Olga Usachova
Postdoc Researcher
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Olga Usachova is a postdoctoral research fellow in Science & Technology Studies (STS). Her current research focuses on the role of electricity grids and electricity grid operators in energy transitions, with a particular focus on their potential role in transformative innovation processes. The project is conducted in close collaboration with CINELDI: Centre for Intelligent Electricity Distribution.
Olga Usachova holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Padua, Italy. Her dissertation focused on the socio-technical encounters of digital technology used by and designed for migrants’ inclusion into the host society.
Her research revolves around digital technologies in migration governance and their impact on shaping transnational migration and border regimes as well as counter-migration management. Her research interests lie in the intersection of Science and Technology Studies (STS), human-technology interaction, and digital transition ranging from the understanding of the agency of the users/ non-users of mobile software to maintenance practices of innovation processes. From 2022 she is a co-chair of the independent scholarly network STS-MIGTEC.
She has also been a visiting researcher at the Munich Center for Technology in Society, Technical University of Munich and Center for Contemporary and Digital History, University of Luxembourg.
Recent Publication
(2021) Usachova O., Infrastructuring the digital: mobile applications for migrants’ integration, in Acampa, S., Gargiulo, G., Gatti, R., Mazza, R., and Paolillo, M., (Eds.) Saperi, Conoscenze ed esperienze in formazione: Atti della V conferenza nazionale delle dottorande e dei dottorandi in Scienze Sociali, in “Webster”, pp. 338-345
(2021) Usachova, O., Mobile applications as a welcoming guide: between digital mediation and local culture, in “Der Donauraum, Zeitschrift des Instituts für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa”, 6 (4), pp. 75 – 87
(2021) Pollozek S., van der Kist J., Trauttmansdorf, P., Usachova O., Ullrich, M., Makrygianni, V., Amelung, N., and Cruz-Santiago, A., A portrait of STS-MIGTEC: An independent network working on migration, technologies and borders, in “Backchannels blog, 4S – Society for Social Studies of Science”, https://www.4sonline.org/sts-migtec/
(2020) Usachova O., Responsibilities beyond fieldwork: Morality and social distancing during the interview, in “Boasblog: Filedwork meets crisis”, https://boasblogs.org/fieldworkmeetscrisis/responsibilities-beyond-fieldwork/