THREE NEW PHD STUDENTS, Andrea Antico, Federico Cupellini and Anthony ONOJA, JOIN EMBEDS
As part of its educational mission, EMbeDS supports PhD scholarships in three programs; Economics, Management and Data Science. Three doctoral students joned us in the 2019/20 academic cycle.
Andrea Antico joined the Economics PhD program at the Sant'Anna School. He obtained his undergraduate degree in "Banca, Finanza e Mercati Finanziari" from the University of Pisa, and continued his studies with a Master of Science in Economics jointly offered by the University of Pisa and the Sant'Anna School. In his thesis Andrea derived a mathematical model to compute the probability of default for listed firms, created some aggregate indexes and compared the counterparty risk in the pharmaceutical sector between Eu and US. In April 2019, Andrea participated to the HEC Business Game in Paris. Always in April, he started teaching integrative lectures in Financial Mathematics for the bachelor degree in Economics at the University of Pisa.
What are Andrea's plans for his doctoral research, in connection with the objectives of EMbeDS? "I plan to study how systemic risk propagates among banks in a network. More precisely, I would like to evaluate the role of "sentiments" -- that is, the way investors and people in general perceive a given situation, whether they feel confident about it -- and how they may affect those networks. Nore specifically, I will measure sentiments through a so-called sentiment analysis, and successively use these measurements to re-weight the linkages of the network. The aim is to give policy makers further tools to take decisions, which concern not only financial regulations, but also alternative solutions being able to account for sentiments".
Federico Cupellini joined the Management PhD Program at the Sant'Anna School. Prior to this he received a Master in Environmental and Food Economics from the University of Milan in 2019, and a Second Level Master in Management, Innovation and Service Engineering from the Sant’Anna School in 2020. For his thesis at University of Milan he investigated topics related to the sustainability of economic growth, relying on the World Bank indicators for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His research interest in the field of sustainability brought him to Sant’Anna for his doctoral studies. He is investigating circular economy and innovation in the context of sustainability and he started working on assessment tools for circularity evaluation.
What are Federico's plans for his doctoral research, in connection with the objectives of EMbeDS? “I will investigate the best tools and models to assess circularity, with the help of data gathered by surveys and interviews. Circularity assessment tools are crucial in aiding companies -- from product design to internal reporting, procurement and marketing -- on the path to a more circular economy. Companies need flexible tools, enabling them to set priorities as well as to communicate their efforts to stakeholders”.
Anthony Onoja joined the Data Science PhD Program (a consortium of Scuola Normale Superiore, the University of Pisa, Scuola Sant'Anna, the IMT of Lucca and CNR). Prior to this he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics from the University of Jos, Nigeria and a Master Degree in Mathematical Statistics from the Pan African University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya. In his Master thesis Anthony utilized Support Vector Machines and Boosting to classify the food security status of households in some regions of Kenya. This was in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of zero hunger all over the world. Anthony is enthusiastic about gaining further insights, skills and knowledge in areas of Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Mining. He worked for the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Nigeria (ICAN) as a Research and Technical Manager -- where he developed an interest in using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence approaches to promote Accountability and Good Governance.
What are Anthony's plans for his doctoral research, in connection with the objectives of EMbeDS? "My main interest is to develop data-driven theories and models utilizing Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning to explain complexity in Accountability and Good Governance. I am also passionate about educating and inspiring a new generation of social scientists, scholars and entrepreneurs in the use of data-driven approaches, changing their perception of accountability and fostering good governance in the provate and public sectors. Creating data-driven models of accountability and good governance will foster practical and innovative knowledge in these areas for the scientists and the enterpreneurs of the future".
