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Dr Sophia Drakopoulou

"Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture and Communication"

Sophia Drakopoulou

  • School Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries

  • Department Design & Creative Practice

  • Location London

Research activities

Sophia's research examines how digital technologies shape cultural experience, memory, participation and everyday life. Her expertise spans digital culture, mobile and locative media, urban space, social platforms, open data and digital rights. Her publications explore YouTube algorithms, the relationship between location, memory and commodification in social networking sites, and the challenges and possibilities of open data.

Her current research extends these interests into generative AI, examining how humanistic knowledge, cultural context and ethical judgement inform the design and use of AI systems. Through the development of institution-specific agents, she investigates how academic knowledge and organisational practices can inform AI tools, with particular attention to authorship, accountability and human oversight.

Her work on the Bernie Grant Digital Archive connects AI-enabled archival access with cultural memory, representation and Black British political history. Her REF-related research explores AI-assisted reflection, portfolio development and panel simulation within a framework that retains human academic judgement.

She is developing an autoethnographic study of her experience designing and introducing AI agents within a university, examining the relationship between academic expertise, institutional culture and technological change.


Current Teaching

Sophia's teaching interests include UI/UX design; creative applications of generative AI; creative media content creation using Adobe Creative Suite; audience research, strategy and analytics; immersive space design and immersive technologies; and social media content creation, audience reach and consultancy.

Her teaching connects critical understanding of digital technologies with creative production, audience research, strategy and professional practice. She teaches the following modules:

DID2003 – Audience, Strategy and Business Metrics: Core UI/UX research and design, connecting audience insights and user needs with design strategy.

DID3003 – Project Management and Innovation: Project management for immersive experiences and applications of emerging technologies, with a focus on design and visual development.

APB3000 – AI, Digital Communications and Marketing: Exploring AI in digital communications and marketing through practical experimentation and critical consideration of its ethical and professional implications.

DES4003 – Social Media Analytics: Interpreting social media data to understand audiences, evaluate content performance and inform strategic decisions.

DMC3200 – Social Media Management: Developing and managing social media activity, including content planning, audience engagement and performance evaluation.

DMC3003 – New Technology and Innovation: Exploring emerging technologies through critical enquiry, experimentation, prototyping and the development of creative applications and experiences.

Sophia also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate projects and doctoral research.


Biography

Dr Sophia Drakopoulou is Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture and Communication at Middlesex University; Programme Leader for MA Digital Content Creation, MA UI/UX Design, and MA Graphic Design and Creative AI; Link Tutor for AKTO Athens; and Co-Chair of REF Unit of Assessment 34. She is also Convenor of the New Technologies and AI Research Cluster, a member of the ARXAI AI Research Group, and a co-founder of Cybersalon. Her work brings together digital culture, creative practice, higher education and the design of AI agents.

Sophia has over 20 years’ experience in higher education and the creative industries. As a former Acting Head of Department and Director of Programmes, she led academic teams and curriculum development across undergraduate and postgraduate media programmes. She holds a PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London, examining the spatial and temporal qualities of mobile media, and is a co-founder of Cybersalon, a think tank exploring digital culture and its social implications.

Sophia designs and builds institution-specific AI agents that combine academic expertise, institutional knowledge and ethical oversight. Her portfolio includes agents used within the institution, alongside tools developed for research, piloting and future deployment. The RKE Insights Agent, designed and built by Dr Sophia Drakopoulou, is the first AI agent to be deployed university-wide at Middlesex University.

Her agents include Help ACI, supporting curriculum development; the MIF/PIF Assistant, supporting module and programme documentation; the Programme Business Case Assistant; and the SEO/MA Marketing Agent, developed with Digital Marketing and SEO colleagues to support promotional materials for new postgraduate programmes. Her research-focused tools include the REF Chair Assistant, REF Portfolio Builder and Early Career Researcher Assistant. The RKE Insights Agent identifies aggregate research and knowledge exchange priorities.

The Bernie Grant Digital Archive is a commercial AI project to which Sophia contributes project management, UI/UX design and research-bid development, supporting AI-enabled access to archival materials. She also undertakes consultancy on the use of AI for the REF, has undertaken a Kortext IQ pilot, and contributes to institutional AI governance.

Her wider practice includes the NHS England-funded Stories Behind the Screens project, combining action research, digital storytelling, website design and art direction.

Qualifications

External activities

  • Extensive Experience as External Examiner, ,

    • Publications