Nimra Ahmed

Short Bio

Hello! I'm Nimra, but you can call me Nims. I am a Fast Track PhD student at the People and Computing Lab, supervised by Prof. Dr. Elaine May Huang. My research focuses on feminist design, social justice, and community-led digital interventions for marginalized communities, particularly those affected by forced marriage, domestic and intimate partner violence.

I earned my BSc in Informatics at UZH, where my thesis Designing Technology for People Affected by Forced Marriage received the UZH Impact Award in 2022. You might have seen my work featured in OEC magazine – if you missed it, you can read more about it here and here.

In 2023, I receivedDIZH funding for my project Supporting People Affected by Forced Marriage through Digital Transformation and joined the DSI PhD Excellence Program.

Since 2024, I have served as Junior Researchers Representative Deputy at IfI, advocating for an inclusive and supportive academic community together with Daan. In summer 2025, me and some other amazing women also founded WINZ (Women in Informatics Network Zurich), where I serve as President. WINZ aims to create safe, empowering spaces and organize community and career events for women, FLINTA+, and allies at the department. If you have any questions, need support, or just want to chat, feel free tocontact me or schedule a short coffee.

Research

My work sits at the intersection of feminist HCI, design justice, and community-led research. I study how technology shapes experiences of gender-based violence and what it means to design with, not for, those affected. Using trauma-informed and participatory approaches, I:

• Examine how technologies support or constrain help-seeking, recognition, and life repair after violence.

• Design and sustain digital infrastructures that strengthen existing care ecosystems.

• Work alongside community organizations to develop accountable, non-extractive, and long-term collaborations.

• Explore how culture, power, and inequality shape research, technological design and use.

I aim to move HCI beyond crisis-focused interventions toward justice-oriented, relational, and sustainable sociotechnical design.

Mentoring & Supervision

Supporting and mentoring students is a key part of my academic journey. I enjoy mentoring students who are passionate about real-world impact, supporting them in research, publishing, and navigating academia :)

Selected Supervised Work:

• Mirjam Alexandra Weibel. Bachelor Thesis: "A Design Justice Approach to Developing a Self-Help Web Application in Collaboration with an NGO", in collaboration with the Fachstelle Zwangsheirat, manuscript in Submission.
• Sina Krumhard, Lukas Huber, Fabio Hausseneer. Masterproject: "SaferRave App: A Mobile App to Promote Safer and More Thoughtful Drug Consumption Practices", in collaboration with the DIZ.
• Alina Vanessa Brüllhardt. Independent Study: "Quantitative Analysis of  Social Media's Role in Recognizing Abuse and Shaping Help-Seeking Pathways for Women Affected by Gender-Based Violence", in collaboration with the Fachstelle Zwangsheirat, to appear at CHI26. ACM-W Scholarship.
• Tim Portmann, Sandra Rosch, Larissa Senning, Thu Ahn Phan. Masterproject: "Design and Implementation of a Case Management System for Effective Counseling Support", in collaboration with the Fachstelle Zwangsheirat, to appear at CHI26.
• Natalia Obukhova. Master Thesis: "Because I can promise you: if you're studying people with lived experience of trauma, secondary trauma will happen: Researcher's safety in HCI research with traumatized communities", winner Semester Award HS24.
• Tim Schluchter. Master Thesis: "Exploring the Landscape of Mental Health Discourse on TikTok", published at CHI24 as Student Research Competition and MuC24.

If you're passionate about social justice, feminist HCI, awareness & activism, and interested in collaborating on a thesis, independent study, or master project, I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out to learn more about my work and potential opportunities.

Note; Currently, I do not have any availabilities for supervision.