Professor of Urban Studies, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow

Vonu Thakuriah is Professor of Urban Studies and Ch2M Chair of Transport in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow. She is also Founding Director and Principal Investigator for the ESRC-funded Urban Big Data Centre, which is led by the University of Glasgow. Before joining Glasgow, Vonu was Professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Policy at Chicago's University of Illinois, as well as Interim Director at the University's Urban Transportation Centre.

Vonu's research primarily covers transport, including sustainability, accessibility for low-income and disabled users, and behavioural theories behind transport choices. She is also interested in the applications of big data for urban problems, including using data-driven analytics for urban resource management, and balancing privacy and trust management with data acquisition and responsible innovation.

After completing a BA in Psychology and MA in Industrial Psychology at the University of Delhi, Vonu moved to the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she undertook a Masters in Urban Planning and Policy, and a PhD in Public Policy Analysis. In 2014 she was awarded the European Commission Marie Curie Fellowship for her project on Social Transport Systems.