Bieke Zaman is professor in Communication Sciences / Human-Computer Interaction. She is research group leader of the Meaningful Interactions Lab (Mintlab), part of the Institute for Media Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium. Since 2021, she is also the director of the KU Leuven Digital Society Institute.

Bieke Zaman is currently studying the phenomenon of media convergence from various angles. She likes to cast a socio-technical perspective on mediated communication practices as they manifest themselves at the intersection of traditionally separate domains, such as video games – gambling – sports convergence or the way arts and media converge, and this in assemblages of people, connected/digital media and data.

Working within the tradition of participatory design research, Bieke also pursues methodological advancements in how and why young people can be actors in design processes. The participatory agenda does not stop at data collection, it also extends to the way we disseminate our research findings. Therefore, by exploring participatory and creative forms of science and science dissemination, Bieke studies processes and conditions that contribute to establishing meaningful interactions between scientists and citizens. Please see Lirias for an overview of her publications.

At the KU Leuven, Bieke is lecturing  courses that are part of the bachelor and master of Communication Sciences (including the Digital Media and Society programme) and the master of Digital Humanities. These courses include Human-computer Interaction; Media and Design; Progressive research methods; and Qualitative Research.

Bieke Zaman has graduated as a master in communication sciences at the KU Leuven in 2004 (summa cum laude), obtained post academic degrees in Usability Design (2005) and Web Development (2007), and a doctoral degree in social sciences in 2011 at the KU Leuven.