Principal Investigator
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Andrea Cavagna I work at the Institute for Complex Systems of the National Research Council, in Rome. I have a background in theoretical physics and statistical field theory. After studying for some time the statistical mechanics of disordered systems, as spin-glasses and supercooled liquids, my research interests shifted in the last ten years to the collective behaviour of biological systems. My lab has been the first to combine the production of large-scale data (groups of up to 3000 individuals) with a theoretical approach inspired by statistical physics and field theory. |
Senior group member
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Irene Giardina I am a member of the Department of Physics at Sapienza University and an associate member of the Institute for Complex Systems (ISC) of the National Research Council. I am a theoretical physicist, with a background in statistical physics. I worked for some time on disordered systems and glassy behaviour in condensed matter, and then moved to biological systems. Together with Andrea Cavagna, I founded the CoBBS lab. |
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Stefania Melillo I am the Head of the Experimental and Tracking unit of RG.BIO team. My background is in applied mathematics but from 2010, when I joined CoBBS group, my research is mainly focused on 3D field experiments with stereo-camera systems. I am fascinated by all aspect of the experiment: from the design of the set-up and the data collection to 3D tracking and data analysis. I have a deep experience in standard static systems and recently I moved my interest to the development of dynamic 3D systems, a rather demanding set-up that is still unexplored for field experiments on collective animal behavior. |
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Leonardo Parisi I am a computer scientist. My work is mainly focused on computer vision, 3D tracking, and GPU programming. I am fascinated by collective animal behavior and in the last years I have joined the CoBBS group at the Institute for Complex Systems ISC where I am now a researcher. I also work on the reconstruction of the 3D trajectories of the space debris, in collaboration with the 5SLab at DIMA (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) of University Sapienza of Rome. |
Administrative Staff
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Agnese D’orazio I work as administrative assistant to several research projects, most of them on collective behaviour. In this position, I work closely with principal investigators, researchers and external collaborators. I assist with negotiation and reporting activities serving as main contact for funding agencies. I also provide logistical support to projects coordinating activities that involve both research and administrative staff in my Institution. |
Technical Staff
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Victor Hugo Santos I study Physics as an undergraduate at La Sapienza, and I have a high school background in Environmental Physics. I am working towards building skills and knowledge at the intersection of quantum computing, brain research and behaviour. |
Postdocs
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Riccardo Beschi I am a physicist, I graduated in 2018 at Sapienza university. In September 2020, I joined the experimental team of CoBBS lab. I’m involved in conducting experimental campaigns on flocks (starlings) and swarms of midges. |
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Zachary Stamler I have a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Portland State University with a concentration in signal processing and machine learning. Here at COBBS Lab I am working on field data gathering on starling flocking and midge swarms. In addition, I am currently working on extending machine vision methods for data extraction from video datasets of dense swarms, specifically those gathered from the Vaux’s Swift migrations in Portland, OR. |
PhD Students
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Mario Veca I am a Ph.D. student in theoretical physics, with a background in classical statistical mechanics. In the past, I worked on disordered systems defined on Bethe lattice, while now my main research activity focuses on the out of equilibrium study of the response theory for active matter systems. |
Master’s degree Student
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Andrea Lama I’m a master degree student in theoretical physics with a background in statistical physics, thrilled by the modelling power of physics in the most various scenarios. My thesis work is focused on studying collective behaviour in flocks |
Former Postdocs