20-May-26 ‣ Salute circolare, welfare e complessità sociale: nuove prospettive interdisciplinari. Next week (27/5) I’ll chair a workshop (in Italian) on circular health and sustainability, evidence-based policies for complex social systems, and collaborative welfare. Speakers: Ilaria Capua (Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe), Franca Maino (University of Milan and Percorsi di Secondo Welfare), Felice Scalvini (Fondazione Ravasi Garzanti), Flaminio Squazzoni (University of Milan and Behave Lab), Rosanna Tarricone (Bocconi University). The event is supported by the NetHealth project (funded by Fondazione Cariplo) and the NASP PhD network. More information here and here.
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15-May-26 ‣ Our new summary paper on ethics in network research is now published. It distills advice and best practices from a network of 14 authors — from 14 universities, 8 countries, and various disciplines — for the broader community of researchers in social network analysis and network science. The full article is forthcoming in Network Science. More information here.
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11-May-26 ‣ Three PhD scholarships are available to join our PhD program in Economic Sociology, Organization, and Labor Studies (ESOL) in AY 2026-27 at the University of Milan, Department of Social and Political Sciences. ESOL is part of the Network for the Advancement of Social and Political Studies, with two more PhD programs and several partner universities. Application deadline 10/6/2026, see here for how to apply. Contact me for more information.
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4-May-26 ‣ New chapter in the Handbook on International Migration and Social Networks (Edward Elgar): Social networks and migrant health: theoretical frameworks, mechanisms, and evidence.
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3-Apr-26 ‣ Party misfits: the social bases of pluralism in an era of polarized politics — Delia Baldassarri (New York University) will present her work at a NASP seminar next week (10/4). The event is chaired by Behave Lab’s Federico Bianchi. More information here.
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24-Mar-26 ‣ Applications are now open for our new Master’s Program in Computational Social and Political Science (AY 2026-27) at the University of Milan, Department of Social and Political Sciences. Application deadline 12/6/2026, enrollment in early July. All information here. Contact me for more information.
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4-Feb-26 ‣ Using network science to understand organizations and business communities. In a new collaboration between Behave Lab and Logotel, our pilot study for Weconomy shows how digital traces from online business communities can be analyzed to identify opinion leaders and measure resilience in organizations.
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1-Sep-25 ‣ Welcome to the first student cohort of our new Master’s Program in Computational Social and Political Sciences! The first CSPS classes are starting this month with topics in data governance, policy design, and programming for social data science. See this page for information about the program, its faculty board, and applications for AY 2026/27.
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25-Jul-25 ‣ Two new chapters out in the Handbook of Social Network Analysis and Education: egocentric networks; topic modeling and network analysis (with Thomas Smith).
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2-Jul-25 ‣ New Horizon EU project starting soon at the Unimi SPS Department and Behave Lab: IANUS (Integrative MSCA Achievements and Networks for Unified Strategies) will support a large-scale portfolio analysis of all projects funded under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, and of their contributions to EU Missions. This is a collaboration with the University of Agder (leading unit, PI Marco Seeber) and five more academic and non-academic organizations.
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3-Jun-25 ‣ Six PhD scholarships are available in our Doctoral Program in Economic Sociology, Organization, and Labor (ESOL) at the Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan. Successful candidates may join the Behave Lab for research in behavioral and computational sociology. Apply here (deadline 17 June 2025). Contact me for more information.
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19-May-25 ‣ This week: two more workshops on “Doing Computational Social Science with Python and R“. Ayan Gupta will talk about topic modeling and web-scraping with Python. See here or email me for more info.
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12-May-25 ‣ This week: first workshop of the series “Doing Computational Social Science with Python and R” at the University of Milan, Department of Social and Political Sciences. Ayan Gupta will give us an overview of preprocessing and descriptive analyses of text data in Python. See here or email me for more info.
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17-Mar-25 ‣ SPS department seminar on Monday 31/3 at 10:30: Social networks of meaning and communication with Jan Fuhse, senior lecturer for Computational Social Science and qualitative research methods at the Leipzig University Institute of Sociology. See here for details.
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27-Feb-25 ‣ Registrations are open for the workshop series Doing Computational Social Science with Python and R at the University of Milan in May-June 2025. Registration deadline: April 30, 2025. All information and instructions here.
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3-Feb-25 ‣ New ESOL PhD seminar on Monday 24/2 at 15:00: Exploring Rural Health Through Living Labs: Dynamic Networks as Social Determinants of Cancer. Marian Gabriel Hâncean, Director of the GraphNets lab at the University of Bucharest, will talk about his team’s work as part of the 4P-CAN HORIZON project (“Personalised CANcer Primary Prevention research through Citizen Participation and digitally enabled social innovation”). See this webpage for more information.
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30-Jan-25 ‣ New article out on International Migration — Social networks in migration and migrant incorporation: New developments and challenges. The article introduces a special issue of International Migration on social network studies in migration research.
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23-Jan-25 ‣ Abstract submissions are open for the next INSNA Sunbelt Conference in Paris (June 23-29, 2025). We’ll coordinate an organized session on new developments and challenges in social network studies of migration, with Basak Bilecen and Miranda Lubbers. More information about the session is here. This is also meant as a forum to present and discuss a special issue of International Migration on the same topic (here). Submission deadline: February 20, 2025.
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7-Jan-25 ‣ We’re launching a new Master’s Program in Computational Social and Political Science at the University of Milan, Department of Social and Political Sciences. Start: September 2025. Essential information on contents and scope is here, more details and application information are coming out soon. Contact me or Flaminio Squazzoni for more information.
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3-Dic-24 ‣ Applications are open for the course “Personal Networks: Theory, Methods and Applications” (14th edition) to be held at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona from February 3-7, 2025. Application deadline: January 30, 2025. Instructors include José Luis Molina, Miranda Lubbers, Christopher McCarty, and myself. More info here.
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27-Nov-24 ‣ I’ll be visiting the GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Mannheim, Germany, and its Department of Survey Design and Methodology from Thursday 28/11/2024 through the following week. Meeting with the LoneCovid project team and teaching seminars about personal network analysis and two-mode social networks. Get in touch if you are in the area!
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21-Oct-24 ‣ I’ll be at the University of Bucharest this Thursday to give a keynote talk at the Intersections 2024 International Conference of the Romanian Sociologists Society. Main topics: social support in migrant networks, personal communities in old age, and war in Renaissance Italy.
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15-Oct-24 ‣ Congratulations to ConsNet postdoc Ayan-Yue Gupta for his new book, The Pragmatics of Governmental Discourse! The book, published by Routledge, introduces a new methodological framework for the analysis governmental discourse, which combines pragmatist perspectives on language with computational sociolinguistics and Natural Language Processing techniques.
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13-Sep-24 ‣ Abstract submissions are open for the International Sociological Association’s (ISA) 5th Forum of Sociology (July 6-11, 2025, in Rabat, Morocco). Behave Lab members are co-organizing two Forum sessions in collaboration with the ISA Research Committee RC45 Rational Choice: (1) Personal or Egocentric Networks in Sociological Research (organized by Raffaele Vacca and Viviana Amati) and (2) Agent-Based Models of Social Networks (organized by Federico Bianchi and Andreas Flache). See more RC45 sessions here. Contact me for more info. Abstracts can be submitted here by October 15, 2024.
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11-Jul-24 ‣ Welcome Ayan Gupta, Minsu Jang, and Vieri Pistocchi! Ayan, Minsu and Vieri are joining the Behave Lab as postdoctoral researchers. They’ll be part of the ConsNet and NetHealth teams and work in collaboration with Massimo Airoldi and Viviana Amati. Ayan is a computational social scientist interested in applications of Natural Language Processing and topic modeling to the study of social media, political discourse, and conspiracy beliefs. Minsu is a political scientist with expertise in agent-based modeling, social networks, and experimental methods for the study of disinformation. Vieri is a sociologist with an interest in network statistical modeling, negative ties, and health.
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10-Jun-24 ‣ Applications are open for seven PhD scholarships in our Doctoral Program in Economic Sociology, Organization, and Labor (ESOL) at the University of Milan Department of Social and Political Sciences. Apply here (deadline 17 June 2024). Contact me for more information about the program and application process.
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31-May-24 ‣ Oltre le generazioni – Esperienze, relazioni, lavoro. On June 6 we’ll present a new study of generational diversity in Italian companies, based on a survey of over 18,000 employees in 60+ organizations, in collaboration between Behave Lab and Valore D. The event (in Italian) is open to non-university participants from organizations in the private and public sector. All information and sign-up are here.
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24-May-24 ‣ I’ll be at the INAS Analytical Sociology conference (Leipzig University, May 30-31) and the INSNA Sunbelt conference (Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, June 24-30) to talk about multiplexity in social ties, overlap of social contexts, and network backbones. Also teaching my workshop on ego-network analysis with R. Reach out if you’ll be there!
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7-May-24 ‣ Toward cognitive epidemiology — Join us next Tuesday May 14, 2024, at 16:30 for a seminar at Behave Lab with Prof. Joshua Epstein (New York University) and Prof. Ilaria Capua (Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies). We’ll talk about agent-based modeling and network science for the study of epidemics, diffusion of fear, and distrust in government. Contact me for more info.
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10-Apr-24 ‣ Job alert: applications are open for a postdoc researcher in my NetHealth project in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Milan. Application deadline on May 2, 2024. All details and links are here. Focus on personal networks, social networks/network science, health inequalities, agent-based modeling. The project team includes Viviana Amati (co-PI), Federico Bianchi, Flaminio Squazzoni, and me (PI). The postdoc will also be part of the Unimi Behave Lab.
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25-Mar-24 ‣ I’ll be at the University of Groningen this week to teach in the new international graduate course on Policy Analytics for Social Sustainability — a collaboration between the University of Milan, the University of Groningen, and the Lisbon School of Economics & Management, coordinated by Rafael Wittek and Francesca Giardini.
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22-Mar-24 ‣ Behave Lab‘s Federico Bianchi, Flaminio Squazzoni and I are organizing a 1.5-day international workshop on agent-based models of social networks next month (22-23 April 2024). Supported by the UniMi Computational Models and Designs Hub, the workshop will take place at the University of Milan Department of Social and Political Sciences and online. Participants include Filip Agneessens (University of Trento), Jen Badham (Durham University), Miranda Lubbers (Autonomous University of Barcelona), Gianluca Manzo (Sorbonne University), Christoph Stadtfeld (ETH Zürich), Christian Steglich and Andreas Flache (University of Groningen), Károly Takács (Linköping University), and more. More info and sign-up links are here.
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12-Mar-24 ‣ Oltre le generazioni — A new study about generational diversity in Italian companies was published today by the Italian national business association Valore D. Based on survey data from over 18000 respondents in 60+ companies, the study relied in part on a collaboration between Valore D and Behave Lab. I’ll be speaking at the Italian Chamber of Deputies today for an invited talk about generational diversity and social networks on the occasion of the study’s presentation (in Italian).
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15-Feb-24 ‣ Diversity, integration, and variability of intergenerational relationships in old age: new study out in collaboration with Federico Bianchi, with support and advice from Flaminio Squazzoni, Marco Albertini, and Behave Lab colleagues. Open access link here, reproducible project here.
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7-Feb-24 ‣ Using network science to evaluate and stimulate scientific collaboration — Christopher McCarty (University of Florida) will be at the University of Milan for our ESOL seminar series next week (Monday 12/2 at 10:30). Location and info here, contact me to join online.
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29-Jan-24 ‣ I’ll be at the Autonomous University of Barcelona next week to talk about data and methods of personal network analysis at the egolab-GRAFO annual winter school (February 5-9). All information on schedule and registration is here.
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16-Jan-24 ‣ I’ll chair a NASP seminar next week (Wednesday 24/1 at 14:30) with Ronald Burt (University of Chicago and Bocconi University) about social networks and competitive advantage. Location and info here. Contact me for Teams link to join online.
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21-Dec-23 ‣ New funded project: Social network inequalities and health impacts: socioeconomic, geographic, and migration-related dimensions (NetHealth). NetHealth was just selected for funding by Fondazione Cariplo as part of its Inequalities Research call. The team includes Viviana Amati and myself (co-PI and PI) together with Federico Bianchi and Flaminio Squazzoni (Unimi Behave Lab), and Ilaria Capua (Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies).
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22-Nov-23 ‣ We’re hiring! Two postdoc positions are opening as part of our ConsNet project: one at the University of Milan SPS department on digital media, natural language processing, and network science (info here), the other at the University of Milano-Bicocca DISMEQ department on personal networks, network modeling, and agent-based modeling (info here). Institutional links to submit applications and application deadlines will be posted soon, please check back here if interested.
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8-Nov-23 ‣ How does research on personal networks benefit from, and contributes to, computational social science? I’ll be (virtually) at the Irish Institute of Digital Business (IIDB) next week to talk about this with members of the IIDB global dotLAB network (Wednesday November 15 at 11:00 CEST).
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19-Sep-23 ‣ Welcome to our new student cohort in the ESOL PhD program in Economic Sociology, Organization, and Labor Studies! The new group includes students interested in sustainable growth, migration to Europe, how Artificial Intelligence is changing work, and research in computational social science with the Unimi Behave Lab and Computational Models and Designs Hub. They’ll be supported with funding from Unimi, the University of Bergamo, the University of Pavia, Collegio Carlo Alberto, and the Italian National Research Council.
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1-Aug-23 ‣ New research project starting soon: Conspiracy beliefs, personal networks, and health in the post-pandemic era (ConsNet). ConsNet was just funded under the PRIN program by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. I’m the project PI and will work with Viviana Amati (co-PI), Massimo Airoldi, and Federico Bianchi. ConsNet will be based at the University of Milan (Behave Lab and SPS Department) and University of Milan-Bicocca (Statistics Department). More project updates soon!
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15-Jul-23 ‣ ALGOLIT: Understanding and boosting algorithmic literacy — New project starting in the coming months at University of Trento Sociology and Unimi Behave Lab, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research PRIN program. I’ll be in the ALGOLIT team together with PI Giuseppe Veltri, co-PI Flaminio Squazzoni, and Marco Cremonini.
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7-Jul-23 ‣ Natural language processing and network science methods find bridging topics to integrate health and sustainable development in research and policy: new article out in Globalization & Health from a collaboration with Thomas Smith, Luca Mantegazza, and Ilaria Capua.
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28-Jun-23 ‣ Call for Applications: Our ESOL PhD program in Economic Sociology, Organization and Labor Studies is now accepting applications for PhD scholarships starting in October 2023 (application deadline: July 26, 2023). Nine fully funded PhD student positions are available in the program, including 2 positions with an emphasis on computational social science. The ESOL PhD program is hosted in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Milan (Unimi). ESOL PhD students have the opportunity to join the Unimi Behave Lab. For more information about the call see the ESOL program’s website and the Unimi application page. Contact me or Prof. Flaminio Squazzoni for more info.
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26-Jun-23 ‣ I’ll be in Warsaw next week at the 20th IMISCOE Annual Conference for the panel “Immigrant integration, social participation and inequalities”. We’ll be presenting ongoing research on inequalities in social networks between migrants and non-migrants in the US (with Basak Bilecen).
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2-May-23 ‣ Excited to meet new and old colleagues at the ARS’23 Workshop on Social Network Analysis in Ischia today and tomorrow. A lot of new research will be presented by Behave Lab folks here in the next couple of days.
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3-Apr-23 ‣ Today I’ll be at the University of Milan-Bicocca, Department of Sociology and Social Research, for a seminar on social network analysis in urban sociology with graduate students in the URBEUR PhD program.
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15-Mar-23 ‣ Next week I’ll participate in the first advisory board meeting for the PATCHWORK project, with Miranda Lubbers (PI) and her Coalesce Lab at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
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30-Jan-23 ‣ Next week I’ll be at the 12th edition of the Winter School on “Personal Networks: Theory, Methods and Applications“. Lectures and workshops on research design, data collection, and analytic methods for personal network research with José Luis Molina, Miranda Lubbers, Chris McCarty, Bernie Hogan, Jürgen Lerner and other great colleagues. February 6-10 at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
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13-Jan-23 ‣Next edition of my workshop on egocentric network analysis with R (online) is planned for the 2023 INSNA Sunbelt conference (Portland, Oregon, June 27- July 1, 2023).