ConsuWAIS Project
Principal Investigator (R4): Dr. Svetlana Bialkova
The ConsuWAIS project, proposed by the leading researcher Dr. Svetlana Bialkova, will be implemented at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. The project was approved for a 100% grant funding worth BGN 1 999 700 from the VIHREN 2024 Programme of the Bulgarian National Scientific Fund. This is the first project under the VIHREN Programme to be implemented at FEBA and will involve Dr Svetlana Byalkova (Principal Investigator – R4), at least one other established researcher (R3), and at least 2 R1 researchers (PhD students).
In accordance with the VIHREN-2024 Guidelines, the project proposals submitted to the call and accepted for scientific evaluation were evaluated by external foreign experts. All experts are former or current members of ERC panels in the scientific fields of the submitted project proposals. Following the ERC procedures and the call guidelines, the evaluation was carried out in two stages with a panel meeting at each stage. Decisions at the meetings were taken by consensus.
The project proposals admitted to the second stage of evaluation were discussed at the second evaluation panel meetings in the three scientific areas, including a presentation and an interview with the applicants. At the meetings, the panel members discussed each of the projects and their reviews in detail.
On the basis of the scores and ranking of the project proposals, the Social Sciences and Humanities Panel selected the ConsuWAIS project with base organization Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – the Department of Industrial Economics and Management at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
The ConsuWAIS project aims to provide an understanding of how to protect consumers from manipulative online practices by assisting with artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, the focus is on how to improve information sharing capacity; navigate well-informed consumer choices, and thereby deter misuses of user-generated content.