Biography
Luis Terán is a computer scientist and researcher specializing in trustworthy and explainable artificial intelligence, recommender systems, and information systems. He holds a Habilitation (2019) and a Ph.D. in Computer Science (2014) from the University of Fribourg (UniFR), where he was affiliated with the Information Systems Research Group and the Human-IST Institute. He also earned an M.Sc. in Communication Systems (2008) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Since 2009, he has been associated with the Department of Informatics and the Human-IST Institute at UniFR.
He currently holds a tenured position as Dozent and Senior Researcher at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU). In parallel, he serves as Lecturer, Senior Researcher, and Privatdozent at the Human-IST Institute at UniFR, combining applied research leadership with university-level teaching.
Luis Terán is the founder and president of the Society for Ethical, Inclusive, and Sustainable Computing (S-EISC), a Swiss-based non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible technology development. He is also a member of the Z-Inspection initiative, an international effort to assess trustworthy artificial intelligence systems.
His research focuses on trustworthy, explainable, and sustainable AI as a component of modern information systems, particularly in organizational and managerial contexts. He has published extensively in leading journals and conferences and has led several interdisciplinary research initiatives.
He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Bern and an academic guest at the University of Zurich. He also served as a Full Professor at the Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas (ESPE), Ecuador, until October 2020.
He has contributed to the global research community by organizing and chairing several international conferences, including founding the International Conference on eDemocracy and eGovernment (ICEDEG). In addition, he serves the academic community as a reviewer, associate editor, and editorial board member for leading journals. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and participates in the IEEE Task Force on Explainable Fuzzy Systems, contributing to the advancement of trustworthy and responsible artificial intelligence.
Education
Habilitation and Venia Legendi In Computer Science, University of Fribourg (UniFR), Switzerland. 2014-2019.
Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Fribourg (UniFR), Switzerland. 2009-2014.
Diploma - Didactic For Higher Education, University of Fribourg (UniFR), Switzerland. 2019-2022.
M.Sc. in Communication Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. 2006-2009.
Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications, Escuela Politécnica Nacional (EPN), Ecuador. 1999-2004.
Employment History
Lecturer/Dozent (tenured), Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), Switzerland. Sept. 2022 - present.
Senior Researcher and Lecturer, University of Fribourg (UniFR), Switzerland. Jan. 2009 - present.
Full Professor, Armed Forces University (ESPE), Ecuador. April 2015 - Sept. 2020.
Visiting Scholar, University of Bern (UniBE), Switzerland. Oct. 2019 - Mar. 2020.
Academic Guest, University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland. Jan. 2019 - Sept. 2019.
Assistant Doctor and Lecturer, University of Fribourg (UniFR), Switzerland. Apr. 2014 - Dec. 2018.
Research Assistant, University of Fribourg (UniFR), Switzerland. Sept 2009 - Mar. 2014.
Teaching Assistant, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. Oct. 2010 Feb. 2012.
Teaching Assistant, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. Jan. 2008 Feb. 2009.
VIP Engineer, Logistics Head, Telconet Latam, Ecuador. Mar. 2004 - Sept 2006.
Memberships in Panels, Boards, and Individual Scientific Reviewing
Digital Government: Research and Practice Journal ACM
IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence IEEE
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction Taylor & Francis
The ACM Conference Series on Recommender Systems ACM
IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems IEEE
Supervision of Graduate and Postgraduate
Ph.D. Thesis Co-Supervision. Project: Swiss Digital Ethics Compass. Candidate: Narek Andreasyan, University of Fribourg, Feb. 2023 - present.
Ph.D. Thesis Co-Supervision. Project: Explainable Health Recommender System for the Optimization of Medical Decisions. Candidate: Byron Jaramillo, University of Fribourg, Sept. 2021 - present.
Ph.D. Thesis Co-Supervision. Project: Automatic feature extraction and classification approach to creating self-learning recommender systems. Candidate: José Mancera. University of Fribourg, Feb. 2019 - present.
Ph.D. Thesis Co-Supervision. Project: Advancing Lung Cancer Prognosis through Explainable Fuzzy Few-Shot Learning and Ontology-Based Genetic Mutation Analysis. Candidate: Servio Lima. University of Fribourg, Jul. 2018 - present.
Ph.D. Thesis Co-Supervision. Project: Smartifying the Last-mile Delivery through Computational Intelligence. Dr. Jhonny Pincay (best Ph.D. thesis award at UniFR). University of Fribourg, Jul. 2018 - March 2022.
Ph.D. Thesis Co-Supervision. Privacy framework and context-awareness for Political Recommendation Systems. Dr. Aigul Kaskina. University of Fribourg, Oct. 2014 - Oct. 2019.
Ph.D. Jury President. Desarrollo de un proceso de implementación de cursos en línea masivos y abiertos accesibles. Dr: Sandra Sánchez Gordón. University of Alicante, June 2017.
Ph.D. Thesis Co-Supervision. Understanding and modeling of users’ intention line discussion Systems. Dr. JohnnyTorres. Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Jan. 2007 - Sept. 2020.
Approved research projects as Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI
Project: Optimizing the Provision of Rehabilitation Services Through Explainable Recommender Systems (SmartRehab). Funding Schema: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Partners: Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, University of Lucerne, University of Santiago de Compostela, Swiss Paraplegic Center and Swiss Paraplegic Reserach. Budget granted: ~713,655 CHF. Oct. 2025 – Sept. 2029.
Project: Swiss Digital Ethics Compass. Funding Schema: Innosuisse. Partners: Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, University of Fribourg, and Swiss Post. Budget granted: ~438.000 CHF. Nov. 2022 – October 2025.
Project: Scaling Smart City Projects - From Individual Pilots Towards A Common Strategy Of Industry. Funding Schema: SNF - NRP 77. Partners: UniFR, University of St.Gallen, and the University of Applied Sciences Zurich, as well as practice partners such as Swiss Post, SBB, Swisscom, Hauptstadtregion Schweiz, Smart City Thun, and Smart Regio Basel. Budget granted: ~650.000 CHF. Nov. 2022 – October 2025.
Project: Cognitive Urban Planning. Funding Schema: Secretariat of High Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT), Ecuador. Partners: Armed Forces University (Ecuador), Technical University of Manabi (Ecuador). Budget granted: ~200.000 CHF. September 2018 – September 2020.
Project: Recommendation Systems To Optimize The Generation Of Public Policy With Academic Participation. Funding Schema: Secretariat of High Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT), Ecuador. Partners: Armed Forces University (Ecuador), Technical University of Manabi (Ecuador). Budget granted: ~50.000 CHF. September 2018 – September 2020.
Project: Cognitive Model Of Community Surveillance Of Risks Of Epidemiological Contagion By Covid-19. Funding Schema: Secretariat of High Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT), Ecuador. Partners: University of Fribourg, Technical University of Manabi (Ecuador). Budget granted: ~8.000CHF. Nov. 2022 – October 2025. November 2020 – present.
Project: A Hemogram-Data-Based Machine Learning Approach To Optimize The Use Of Covid-19. Funding schema: Seed Money Grants 2020 – Leading House for the Latin American Region. Partners: University of Fribourg, Technical University of Manabi (Ecuador). Budget granted: ~13.000 CHF. Nov. 2022 – October 2025. Sept. 2020 – present.
