Dr Gianfranco Gianfranco BA, MA, PGCHE, PhD

• ESRC-funded MPhil/PhD in Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• PGCHE, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
• MA with distinction in International Communication Studies (funded by the Ningbo Government, China), University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China
• BA cum laude in International Communication Studies, University of Catania, Italy 

I am an Assistant Professor in Digital Media and Communications in the Department of Linguistics and Communication at the University of Birmingham. My research lies at the intersection of media and education studies and is informed by disciplines such as sociology, cultural studies, political theory, democratic theory and moral philosophy. I use notions of media and digital literacy as a lens to explore how different populations navigate online risks and opportunities to participate in a digital society and various areas of life, such as social life, education and civic life. I focus on the ways in which children, adults and vulnerable groups develop and deploy digital skills and knowledge, while also applying the concept of digital literacy to related areas, including digital inequalities, digital resilience and digital citizenship. 

I completed my PhD, with funding from the ESRC, at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2020. I then held research positions at the University of East Anglia, the University of Birmingham and the University of Liverpool, contributing to both research and teaching provision before rejoining the University of Birmingham as an Assistant Professor in 2025. Since completing my PhD, I have worked on over a dozen research projects relevant to my academic interests, employing a wealth of qualitative and quantitative methods and receiving grants and co-leading notable research projects (see below for more details about my research).

My research has been published in academic journals such as New Media & Society; Information, Communication & Society; Computers & Education; Education and Information Technologies; and Ethics and Information Technology. As part of my work, I often collaborate with third-sector organisations, while also providing expertise to stakeholders such as the BBC and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). After serving as a member of Ofcom’s Making Sense of Media Evaluation working group from 2022 to 2024, I am currently a member of their Research, Evidence and Evaluation working group, providing advice on media and digital literacy research, interventions and evaluation. 

I have valuable teaching experience both within and beyond academia. In the UK, I have taught and provided undergraduate and postgraduate support (including pastoral and dissertation supervision) at LSE, the University of Birmingham and the University of Liverpool. More specifically, I have contributed to the provision and delivery of modules focusing on key concepts, theories and research methods within communication and media studies, including guest lectures on topics related to my own research. I have also supervised, at the University of Liverpool, a PhD student researching digital literacy education in China and the UK. Finally, prior to my own PhD work, I taught Italian and English as second languages in Turkey and China, respectively.  

From September 2025, I will contribute to the teaching provision and delivery of the new MA in Digital Media and Communications at the University of Birmingham. 

I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students interested in researching questions of digital media and communications, especially with a focus on topics such as media and digital literacy (including news, data and AI literacies), digital inequalities and inclusion, digital resilience, and digital citizenship.

My research employs notions of media and digital literacy to explore how different populations engage with digital technologies, including AI and emerging technologies, to participate in a digital society and various areas of life, such as social life, education and civic life. My work, which has employed a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, focuses on the ways in which children, adults and vulnerable groups develop and deploy the skills and knowledge they need to navigate online risks and opportunities. As part of my research, I address and apply questions of digital literacy to related areas such as digital inequalities, digital resilience and digital citizenship.

In 2020, I completed my ESRC-funded PhD at LSE, exploring the intersection of digital literacy and civic engagement. Since then, I have worked on over a dozen research projects relevant to my academic interests, receiving grants and co-leading studies conducted in partnership with academic institutions and charities. From June 2025, I will be a Co-Investigator on a project funded by the Nuffield Foundation, assessing the impact of media and digital literacy education on the wellbeing of adolescents. In addition, two notable studies that I have co-led include:

• NewsWise: News and digital literacy, and civic engagement (March 2022 – February 2024), funded by the Nuffield Foundation (£270,000) – this project explored the effectiveness of a school intervention (i.e., NewsWise) in improving UK primary school children’s news and digital literacy.
• Round ‘Ere (January 2023 – March 2025), funded by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (£180,000) – this project explored perceptions of wellbeing and data literacy among a disadvantaged community in the UK.

I have also been a Co-Investigator on other projects such as 1) the Community Data Conversations project, funded by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which explored vulnerable groups’ perceptions of data in Liverpool, and 2) the Social Lab Framework project, funded by Birmingham City University, which piloted a new methodology designed for the study of digital inclusion/exclusion. 

Finally, I have worked as part of notable research grants such as 1) the Minimum Digital Living Standard (MDLS) project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, Nominet, the Wesh Government and the Scottish Government, developing a new instrument to measure digital inclusion at household level in the UK; 2) a case studies project, funded by the British Academy and Ofcom, looking at challenges and best practice in digital inclusion and media literacy provision within five areas of the UK; 3) the evaluation of a digital citizenship intervention for secondary school students in England, approached from a neo-Aristotelian and cyber-wisdom perspective and funded by the John Templeton Foundation; and 4) a project funded by the UKRI Nurture Network, exploring how pre-teens in the UK build and show digital resilience.