UWTSD academic presents 'Digital Islam across Europe' project at the European Commission

8 October 2025

Professor Gary R. Bunt, from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), gave a presentation on the Digital Islam Across Europe project and its related research at the European Commission in Brussels on 3 October 2025.

Professor Gary Bunt standing outside the European Commission in Brussels.

The three-year project, funded by CHANSE (European Cooperation of the Humanities and Social Sciences), explores online Islamic environments across Sweden, Poland, Spain, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. Led by Professor Frédéric Volpi from the University of Edinburgh, the initiative brings together an international consortium of universities and researchers from across Europe.

As a Co-Investigator, Professor Bunt has played a key role in the development of digital archival resources and analysis, including content for a forthcoming book. He presented alongside project colleagues Professor Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (University of Coventry), Dr Dorota Wójciak (Jagiellonian University, Poland), Dr Berta Güell (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain) and Professor Egdūnas Račius (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania).

Professor Bunt, who also served as Principal Investigator of the ESRC-funded Digital British Islam project (2022–2025), reflected on the event:

“This was a significant opportunity to discuss Digital Islam Across Europe in-depth with policy makers and advisors at the European Commission, including diverse approaches from across the team towards religious authority issues and the impact of online Islamic environments and artificial intelligence. It represents an important element of the CHANSE project’s outreach and dissemination of findings and indicates potential directions for future research.”

More information:
🔗 Digital Islam Across Europe: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/digitalislameurope/
🔗 Virtually Islamic (Professor Gary R. Bunt): https://virtuallyislamic.com