Research Scientist

Patrick Cooper

Research Scientist, Data61 – Clayton

  • Patrick is a cognitive neuroscientist who received a Bachelor of Psychology with First Class Honours from The University of Newcastle in 2012 before completing his PhD (Psychology) in 2017. His research interests include human motivation such as curiosity, mapping higher-order cognitive processes to neural representations and computational modelling of behaviour. His work with CINTEL aims to explore human factors necessary for seamless integration of AI into teams and operations. Patrick evaluates the unique strengths and weaknesses of both human and AI agents to develop adaptive workflows that foster collaboration between human and AI team members, resulting in more efficient, effective and meaningful work.

Ben Harwood

Research Scientist, Data61 – Dutton Park

  • Ben began working with the Collaborative Intelligence Future Science Platform (CINTEL FSP) in 2023 with funding from the CSIRO ‘Impossible Without You’ campaign. Their core research focuses on the investigation and development of next generation scientific workflows that enable productive and rewarding human-AI collaboration. Currently this includes cross-business unit interdisciplinary project work to develop human-technology information sharing for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) , as well as translational science focused on when and how to integrate Social Science and Machine Learning expertise so they remain timely and effective while maximising positive social impact. In addition to research contributions, Ben is currently an office bearer for the Data61 Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee and an office bearer and co-founder of the CSIRO Neurodiverse Staff Network. Ben first joined CSIRO Data61 in 2020 as a Postdoctoral Fellow as part of the Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Future Science Platform (MLAI FSP) and relocated to Brisbane. Prior to this, they studied Computer Science and Mechatronics Engineering at Monash University, and completed their PhD in Computer Systems Engineering. Ben’s thesis focused on the development of efficient algorithms for the representation and retrieval of high dimensional big data.

Jessica Irons

Research Scientist, Data61 – Eveleigh

  • Jess is a behavioural scientist in the Human Behaviour team in Data61. Her research explores the development of collaborative human-AI workflows, drawing on principles from human factors and cognitive psychology. She has experience conducting human factors research on the impacts of new technologies on team performance in the engineering domain. Jess completed a PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of Queensland and postdoc at the Ohio State University.

Ronal Singh

Research Scientist, Data61 – Clayton

  • Ronal is a Research Scientist with the Human Centric Security team in CSIRO’s Data61. Ronal’s primary interest lies in artificial intelligence, particularly multi-modal human-agent interactions, AI-assisted decision-making, explainable AI, intention recognition, and multiagent communication planning. Previously, he was a Research Fellow in Human-Agent Collaboration and an Associate Lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. Ronal completed his PhD in 2018 from the University of Melbourne and his BSc and MSc in Computer Science from the University of the South Pacific in the Fiji Islands.