Beyond their traditionally understood roles in society, more and more, artists and creative professionals are actively participating in science and innovation. Such innovative competencies require new, interdisciplinary, and practice-based learning methods and facilities as well as experimentation in the nexus of science, technology, art and social activism. This talk will focus on efforts to build a local ecosystem where cultural and creative industries co-exist with scientific and research institutions and, together, they work to discover new research avenues, bring novelty and innovation across fields and industry and address socioeconomic challenges.

Dr. Neokleous graduated from the University of Cyprus in June 2011, with a Doctorate in Computer Science and has a multi-disciplinary academic background in various fields including Virtual Reality and 3D graphics, Electronic Health (eHealth), Cognitive Psychology, Computational Neuroscience, Machine Learning, Intelligent Diagnostic Systems, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical/Control Engineering and Space Science and Technology. He has several years of experience in project management and he was involved with the conception, design, preparation, writing and coordination of many National and EU research projects. During and after his PhD, Dr. Neokleous co-founded in parallel two innovative startup companies in Virtual Reality technologies and eHealth applications in line with his academic and research interests. Since June 2019, Dr. Neokleous is employed at the first Research Centre in Cyprus focusing on Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies (CYENS CoE) as a Multidisciplinary Research Group Leader.