DDCxTrygFonden Fellowship Cohort 2026

Meet the 2026 DDCxTrygFonden Fellowship Cohort!

The DDCxTrygFonden Fellowship Cohort of 2026

We are very excited to announce our 2026 DDCxTrygFonden fellowship cohort! The fellowship program is funded by TrygFonden and brings together leading researchers, journalists, and policy experts from diverse backgrounds to explore the profound impact of digital technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on media, politics, and democracy.

The fellows will be affiliated with the DDC, collaborating with mentors and partners to generate new knowledge, contribute to the public debate, and produce tangible outputs such as policy briefs and educational packages. Their projects tackle critical issues across the DDC’s core research themes: Digital Democratic Integrity, AI, Media, and Journalism, Citizens, Organisations, and New Digital Technologies, and Digital Democracy and Societal Transitions.

For this second round of our fellowship program, we have a diverse cohort of 15 fellows from 9 different countries, with backgrounds in academia, journalism, and policy-making:

From top-left to bottom-right: Anna Neifer, Asger Nim, Dominika Kuznicka-Blaszkowska, Emillie de Keulenaar, Jasmine McNealy, Karen Rønde, Kristoffer Frøkjær, Lea Hellmueller, Lucas Braun, Priyanka Kundu, Shangyuan Wu, Søren Schultz Hansen, Timme Bisgaard Munk, William Allen, Zea Kármin Szebeni

Meet the Fellows:

Here is a quick overview of the incoming fellows and their upcoming work:

Anna Neifer: AI Stories – Cross-Border Perspectives on Governance and Lived Experience.
Asger Nim: From Data to Democracy: Making the DSA’s Transparency Regime Actionable for Civil Society, Journalism, and Policy.
Dominika Kuznicka-Blaszkowska: REAL-DEAL – Regulating Deepfakes in the EU: Accountability, Law & Democratic Freedoms.
Emillie de Keulenaar: Methods, prototypes and regulatory frameworks for “prosocial” platform mechanisms.
Jasmine McNealy: Rural as Platform: Data infrastructure and digital inclusion.
Karen Rønde: Scaling cross-functional legislation and embracing multiple perspectives to support the free, diverse media in the battle with global big tech.
Kristoffer Frøkjær: Trusted Facts: Using AI to Bring Research into the Newsroom.
Lea Hellmueller: Gender-based online violence: Digital threats to women journalists, human rights defenders, and politicians in Denmark, Switzerland and Germany.
Lucas Braun: From Legacy to Platform: Rethinking Opinion Power Monitoring for Social Media Platforms.
Priyanka Kundu: AI Framing of Radicalization: A Case Study on South Asia.
Shangyuan Wu: Deepfakes for Political Communication: Discourses of Normalization or Destruction?
Søren Schultz Hansen: The Future of Democracy seen through the Eyes and in the Minds of Future Voters.
Timme Bisgaard Munk: Digital Sovereignty Self-Assessment Framework: Developing Organizational Audit Tools and Certification Standards for Danish Public Sector.
William Allen: Data Visualization for Democracy.
Zea Szebeni: News Under Pressure: Youth Media Perceptions in Authoritarian Information Environments.

Individual Fellow Project Overviews

Anna Neifer

Project Title: AI Stories – Cross-Border Perspectives on Governance and Lived Experience.

Project Focus: Anna will be investigating AI Stories – Cross-Border Perspectives on Governance and Lived Experience.

Affiliation/Mentor: David Nicolas Hopmann.

Asger Nim

Project Title: From Data to Democracy: Making the DSA’s Transparency Regime Actionable for Civil Society, Journalism, and Policy.

Bio: Asger brings experience in internet research to the DDC, working at the intersection of EU platform regulation and empirical research. He focuses on developing ways to test whether online platforms comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Project Focus: His project, "From Data to Democracy," will transform the DSA’s transparency regime into concrete and actionable tools that NGOs, journalists, and researchers can use to strengthen platform accountability and democratic debate in Denmark.

Affiliation: Digitalt Ansvar

DDC Mentor: Claes de Vreese.

Dominika Kuznicka-Blaszkowska

Project Title: REAL-DEAL – Regulating Deepfakes in the EU: Accountability, Law & Democratic Freedoms.

Bio: Dr. Dominika Kuźnicka-Błaszkowska is a legal scholar specializing in data protection, AI regulation, and platform governance, with research experience at the University of Wroclaw and Georgia Tech. She has authored numerous publications on privacy, deepfakes, and democratic resilience.

Project Focus: Dominika will research how the EU’s AI Act and Digital Services Act address deepfake-driven disinformation, investigating whether these frameworks meaningfully protect democratic debate and freedom of expression. Her work combines legal analysis with insights from journalists and civil-society actors.

Affiliation: Wrocław University

DDC Mentor: Ayo Næsborg-Andersen.

Emillie de Keulenaar

Project Title: Methods, prototypes and regulatory frameworks for “prosocial” platform mechanisms.

Bio: Emillie de Keulenaar is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen and a researcher at the University of Amsterdam’s Digital Methods Initiative. She develops analytical methods for conflict monitoring and peacebuilding across digital platforms, having examined how conflict resolution norms can be reflected in algorithmic and platform mechanisms.

Project Focus: Building on critiques of social media neglecting civic dialogue, this project advocates for a shift from reactive content regulation toward proactive design interventions. It will develop: (1) a library of “prosocial” mechanisms in social media and AI; (2) a methodological framework for scrutinizing these mechanisms; and (3) regulatory considerations for their adoption.

Affiliation: University of Copenhagen

DDC Mentor: Claes de Vreese

Jasmine McNealy

Project Title: Rural as Platform: Data infrastructure and digital inclusion.

Bio: Professor of media & technology policy.

Project Focus: Jasmine's project will examine how data and data infrastructures can contribute to community belonging, inclusion, sustainability, and civic engagement with policy in rural areas.

Affiliation: University of Florida

DDC Mentor: Claes de Vreese

Karen Rønde

Project Title: Scaling cross-functional legislation and embracing multiple perspectives to support the free, diverse media in the battle with global big tech.

Bio: Karen Rønde is a lawyer and CEO of Danish Press Publications’ Collective Management Organisation (DPCMO).

Project Focus: Karen will examine the cross-cutting regulatory frameworks required to enable growth and safeguard fair competition in the free media sector, assess the practical challenges of effective legislative implementation, and formulate evidence-based recommendations for policymakers.

Affiliation: Danish Press Publications’ Collective Management Organisation (DPCMO)

DDC Mentor: Claes Holger de Vreese

Kristoffer Frøkjær

Project Title: Trusted Facts: Using AI to Bring Research into the Newsroom.

Bio: Kristoffer Frøkjær is an experienced science communicator, former host and editor at DR for more than 15 years, and a media entrepreneur. He holds a Master of Science degree in Biology and Film & Media Studies.

Project Focus: Kristoffer will explore how AI can help bridge the gap between newsrooms and evidence-based knowledge from scientific journals and other high-quality sources, emphasizing that access to research-based knowledge is essential to democratic participation.

Affiliation: Science Media Company

DDC Mentor: Morten Skovsgaard.

Lea Hellmueller

Project Title: Gender-based online violence: Digital threats to women journalists, human rights defenders, and politicians in Denmark, Switzerland and Germany.

Bio: Lea Hellmueller (PhD) is Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at City St George’s, University of London, and an Affiliate Researcher with the Violence & Society Centre. She is an expert in comparative journalism research.

Project Focus: Lea's project will document how online violence impacts women in public life in Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany, who have all witnessed rising concerns over their digital safety. Through survey research, the project will document these threats to develop culturally sensitive interventions.

Affiliation: City St George’s, University of London

DDC Mentor: Lena Frischlich.

Lucas Braun

Project Title: From Legacy to Platform: Rethinking Opinion Power Monitoring for Social Media Platforms.

Bio:Researcher passionate about how digital media shapes our democracies, contributing to projects on global media ownership and using data-driven insights to explore the changing information landscape.

Project Focus: His project maps current practices and concepts to equip monitoring organisations with new metrics for assessing media pluralism in platform-driven news systems, while also building a community of practice in Denmark focused on the topic.

DDC Mentor: David Nicolas Hopmann.

Priyanka Kundu

Project Title: AI Framing of Radicalization: A Case Study on South Asia.

Bio: Priyanka Kundu is a Doctoral Candidate in Communication at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her research examines how social media and Generative AI are used by political, media, and tech elites to shape discursive power in the Global South.

Project Focus: Priyanka will investigate how the popular generative AI models frame the phenomenon of political radicalization in South Asia. The mixed-method study aims to understand whether GenAI is emerging as a new information gatekeeper.

Affiliation: University of Illinois Chicago

DDC Mentor: Curd Knüpfer.

Shangyuan Wu

Project Title: Deepfakes for Political Communication: Discourses of Normalization or Destruction?

Bio: Dr Shangyuan Wu is a senior lecturer and media researcher at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Communications and New Media. She specializes in research on journalism in the digital age, with a focus on automated, data, immersive, and digital journalism.

Project Focus: Shan’s project takes a closer look at whether deepfake content has been normalized in media discourse as a legitimate means of political communication, or whether it still lies in the realm of “fake news” with dangerous consequences.

Affiliation: National University of Singapore

DDC Mentor: Curd Knüpfer.

Søren Schultz Hansen

Project Title: The Future of Democracy seen through the Eyes and in the Minds of Future Voters.

Bio: For more than 15 years, Søren has done comprehensive studies on the digital natives of Generation Z, with recent studies focusing on their democratic behaviour and reception of political communication.

Project Focus: Based on unique empirical data from the three recent general elections (2019, 2022 and 2025/26), the project will follow first- and second-time votersin their journey into the Danish democracy.

Affiliation: Copenhagen Business School

DDC Mentor: Thomas Enemark Lundtofte.

Timme Bisgaard Munk

Project Title: Digital Sovereignty Self-Assessment Framework: Developing Organizational Audit Tools and Certification Standards for Danish Public Sector.

Bio: Timme Bisgaard Munk is Editor at Copenhagen Review of Communication.

Project Focus: Timme's project develops practical tools and benchmarks for digital sovereignty—specifically, a standardized self-assessment toolkit that helps Danish businesses and public institutions evaluate and reduce their dependency on tech giants.

Affiliation: Copenhagen Review of Communication

DDC Mentor: Oliver Baumann.

William Allen

Project Title: Data Visualization for Democracy.

Bio: Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Political Science, University of Southampton, UK.

Project Focus: Will's project examines whether and how visualizing data can improve what people know about major issues, and what this means for building stronger democracies.

Affiliation:University of Southampton

DDC Mentor: Kim Andersen.

Zea Szebeni

Project Title: News Under Pressure: Youth Media Perceptions in Authoritarian Information Environments.

Bio: Social psychologist and postdoctoral researcher at University of Helsinki.

Project Focus: Zea will explore how young people define and understand "news" in compromised media environments, examining the frameworks citizens develop for evaluating legitimate information when traditional journalistic independence is systematically undermined.

Affiliation: University of Helsinki