UNSL in Argentina and RWTH Aachen in Germany.

  2. 2011–2012

    A Marie Curie fellowship

    From October 2011 to January 2012, she holds a Marie Curie IRSES fellowship as a visiting researcher at UNSL in Argentina.

  3. 2015

    An ISSI paper award

    In June 2015, she receives the Outstanding Paper Award at the 15th International Society of Scientometrics and Informetrics Conference.

  4. 2018

    AFEL-REC learning recommendations

    In 2018, she coauthors AFEL-REC, a system for recommending learning resources in social learning environments. On the H2020 AFEL project, she serves as task leader and researches psychology-informed recommender systems.

  5. 2019–2022

    Leading Social Computing

    From 2019 to 2022, she serves as principal investigator for Social Computing at Know-Center and leads the area. She develops a strategic research plan with scientific and industry partners. In 2020, she coauthors “Using Autoencoders for Session-based Job Recommendations,” a paper in User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction.

  6. 2021

    Modeling music relistening

    In 2021, she coauthors a study that models music relistening with ACT-R, a theory of human cognition. The paper evaluates the model on 1.7 million listening events.

  7. 2025

    An ELLIS Scholar

    She becomes an ELLIS Scholar in 2025 and is affiliated with ELLIS Unit Graz.

  8. Since June 2025

    Professor of inclusive technologies

    Since June 2025, she is a professor of Human Computer Interfaces and Inclusive Technologies at TU Graz and leads AI for Society. Her team studies personalized recommender systems, online social networks and information retrieval. In 2026, she works on Human-centred Computing through ELLIS Unit Graz, researching fair and inclusive AI systems for diverse user needs.

Career

  1. Since 2025Graz University of TechnologyProfessor of Human Computer Interfaces and Inclusive Technologies
  2. 2019–2022Know-CenterPrincipal Investigator and Head of Social Computing
  3. 2011–2012National University of San LuisPostdoctoral Research Fellow, Visiting Researcher
  4. RWTH Aachen UniversityPostdoctoral Research Fellow

Education

  1. 2011Graz University of TechnologyPhD

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Elisabeth Lex. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Graz University of Technology. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Graz University of Technology. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Graz University of Technology. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Elisabeth Lex yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Elisabeth Lex | Full Professor at Graz University of Technology elisabethlex.info. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Fair Algorithms for All tugraz.at. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. AFEL-REC: A Recommender System for Providing Learning Resource Recommendations in Social Learning Environments - Graz University of Technology graz.elsevierpure.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. ELLIS Unit Graz: Foundational Machine Learning, from Brain-Inspired to Trustworthy AI ellis.eu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. [2108.02138] Predicting Music Relistening Behavior Using the ACT-R Framework arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Neu berufene Professorinnen und Professoren tugraz.at. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. HCC - Team E. Lex: AI for Society tugraz.at. Checked 22 October 2026.