Paradoxical decision-making behaviours such as preference reversal often arise from imprecise or noisy human preferences. By harnessing the physical principle of magnetisation reversal in ferromagnetic nanostructures driven by electric current, we developed a model that closely reflects human decision-making dynamics. Tested against a spectrum of psychological data, our model adeptly captures the complexities inherent in individual choices. This blend of physics and psychology paves the way for fresh perspectives on understanding human decision-making processes.

Pogrebna is a pioneer in behavioural data science – a field that combines behavioural science and data science techniques to better understand, model and predict the behaviour of humans, algorithms and complex systems in the face of risk and uncertainty. "I warmly welcome Professor Pogrebna to the University and look forward to working with her to establish the Cybersecurity and Data Science Institute," Charles Sturt pro vice-chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Mark Evans said. "Professor Pogrebna comes to the University with a wealth of experience. This includes being the Lead of the Behavioural Data Science strand at The Alan Turing Institute – the national centre for AI and data science in London where she is also a Fellow working on hybrid modelling approaches between behavioural science and data science (e.g. According to Evans, Pogrebna helps leaders in businesses, charities and the public sector better understand why they make the decisions they make and how they can optimise their behaviour to achieve higher profit, better social and commercial outcomes, and bolster the wellbeing of their teams. Pogrebna said her goal as executive director of the Cybersecurity and Data Science Institute is to avoid'building a silo'. "I have spent several weeks visiting our researchers across the University's campuses and became aware of the incredible work they are doing," she said. "The new Institute will aim to support our local talent and build on it, seeing how we can develop new research collaborations in Australia as well as internationally.