Sergio Agnoli is an Associate Professor at the Life Sciences Department of the University of Trieste, where he directs the Dynamics of Creativity Lab (DoC Lab). He graduated at the University of Padova and earned his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Ferrara. From 2012 to 2021 he joined the Marconi Institute for Creativity (MIC; Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi) as a researcher, where he currently holds the charge of Senior Scientist.

His research interests are centered on cognitive, emotional, and neurophysiological substrates of creative thinking and creative achievement; theoretical definition of the creative thinking process. His research has received national and international media coverage (e.g., La Repubblica, Airone, PsyPost, The Guardian, Pacific Standard). He participated in and directed several national and international grants, e.g., FP7 European project CReativity Enhancement through Advanced brain Mapping and stimulation and the Project PRIN In Da Vinci’s mind: Fundamental Correlates of Creativity for Artists and Scientists funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research.

He is one of the originators and organizers of the MIC Conference, the international conference devoted to the science of creative thinking, acting as Conference Co-Chair. Sergio Agnoli is Invited Full Member of the International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI), he was member of the Scientific Committee of the Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi, as well as he was member of the Organizing Committee of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC).

He serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Creative Behavior (Wiley) and for Possibility Studies & Society (SAGE Publishing) and was Academic editor of PLoS ONE (for the “Creativity” topic). He is member of the Editorial Board of the Creativity Research Journal, Journal of Creative Behavior, Journal of Creativity and PeerJ.

Nadine T. Maliakkal, PhD, is a Talent Analytics Consultant at Hogan Assessment Systems. In her role, Nadine conducts assessment-based validation studies to improve selection and development practices for companies around the world. She also conducts research studies to enhance understanding of leadership, personality, and creativity in the workplace. Before working towards her PhD, Nadine worked full-time as a Research Assistant for the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence at Yale University, where she studied the link between emotions and creativity. Nadine earned her PhD in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha under the guidance of Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon.

Hannah Merseal is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. She completed her Ph.D. in Psychology under Dr. Roger Beaty in Pennsylvania State University's Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity Laboratory (2019-2024). Her research combines network science and functional neuroimaging to explore how participation and expertise in creativity and the arts enhance human flourishing across domains, including music improvisation, STEM, multilingualism, and the visual arts.

As a research consultant to the Creativity America initiative, Hannah works to bridge scientific research with public policy to integrate creativity in education, healthcare, and workplace settings. She currently serves as Director of Communications for the Organizing Committee of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity and sits on the graduate editorial boards of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts and Creativity Research Journal.

Her contributions to the field have been recognized through several awards, including the Delbert F. and Marie S. Welch Fellowship (Penn State College of Liberal Arts), the inaugural Sarah A. Burgess Award (Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity, 2023), the Adele Miccio Award (Penn State Center for Language Science, 2022), and the Outstanding Young Scientists in Creativity Award (Sonophilia Foundation, 2021).