Meropi Tzanetakis is an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Digital Criminology at the University of Manchester. She had over a decade of experience in societal security research across universities in the UK, Austria, Germany, and Norway. Her pioneering research focuses on the socio-technical aspects of digital drug markets, the business models of digital platforms, and interdisciplinary projects on inclusive AI, trust, security, and governance. She leads the development of a new interdisciplinary MSc programme, 'Digital Trust, Security and Society', at the University of Manchester, enhancing digital trust and security education. As Principal Investigator on several high-impact projects, Meropi has secured over £650,000 in external funding, influencing real-world applications and policies through successful collaborations with industry, policymakers, and community organisations.

Meropi holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Vienna in Austria, ranked 50th in the Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects for Political Sciences. Her research has been published in leading journals such as the International Journal of Drug Policy (ranked #6 in Addiction according to Google Scholar Metrics) and Qualitative Research (ranked #3 in Qualitative Research according to Google Scholar Metrics), and has been featured in media outlets in the UK, Germany, Austria, Canada, and France. Her work is recognised for its originality, significance, and rigour. She is an Editorial Board Member of the interdisciplinary Criminological Journal (Kriminologisches Journal), an Elected Board Member of the Economic Sociology Research Network of the European Sociological Association (ESA), and Series Editor of the Emerald Studies in Digital Crime, Technology, and Social Harms.

For more information, please visit Meropi's personal website.

Employment and Education

Meropi joined the University of Manchester in 2022, having previously held posts at the University of Innsbruck, the University of Vienna, and the Vienna Centre for Societal Security (all in Austria). She was an Erwin-Schrödinger Visiting Fellow at the University of Essex in the UK and the University of Oslo in Norway, Visiting Fellow at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and the Jacobs University Bremen (both in Germany). Meropi holds a PhD in Political Science (2013) and a MA in Political Science, Media Studies and Communication Science (2005) from the University of Vienna in Austria (both summa cum laude).

Research Grants

• A socio-technical framework for online drug markets: Funding agency: Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Funding programme: Elise Richter Grant, Role: PI, Funding amount: €395,170
• Dealing with uncertainty on anonymous online drug markets: Funding agency: Austrian Science Fund (FWF), co-funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action COFUND, Funding programme: Erwin-Schrödinger Postdoctoral Fellowship, Role: PI, Funding amount: €166,690
• Virtual Drug Trafficking – A New Challenge in Combating Organised Crime: Funding agency: Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (bmvit), Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), Funding programme: Austrian Security Research Programme KIRAS, bilateral Austrian-German consortia, Role: PI, Funding amount: €201,400 by the FFG

Teaching

Trust and Security in a Digital World: From Fake News to Cybercriminals

Drugs and Society

Drugs: Markets, Policies and Consumption

Meropi is currently leading the development of the MSc Digital Trust, Society and Security at the University of Manchester. In the past, Meropi developed and taught several modules about the digital society as well as crime, harms, and the political economy of illicit drug markets, including:

• Sociology of digital markets (BA, module developer and leader, University of Innsbruck, 2022)
• Global drug policy and social inequality under surveillance capitalism (MA, module developer and leader, University of Vienna, 2021-2022)
• Digitalisation and social change (MA, module developer and leader, University of Graz, 2021)
• Sex work and the illicit drug economy: implications of prohibition and the COVID-19 pandemic (MA, module co-developer and co-leader, University of Vienna, 2021)
• Digital transformations in Eastern Europe (BA, module developer and leader, University of Vienna, 2020-2021)
• Political economy of illicit drugs (MA, module developer and leader, Free University of Berlin, 2017)

International Society for the Study of Drug Policy

European Sociological Association

Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics

European Society of Criminology

European Society for Social Drug Research

ECPR Standing Group on Organised Crime

ECPR Standing Group on Internet and Politics

Association of Internet Researchers

Austrian Political Science Association