Principal Investigator

James Der Derian
James is the Michael Hintze Chair of International Security and Director of the Centre of International Security Studies at the University of Sydney. He writes books and produces documentaries on war, peace, media and technology, including After 9/11 (2003), Virtuous War: Mapping the Military-Industrial-Media-Entertainment Network(2009), Critical Practices in International Theory (2009), Human Terrain: War Becomes Academic (2010), and Project Z: The Final Global Event (2015).  He also directs two projects on the geopolitical and ethical implications of emerging quantum technologies, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  He is currently working on a book and documentary film, Project Q: War, Peace and Quantum Mechanics.

 

ORF Partners

Dr Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai Rajagopalan
Rajeswari (Raji) is the Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology (CSST) at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.  Dr Rajagopalan was the Technical Advisor to the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) (July 2018-July 2019).  She was also a Non-Resident Indo-Pacific Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre from April-December 2020.  As a senior Asia defence writer for The Diplomat, she writes a weekly column on Asian strategic issues. Dr Rajagopalan joined ORF after a five-year stint at the National Security Council Secretariat (2003-2007), Government of India, where she was an Assistant Director.  Prior to joining the NSCS, she was Research Officer at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.  She was also a Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of International Politics, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan in 2012.

Dr Sameer Patil
Sameer is Senior Fellow, Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology and Deputy Director, ORF Mumbai. His work focuses on the intersection of technology and national security, including cybersecurity. Dr Patil also serves as India Commissioner for the Global Tech Security Commission, set up by the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and the Atlantic Council. He has previously worked at the National Security Council Secretariat, Government of India and Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations. He is also the dissertation advisor at the Indian Naval War College. Dr Patil is the author of Securing India in the Cyber Era (Routledge, 2022) and has co-edited Moving Forward EU-India Relations: The Significance of the Security Dialogues (Edizioni Nuova Cultura, 2017).

Prateek Tripathi
Prateek is a Research Assistant Centre For Security Strategy and Technology at ORF. He was given a prize for outstanding physics achievement at the University of Sussex.

Prachi Mishra
Prachi Mishra is the founder of The Quantum Project, a post-quantum cryptography startup based in New Delhi, India. Through the Project, she aims to develop encryption paradigms for the post-quantum era. She also engages with the policymakers in India and the Indo-Pacific to discuss ethics of quantum technologies, their governance, and equitable use. Previously, she was a Young Leaders in Tech Policy Fellow at the University of Chicago Harris. Through the Fellowship, she was engaged with the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

 

Research Assistants

Gabi Skoff
Gabi is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney Business School and a researcher on the Quantum Meta-Ethics project at the Centre for International Security Studies. Her research focuses on responsible innovation practices in the context of the quantum technology industry and research commercialisation. She contributed to the Responsible Quantum project with the Sydney Quantum Academy and KPMG and led an interdisciplinary engagement project for the Sydney Quantum Academy. She is currently working with CSIRO on their Quantum Readiness project.

Stuart Rollo (UPDATE required)
Stuart is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on geopolitics, imperial history, and the US-China relationship. He is currently investigating the geopolitical implications of quantum technology as part of the CISS Quantum Meta-Ethics project. Stuart writes regularly on international affairs, politics, and cultural issues in Australian and international media.

Jayson Waters
Jayson Waters is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney. Waters holds a PhD, from the University of Sydney, in the emerging interdisciplinary sub-field of Quantum International Relations, a Master of International Relations also from the University of Sydney, and a Bachelor of International Studies from Macquarie University. His research focusses of intersection of international relations, quantum mechanics, technology, and philosophy.

 

Project Coordinators

Claire Stevens
Claire is an experienced project officer with expertise in higher education management, marketing and stakeholder engagement. She has enjoyed a successful career in the University sector. Previously Claire worked at the University of Sydney as Senior Project Officer for the interdisciplinary research centre, the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC). In that role, she was responsible for providing project management advice and operational support to project teams within a multi-faceted program of work across the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Claire has also worked at The Law Society of NSW and City, University of London.

José Torrealba
José is a graduate of the Concordia University with a BFA in film production, and has extensive experience in film production and film festival coordination. José finished a Master in Media Arts and Production at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) a couple of years after moving to Australia in 2013. He is currently a media officer at the Centre for International Security Studies, organising the media production and editing for a variety of projects and events. José is involved in the production and editing of a variety of videos for Project Q, which includes producing the Project Q: A Question of Quantum documentary film.

 

Media Production Team

Daisy De Windt
Daisy is the Business Manager of Conceptavision: an end-to-end video production house. She works behind the scenes to manage Conceptavision’s input into Project Q. She worked on small and large projects in the health sector for over 10 years before joining Conceptavision and is a certified project manager (PRINCE2 and CAPM). Daisy holds tertiary qualifications in Biomedical Science, Business and Health Law and is passionate about projects that fuse science and the arts.

Jack McGrath
Jack has a background in Fine Arts from the University of Sydney and has lectured in film and animation for a number of years at the University of Sydney, Sydney Film School, Australian Film Television and Radio School, and The University of Technology Sydney. He has written and directed a wide range of short films that have been screened around Australia and internationally. He is the Director of Conceptavision and has collaborated with the CISS team on the film and documentation aspects of Project Q.

 

Website Coordinator

John Mazza
John is a web designer/developer living in Providence, Rhode Island. He holds a BA in Digital Art and Design from the University of Rhode Island, along with an MA in Media Studies from Rhode Island College. Aside from his work on Project Q and various other freelance projects, John currently works full time as the Manager of Web and Multimedia Technology for the The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University.