Applied Research on Computational Complex Systems

In Science we trust, though Science doesn't always reciprocate!

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Network and Data Science

Models. Analyzing. Understanding. Predictions. Complex dynamics.

Computational Social Science

Investigating. Societal dynamics. Computational methods.

User Modeling

Design. Human-centric. Personalization. Inclusiveness.

AI-driven cybersecurity

Trust. Privacy. Resilience. Complex networked environments.

Data Visualization

Charting. Data fusion. Data interaction. Visual analytics.

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
  • Chronourbanism's connectivity and personalization
  • 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.

We keep on expanding: we are eager of new collaborations, research challenges, inspirations. Join us!

Current team members

Overall funded projects

PI's years of experience

Peer-reviewed papers

Team

The majority of us is currently based at the University of Eastern Piedmont (UPO), with a small branch at the University of Turin (UniTO).

Current Members

Giancarlo Ruffo

Professor @UPO

Federica Cena

Associate Professor @UniTO

Mirko Lai

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor @UPO

Serena Nicolazzo

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor @UPO

Anna Sapienza

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor @UPO

Former Members

Salvatore Vilella

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
  • AI-driven cybersecurity
  • Anomaly Detection
Vilella, S., Capozzi, A. et al. (2025). Weirdnodes: centrality based anomaly detection on temporal networks for the anti-financial crime domain, Appl Netw Sci 10, 14

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

Weirdnodes: centrality based anomaly detection on temporal networks for the anti-financial crime domain, Appied Network Science 10, 14

Lai, M., Vilella, S., Cena, F., Ruffo, G. (2025). A Complex Networks Approach to Evaluate the 15-Minute City Paradigm and Urban Segregation at Different Scales

Lai, M., Vilella, S., Cena, F., Ruffo, G.

A Complex Networks Approach to Evaluate the 15-Minute City Paradigm and Urban Segregation at Different Scales, In: Cherifi, H., Donduran, M., Rocha, L.M., Cherifi, C., Varol, O. (eds) Complex Networks & Their Applications XIII. COMPLEX NETWORKS 2024 2024. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 1190. Springer, Cham.

Capozzi, A., Vilella, S. et al. (2025). FlowSeries: Anomaly Detection in Financial Transaction Flows.

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

FlowSeries: Anomaly Detection in Financial Transaction Flows, In: Cherifi, H., Donduran, M., Rocha, L.M., Cherifi, C., Varol, O. (eds) Complex Networks & Their Applications XIII. COMPLEX NETWORKS 2024 2024. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 1189. Springer, Cham.

Semeraro, A., Vilella, S., Improta, R. et al., EmoAtlas: An emotional network analyzer of texts that merges psychological lexicons, artificial intelligence, and network science, Behav Res 57, 77 (2025).

A. Semeraro, S. Vilella, R. Improta, E. S. De Duro, S. M. Mohammad, G. Ruffo & M. Stella

EmoAtlas: An emotional network analyzer of texts that merges psychological lexicons, artificial intelligence, and network science, Behavior Research Methods, Volume 57, Issue 77, January 2025

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

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

Call:

+39 0131 360 175