science Research

Research interests, ongoing projects and publications

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Research Programme

My research lies at the intersection of statistics, computational social science, and data science. I investigate how social attitudes, collective meanings, and knowledge structures emerge, evolve, and diffuse across complex social systems. A central objective of my work is to develop quantitative frameworks that transform large-scale textual, relational, and behavioural data into interpretable evidence of social processes and societal change.

Methodologically, I combine statistical modelling, machine learning, natural language processing, network analysis, and bibliometric techniques to analyse complex social phenomena and scientific knowledge systems. My work spans both methodological development and substantive applications, addressing topics such as climate change, migration, social inequalities, political conflict, minority rights, scientific communication, and digital public discourse.

Recent research has focused on the development of computational approaches for analysing social representations in digital environments, longitudinal frameworks for studying thematic evolution and knowledge dynamics, and statistical methods for analysing complex, high-dimensional data. Across these domains, particular emphasis is placed on methodological transparency, reproducibility, and the integration of theory-driven and data-driven approaches.

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Methodological Contributions

A substantial component of my research is devoted to developing methodological and computational frameworks for analysing complex social and informational systems. These contributions seek to improve the measurement, interpretation, and longitudinal analysis of textual, relational, and behavioural data.

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Social Representations Analysis

Development of quantitative frameworks for studying collective representations and public discourse in digital environments. This work includes computational thematic analysis, hierarchical evocation methods, semantic salience indicators, and the integration of social representation theory with natural language processing.

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Thematic Detection & Dynamic

Design of cross-sectional and longitudinal methodologies for tracking the emergence, transformation, convergence, and fragmentation of themes within social and scientific discourse. Current contributions focus on fuzzy thematic affiliations, lineage reconstruction, and dynamic representations of knowledge evolution.

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Bibliometrics & Science Mapping

Development of quantitative methods for analysing scientific production, knowledge diffusion, and citation dynamics. Current work includes science mapping methodologies, thematic structure analysis, and survival analysis approaches for modelling time-to-citation processes and the temporal impact of scientific publications.

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Current Research Projects

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MOBILITA

FARB UNISA · 2025-2028

Mobility Aspirations of Italian Academics: Mapping Network Structure of Bilateral Professorial Transfer Intentions in Italian Universities: The project aims to analyse the phenomenon of inter-university mobility of tenured professors and researchers in Italy through reciprocal exchange, as provided by Art. 7(3) of Law 240/2010.

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TOLERANT

PRIN PNRR 2022 · 2024–2026

Identification and critical analysis of online racism and xenophobia against migrants and Roma communities: The project investigates the emergence, diffusion, and transformation of discriminatory narratives in digital environments through computational text analysis and statistical modelling.

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Selected Publications

info Publications are automatically loaded from ../assets/publications.bib and organised into preprints, journals, conferences, book chapters, and books.

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