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Professor Andrea Baronchelli

Professor of Complexity Science

School of Science & Technology Department of Mathematics

Contact details

Address

Professor Andrea Baronchelli C113 , Tait Building [C]
City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

Personal links

About

Overview

Andrea Baronchelli a Professor of Complexity Science at City, University of London, and he also leads the Token Economy theme at The Alan Turing Institute. Additionally, Andrea us a Research Associate at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies.

Andrea's research explores how people behave and organise themselves in decentralized socio-technical systems. To gain insights, he uses complex systems, network science, and machine learning to analyze large datasets, develops mathematical models, and conducts experiments with human subjects.

Andrea's work contributes to understanding how people coordinate in social networks, interact with and shape blockchain technology, and how information spreads and creates polarization. He has also extensively investigated, and continue to research, the evolution of social norms, how we categorize the world, and what triggers tipping points in collective behaviour. Furthermore, Andrea has explored human mobility and fundamental network science concepts like diffusion processes and the dynamics of time-varying networks.

His research has been published in leading journals such as Nature, Science, PNAS, Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Climate Change, Nature Communications, Science Advances, and Physical Review Letters. It has received support from various organisations, including UKRI, PayPal, ESRC, InnovateUK, and the UK Government. In 2019, Andrea received the Young Scientist Award for Socio and Econophysics from the German Physical Society.

Beyond academia, his research has had impact in both the public and private sectors - and generated an impact case for the Maths Department for the UK REF2021.


Recent grants as Principal Investigator include:

* Paypal gift: "Self-organized patterns of (de)centralization in the Bitcoin blockchain". January 2022 - January 2024. Funded amount: $340,000.

*UK Government grant: "IRIS: Global Health Security Academic Research Coalition". March 2021 - November 2023. Funded amount: £600,000.

*The Alan Turing Institute grant: "Investigating emerging central actors in the cryptocurrency ecosystem". PI. October 2020 - September 2023. Funded amount: £65,000.

*UKRI, COVID-19 Rapid Response Call: "COVID 19: Monitoring the effects of the pandemic on illicit online trade" (Grant no. ES/V00400X/1). May 2020 - November 2021. Funded amount: £272,813.

*Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Grant: "Data Science for Smart Bike Sharing". May 2019 - November 2021. Funded amount: £278,074.

In the video below Andrea discusses his research on the physics of socio-technical systems:
Shaping the world through research with Dr Andrea Baronchelli

For more info please see Andrea''s PERSONAL HOMEPAGE: https://www.andreabaronchelli.com/

Research

For more info please see Dr. Baronchelli's PERSONAL HOMEPAGE: https://sites.google.com/site/andreabaronchelli/

Andrea pursues an interdisciplinary research agenda centred on the modeling of social and biological systems, with particular regard to issues in linguistics, cognitive science and evolutionary dynamics. At a more fundamental level, Andrea's research focuses on complex networks and on the way they affect the dynamical processes taking place upon them. He uses concepts and tools coming from Complex Systems, Network Science and Data Science.

Andrea has published 60+ peer-reviewed papers, and has presented his work in 30+ invited talks at International Conferences, Universities and Institutions.

Publications

Featured publications

  1. Falkenberg, M., Galeazzi, A., Torricelli, M., Di Marco, N., Larosa, F., Sas, M. … Baronchelli, A. (2022). Growing polarization around climate change on social media. Nature Climate Change, 12(12), pp. 1114–1121. doi:10.1038/s41558-022-01527-x.

    [publisher’s website]

  2. Bracci, A., Boehnke, J., ElBahrawy, A., Perra, N., Teytelboym, A. and Baronchelli, A. (2022). Macroscopic properties of buyer–seller networks in online marketplaces. PNAS Nexus, 1(4). doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac201.

    [publisher’s website]

  3. Baronchelli, A., Halaburda, H. and Teytelboym, A. (2022). Central bank digital currencies risk becoming a digital Leviathan. Nature Human Behaviour, 6(7), pp. 907–909. doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01404-9.

    [publisher’s website]

  4. Nadini, M., Alessandretti, L., Di Giacinto, F., Martino, M., Aiello, L.M. and Baronchelli, A. (2021). Mapping the NFT revolution: market trends, trade networks, and visual features. Scientific Reports, 11(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-021-00053-8.
  5. Guilbeault, D., Baronchelli, A. and Centola, D. (2021). Experimental evidence for scale-induced category convergence across populations. Nature Communications, 12(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20037-y.

    [publisher’s website]

  6. Lucchini, L., Alessandretti, L., Lepri, B., Gallo, A. and Baronchelli, A. (2020). From code to market: Network of developers and correlated returns of cryptocurrencies. Science Advances, 6(51). doi:10.1126/sciadv.abd2204.

    [publisher’s website]

  7. ElBahrawy, A., Alessandretti, L., Rusnac, L., Goldsmith, D., Teytelboym, A. and Baronchelli, A. (2020). Collective dynamics of dark web marketplaces. Scientific Reports, 10(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-74416-y.

    [publisher’s website]

  8. Amato, R., Lacasa, L., Diaz-Guilera, A. and Baronchelli, A. (2018). The dynamics of norm change in the cultural evolution of language. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 115(33), pp. 8260–8265. doi:10.1073/pnas.1721059115.
  9. Alessandretti, L., Sapiezynski, P., Sekara, V., Lehmann, S. and Baronchelli, A. (2018). Evidence for a conserved quantity in human mobility. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(7), pp. 485–491. doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0364-x.

    [publisher’s website]

  10. Centola, D., Becker, J., Brackbill, D. and Baronchelli, A. (2018). Experimental evidence for tipping points in social convention. Science, 360(6393), pp. 1116–1119. doi:10.1126/science.aas8827.

    [publisher’s website]

  11. Centola, D. and Baronchelli, A. (2015). The spontaneous emergence of conventions: An experimental study of cultural evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(7), pp. 1989–1994. doi:10.1073/pnas.1418838112.

    [publisher’s website]

  12. Baronchelli, A., Ferrer-i-Cancho, R., Pastor-Satorras, R., Chater, N. and Christiansen, M.H. (2013). Networks in Cognitive Science. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17, pp. 348–360.

    [publisher’s website]

  13. Starnini, M., Baronchelli, A. and Pastor-Satorras, R. (2013). Modeling human dynamics of face-to-face interaction networks. Physical Review Letters, 110(16).
  14. Perra, N., Baronchelli, A., Mocanu, D., Gonçalves, B., Pastor-Satorras, R. and Vespignani, A. (2012). Random walks and search in time-varying networks. Physical Review Letters, 109(23).
  15. Baronchelli, A., Gong, T., Puglisi, A. and Loreto, V. (2010). Modeling the emergence of universality in color naming patterns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(6), pp. 2403–2407.
  16. Puglisi, A., Baronchelli, A. and Loreto, V. (2008). Cultural route to the emergence of linguistic categories. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(23), pp. 7936–7940.
  17. Baronchelli, A., Felici, M., Loreto, V., Caglioti, E. and Steels, L. (2006). Sharp transition towards shared vocabularies in multi-agent systems. Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, (6).

Publications by category

Chapters (10)

  • Alessandretti, L., Baronchelli, A. and He, Y.-.H. (2023). Machine Learning Meets Number Theory: The Data Science of Birch–Swinnerton-Dyer. Machine Learning in Pure Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (pp. 1–39). WORLD SCIENTIFIC (EUROPE). ISBN 978-1-80061-369-0.
  • Moretti, P., Baronchelli, A., Starnini, M. and Pastor-Satorras, R. (2013). Generalized voter-like models on heterogeneous networks. In Ganguly, N. (Ed.), Dynamics On and Of Complex Networks Springer Science & Business. ISBN 978-1-4614-6729-8.
  • Dediu, D., Cysouw, M., Levinson, S.C., Baronchelli, A., Christiansen, M.H., Croft, W. … Lieven, E. (2013). Cultural Evolution of Language. CULTURAL EVOLUTION: SOCIETY, TECHNOLOGY, LANGUAGE, AND RELIGION (pp. 303–332). ISBN 978-0-262-31828-0.
  • Baronchelli, A., Gong, T., Puglisi, A. and Loreto, V. (2010). On the origin of universal categorization patterns: an in-silica experiment. In Smith, A.D.M. (Ed.), The Evolution of Language (pp. 365–366). World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-4295-22-2.
  • Baronchelli, A., Puglisi, A. and Loreto, V. (2010). Complex systems approach to natural categorization. In Smith, A.D.M. (Ed.), The Evolution of Language World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-4295-22-2.
  • Mukherjee, A., Baronchelli, A., Loreto, V., Puglisi, A. and Tria, F. (2010). Aging in the Emergence of Linguistic Categories. In Fellermann, H., Dörr, M., Hanczyc, M.M., Laursen, L.L., Maurer, S.E., Merkle, D. … Rasmussen, S. (Eds.), Artificial Life XII: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, Odense, Denmark, August 19-23, 2010 (pp. 589–590). MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-29075-3.
  • Baronchelli, A., Cattuto, C., Loreto, V. and Puglisi, A. (2009). Complex systems approach to the emergence of language. In Minett, J.W. and Wang, W.S.-.Y. (Eds.), Language, Evolution, and the Brain City University of HK Press. ISBN 978-962-937-165-4.
  • Jäger, H., Steels, L., Baronchelli, A., Briscoe, E., Christiansen, M.H., Griffiths, T. … Triesch, J. (2009). What can mathematical, computational and robotic models tell us about the origins of syntax? In Bickerton, D. and Szathmáry, E. (Eds.), Biological Foundations and Origin of Syntax (pp. 385–410). MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-01356-7.
  • Loreto, V., Baronchelli, A. and Puglisi, A. (2009). Mathematical modeling of language games. In Nolfi, S. and Mirolli, M. (Eds.), Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-01250-1.
  • Baronchelli, A., Dall'Asta, L., Barrat, A. and Loreto, V. (2006). Strategies for fast convergence in semiotic dynamic. In Rocha, L.M. (Ed.), Artificial life X (pp. 480–485). The MIT Press.

Conference papers and proceedings (6)

  • Torricelli, M., Martino, M., Baronchelli, A. and Aiello, L.M. (2024). The Role of Interface Design on Prompt-mediated Creativity in Generative AI. Websci '24: 16th ACM Web Science Conference. doi:10.1145/3614419.3644000
  • Starnini, M., Lepri, B., Baronchelli, A., Barrat, A., Cattuto, C. and Pastor-Satorras, R. (2017). Robust Modeling of Human Contact Networks Across Different Scales and Proximity-Sensing Techniques.
  • Lin, Y.-.R., Margolin, B., Keegan, A., Baronchelli, A. and Lazer, D. (2013). #Bigbirds never die: Understanding social dynamics of emergent hashtag. THE SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL AAAI CONFERENCE ON WEBLOGS AND SOCIAL MEDIA 8-11 July, MIT Media Lab and Microsoft.
  • Baronchelli, A., Caglioti, E., Loreto, V. and Steels, L. (2006). Complex systems approach to language games. Second European Conference on Complex Systems ECCS'06 Oxford, UK.
  • Baronchelli, A., Dall'Asta, L., Barrat, A. and Loreto, V. (2006). Bootstrapping communication in language games. 6th International Conference (EVOLANG6).
  • Baronchelli, A., Felici, M., Caglioti, E., Loreto, V. and Steels, L. (2005). Self-organizing communication in language games. First European Conference on Complex Systems ECCS'05 Paris, France.

Journal articles (91)

Thesis/dissertation

  • Baronchelli, A. Statistical mechanics approach to language games. (PhD)