Fabiana ZOLLO

SHORT-BIO
Fabiana Zollo is an Associate Professor of Computer Science in the Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics where she coordinates the Laboratory of Data Science for Society. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of The New Institute Centre for Environmental Humanities (NICHE), where she is the Principal Investigator of the Research Cluster "Science Communication". She is the Scientific Director of the center ECHO - Science Communication Hub at Fondazione Università Ca' Foscari. 

Her research is focused on understanding the spreading and consumption of information, encompassing topics such as misinformation, social dynamics, and polarization within the digital realm. Her primary areas of investigation include the study of infodemics, the identification and mitigation of online hate speech, and the promotion of healthier information ecosystems.

Since 2019, she has been serving as an External Expert to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the Working Group “Social Research Methods and Advice". In 2020, she joined the Working Group established by the Italian Presidency of Council to study the phenomenon of disinformation on COVID-19.

Bibliometrics: Google Scholar, Scopus

LABORATORY OF DATA SCIENCE FOR SOCIETY
Prof. Zollo heads the Laboratory of Data Science for Society, a leading research team in the fields of data and computational social science. The laboratory boasts extensive expertise in investigating misinformation and information dissemination in online platforms, particularly regarding highly polarizing topics such as vaccines, migration, climate change, and politics.

Team members: 
Prof. Fabiana Zollo, Coordinator
Dr. Teresa Scantamburlo, Senior Researcher
Dr. Alessandro Galeazzi, Research Fellow
Dr. Marco Delmastro, Research Fellow
Mr. Arnaldo Santoro, PhD Candidate
 
FUNDED PROJECTS

1. Local Principal Investigator in the project "Formare cHI V'Informa", that aims to consolidate and expand the knowledge of communication experts in the field of HIV and U=U, with particular reference to technical and scientific journalists, to promote correct information, based on current scientific evidence and free from stigma. The project is coordinated by the University of Pisa in partnership with Ca' Foscari and the Italian League for the Fight against AIDS (LILA), 2022-2024
2. Co-founder of the research coalition IRIS aiming to understand ‘infodemics’ and promote healthy information ecosystems, in collaboration with the Vaccine Confidence Project (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), University of Cambridge, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Sapienza University of Rome, City University of London (and the Alan Turing Institute), 2021-2023
3. Local Principal Investigator of H2020 EU project EUMEPLAT "European Media Platforms: Assessing Positive and Negative Externalities for European Culture", Grant Agreement ID: 824634, 2021-2024
4. Country Expert and Mercator Fellow in the DFG (German Research Foundation) funded project DECIPHER “Deciphering the “pandemic public sphere”: Government communication, (social) media discourses on and citizens’ responses to Covid-19 in Europe and the USA”, 2021-2024
5. Local Principal Investigator of EU REC project IMSyPP "Innovative Monitoring Systems and Prevention Policies of Online Hate Speech", Grant Agreement ID: 875263, 2020-2022
6. Local Principal Investigator of H2020 EU project QUEST "Quality and Effectiveness in Science and Technology Communication", Grant Agreement ID: 824634, 2019-2021
7. Affiliate in the program “Facebook Data for Good”, 03/2020 – Ongoing
8. Investigator in the project "Overcoming Polarisation and Misinformation around Migration in Italy" in collaboration with London School of Economics (LSE) and Corriere della Sera, 2017-2019. The final report is available here.

INSTITUTIONAL DUTIES

• Delegate for Communications and Equal Opportunities, Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics,  10/2020 – Ongoing 
• Member of the Faculty Board and person in charge of the Minor in Digital Humanities, Ca' Foscari International College, 10/2019 – Ongoing
• Member of the Doctoral Committee (Informatics), Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics,  10/2019 – Ongoing 

EXTRA-INSTITUTIONAL DUTIES

• Scientific Director, ECHO - Science Communication Hub, 05/2024 – Ongoing
• External expert at European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Working Group “COM - Social Research Methods and Advice”, 05/2019 – Ongoing
• Member of the task force of data science established by AGCOM to investigate the phenomenon of misinformation on COVID-19, 04/2020 - 04/2021  
• Member of the Working Group established by the Italian Presidency of Council to study misinformation on COVID-19, 04/2020 - 04/2021