ARC2S Group @ UPO

About Us

We love to analyze information, understand what they tell us, and apply what we learnt. Call us, if you like labels, Data Scientists, but we are specialized with Network Science methods, Computational Social Science problems, Data Visualization solutions.

Currently, we are trying to make sense of some research problems in the following fields.

Network based anomaly detection
Connectivity within the 15 minute city paradigm
Diffusion of mis-/dis-/mal-/information
Opinion polarization
Dynamics of scientific migration
Visualization and application of signed networks

A small nucleus of what would be called the ARC²S group was born in 2005 as an offshoot of the "Computer and Network Security" group directed by Prof. Francesco Bergadano at the University of Turin (UniTO). At that time, some of us started to focus on issues related to complex networks, data analysis in general, and social media analysis in particular (though we used observable data and relationships in peer-to-peer systems before the emergence of the social media phenomenon). However, the official year of birth of the ARC²S Group is 2011. At the end of 2022, the group started moving to the University of Eastern Piedmont (UPO), where it is hosted today.

Warning: This note has been been written on October 2022, some information can be outdated.

Many things have changed since our last update on our older site at unito.it. Firstly, congratulations are in order for Alfonso Semararo, Alessandra Urbinati, and Salvatore Vilella, who have successfully completed their PhDs. Meanwhile, Arthur Capozzi is in the final stretch of his third and last year as a PhD student.

The pace of change is fast: Mirko Lai is now a short-term Assistant Professor (RTD-A) at the University of Turin, I (Giancarlo Ruffo) have relocated to the Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “A. Avogadro,” Alfonso Semeraro has taken on the role of Senior Data Scientist at Wind 3, Alessandra Urbinati is a Postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University, Boston, and Salvatore Vilella is also a Postdoctoral researcher at the Università degli Studi di Torino. Consequently, the old page at unito.it has not been updated and may be discontinued sooner or later. Nothing and no one escapes change: even “Office 10z” will soon be home to a new generation of PhD students 😂🤨.

As the principal investigator and founder of this research group, I genuinely believe that the events of these past years have been extraordinary, to say the least. We've experienced joy, hardship, shared struggles, moments of lost and found motivation, and an unwavering trust in Science—though, at times, Science might have questioned its trust in us! I carry incredible memories of all the scholars who have been part of this journey, and none will be forgotten (or forgiven! 😉).

My gratitude extends to numerous individuals, making it impossible to thank everyone. However, some deserve a special mention: Rossano Schifanella (my lifelong buddy with whom it all began), Marco Milanesio (whose brilliant eloquence, vast culture, and superb humor are missed), Luca Aiello (who flipped the meaning of Leonardo Da Vinci's motto “Tristo è quel discepolo che non avanza il suo maestro,” making me the happiest advisor in the world), André Panisson (arguably the most talented programmer and applied scientist I've encountered), Martina Deplano (whose ethical attitude and love for nature have been inspirational), and Marcella Tambuscio (my co-author on our most cited paper to date!). Special mentions also go to Johan Bollen, and Alessandro Flammini, my Indiana University comrades who co-taught “Complex Networks” with me in Turin, and Leo Ferres, who unknowingly managed an unofficial branch of the ARCS group in Chile! Also, even if the time we spent collaborating with each other was definitely too short, I thank Edoardo Galimberti, Alessandro Basso, Narges Azizfard, Mario Giacobini, Emilio Sulis for the quality days we had together.

I had the privilege of collaborating writing scientific papers with incredible colleagues in my former department: Francesco Bergadano, Cristina Bosco, Federica Cena, Rossano Gaeta, Michele Garetto, Viviana Patti, Matteo Sereno (in meticulous alphabetical order!), just to name a few. Their contributions are a testament to why working at the University of Turin remains one of the most enriching experiences I never anticipated having in my life.

What next? I always expect that the best has to come. So we welcome Anna Sapienza that just joined UPO and our group. Stay tuned!

(credits for the featured image to Mirko Lai!)

Current team members

Overall funded projects

Years of experience

Peer-reviewed papers

Team

We are spread between University of Eastern Piedmont (UPO) and University of Turin (UniTO). However, we like to travel and visit each other wherever we are.

Current Members

Giancarlo Ruffo

Associate Professor @UPO

Anna Sapienza

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor
RTD-B @UPO

Mirko Lai

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor
RTD-B @UPO

Salvatore Vilella

Postdoctoral Researcher
Assegno di ricerca @UPO

Former Members @UniTO

Rossano Schifanella

Associate Professor
University of Turin

Arthur Capozzi

Postdoctoral researcher
ETH Zürich

Alfonso Semeraro

Senior Data Scientist
Wind 3

Alessandra Urbinati

Postdoctoral Researcher
Northeastern University

Narges Azizfard

Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Helsinki

Edoardo Galimberti

Senior Data Scientist
Allianz

Marcella Tambuscio

Postdoctoral Researcher
Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz

Emilio Sulis

Short-Term Assistant Professor
RTD-A
University of Turin

Martina Deplano

Freelancer

Luca Maria Aiello

Associate Professor
ITU Copenhagen

André Panisson

Principal Researcher
CENTAI

Salvatore Spoto

Game Developer
34BigThings

Marco Milanesio

Research Engineer
Université Côte d'Azur

Alessandro Basso

Software engineer
Ahold Delhaize

Recent Projects

We coordinate and participate to national and international research projects.

B4WEB: Una tassonomia Biomolecolare, delle Biofonti e delle Bioattività per liberare il potenziale della Biodiversità

Funded by: Commissione Europea - Next Generation EU, Missione 4 Componente 1 CUP C33C24000340001

(Ongoing)

Forgetfulness, between rights, duties and technological possibilities

Funded by: PRIN 2022 (PNRR M4C2)

(Ongoing)

Network Analysis: Connection & Channeling

Funded by: Anti Financial Crime Digital Hub

(Completed in 2023)

Quantifying access to services and facilities in inclusive urban spaces

PON "Ricerca e Innovazione" 2014-2020

(Completed in 2023)

Analysis and Monitoring of Artificial Intelligence Systems

Funded by: Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center

(Completed in 2022)

Recent Papers

Here you find some references to some of our recent papers. Check-out the Scholar's profile pages of each single team member to find more.

All
Network Science
Data Visualization
Computational Social Science
Data Science
Social Media Analysis
Information Retrieval
Modeling
Fake News, mis-/dis-/mal-/information

A. Capozzi, A. Semeraro, and G. Ruffo, Analyzing and visualizing polarization and balance with signed networks: the U.S. Congress case study, Journal of Complex Networks, Volume 11, Issue 4, August 2023, cnad027

A. Capozzi, A. Semeraro, and G. Ruffo

Analyzing and visualizing polarization and balance with signed networks: the U.S. Congress case study, Journal of Complex Networks, Volume 11, Issue 4, August 2023, cnad027

M. Lai, S. Vilella, et al., United-and-Close: An interactive visual platform for assessing urban segregation within the 15-minutes paradigm. In UMAP '23 Adjunct.

M. Lai, S. Vilella, F. Cena, V. Patti, and G. Ruffo.

United-and-Close: An interactive visual platform for assessing urban segregation within the 15-minutes paradigm. In UMAP '23 Adjunct

S. Vilella, A. Capozzi, et al., Exploiting graph metrics to detect anomalies in cross-country money transfer temporal networks. In WWW '23 Companion.

S. Vilella, A. Capozzi, G. Ruffo, M. Fornasiero, D. Moncalvo, V. Ricci, and S. Ronchiadin.

Exploiting graph metrics to detect anomalies in cross-country money transfer temporal networks. In WWW '23 Companion

G. Ruffo, A. Semeraro, A. Giachanou, and P. Rosso. Studying fake news spreading, polarisation dynamics, and manipulation by bots: A tale of networks and language, Computer Science Review, Volume 47, 2023, 100531

G. Ruffo, A. Semeraro, A. Giachanou, and P. Rosso.

Studying fake news spreading, polarisation dynamics, and manipulation by bots: A tale of networks and language, Computer Science Review, Volume 47, 2023, 100531

R. Gaeta, et al., Reconciling the Quality vs Popularity Dichotomy in Online Cultural Markets. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. 41, 1, Article 25 (January 2023).

R. Gaeta, M. Garetto, G. Ruffo, and A. Flammini.

Reconciling the Quality vs Popularity Dichotomy in Online Cultural Markets. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. 41, 1, Article 25 (January 2023)

S. Vilella, A. Semeraro, et al., Measuring user engagement with low credibility media sources in a controversial online debate, EPJ Data Sci., 11 1 (2022) 29

S. Vilella, A. Semeraro, D. Paolotti, and G. Ruffo.

Measuring user engagement with low credibility media sources in a controversial online debate, EPJ Data Sci., 11 1 (2022) 29

G. Ruffo, and A. Semeraro, FakeNewsLab: Experimental Study on Biases and Pitfalls Preventing Us from Distinguishing True from False News. Future Internet. 2022; 14(10):283

G. Ruffo, and A. Semeraro.

FakeNewsLab: Experimental Study on Biases and Pitfalls Preventing Us from Distinguishing True from False News. Future Internet. 2022; 14(10):283

A. Semeraro, S. Vilella, et al., Emotional profiling and cognitive networks unravel how mainstream and alternative press framed AstraZeneca, Pfizer and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Sci Rep 12, 14445 (2022)

A. Semeraro, S. Vilella, G. Ruffo, and M. Stella

Emotional profiling and cognitive networks unravel how mainstream and alternative press framed AstraZeneca, Pfizer and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Sci Rep 12, 14445 (2022)

J. Lenti, and G. Ruffo, Ensemble of opinion dynamics models to understand the role of the undecided about vaccines, Journal of Complex Networks, Volume 10, Issue 3, June 2022, cnac018

J. Lenti, and G. Ruffo

Ensemble of opinion dynamics models to understand the role of the undecided about vaccines, Journal of Complex Networks, Volume 10, Issue 3, June 2022, cnac018

A. Urbinati, E. Galimberti, and G. Ruffo, Measuring scientific brain drain with hubs and authorities: A dual perspective, Online Social Networks and Media, Volume 26, 2021, 100176

A. Urbinati, E. Galimberti, and G. Ruffo.

Measuring scientific brain drain with hubs and authorities: A dual perspective, Online Social Networks and Media, Volume 26, 2021, 100176

A. Semeraro, S. Vilella, and G. Ruffo, PyPlutchik: Visualising and comparing emotion-annotated corpora. PLoS ONE 16(9): e0256503

A. Semeraro, S. Vilella, and G. Ruffo.

PyPlutchik: Visualising and comparing emotion-annotated corpora. PLoS ONE 16(9): e0256503

S. Vilella, D. Paolotti, G. Ruffo, and L. Ferres, News and the city: understanding online press consumption patterns through mobile data. EPJ Data Sci. 9, 10 (2020)

S. Vilella, D. Paolotti, G. Ruffo, and L. Ferres.

News and the city: understanding online press consumption patterns through mobile data. EPJ Data Sci. 9, 10 (2020)

A. Semeraro, M. Tambuscio, et al., Structural inequalities emerging from a large wire transfers network. Appl Netw Sci 5, 76 (2020)

A. Semeraro, M. Tambuscio, S. Ronchiadin, L. Lipuma, and G. Ruffo.

Structural inequalities emerging from a large wire transfers network. Appl Netw Sci 5, 76 (2020)

S. Vilella, et al., Immigration as a Divisive Topic: Clusters and Content Diffusion in the Italian Twitter Debate. Future Internet. 2020; 12(10):173

S. Vilella, D. Paolotti, M. Lai, and G. Ruffo.

Immigration as a Divisive Topic: Clusters and Content Diffusion in the Italian Twitter Debate. Future Internet. 2020; 12(10):173

Talks

Our public presentations at conferences, universities, industries, and other organizations can be found here.

Contact

You can find us at Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale "A. Avogadro"

Location:

Viale Teresa Michel, 11 - 15121 Alessandria

Email:

ar2cs [dot] group [at] gmail [dot] com

Call:

+39 0131 360 175

Applied Research on Computational Complex Systems