A reader of structure, four practices deep.

I graduated in Natural Sciences, taking exams in all the fundamental disciplines, then completed a PhD studying the behaviour and genetics of social wasps. After a brief spell as a science writer, I turned the lens around and began studying the nature of science itself — and the mis-behaviours of scientists.

I was one of the first natural scientists who specialised, full-time, in the empirical study of scientific misconduct, bias, and related issues. I have produced some of the largest studies assessing the prevalence of bias across disciplines and countries; my 2009 meta-analysis on surveys about misconduct is one of the most popular papers ever published in PLOS, with around 350,000 views.

My work and opinions are regularly cited in the popular press, and I have been involved at various levels with international conferences and initiatives. I am a member of the Luxembourg Agency for Research Integrity, for which I conduct investigations and give policy advice, and the Research Ethics and Bioethics Advisory Committee of CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy), for which I led the development of the first CNR research integrity guidelines.

I am now also an entrepreneur. I founded Science of Science Ltd and am developing comCensus.org, a platform that aims to liberate human collective intelligence from the traps of self-censorship, polarisation, and complexity.

• Post-Graduate Certificate (2020) — Computer Science, University of Bath, UK. With distinction.
• Master (2006) — Science Communication, University of Milan.
• PhD (2005) — Ethology and Animal Ecology, jointly conducted at the University of Florence and University of Copenhagen. Title: Evolution of reproductive altruism and social parasitism in primitively eusocial wasps.
• Laurea (2001) — Natural Sciences, University of Florence. 110/110 cum laude.

Selected additional training: Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers (Stanford Online, 2015, 84%); New England Complex Systems Institute Winter School (2013); European Summer School for Scientometrics (Leuven, 2012).

• Current — Assistant Professor, Heriot-Watt University; Fellow in Quantitative Methodology, Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science; Director of the Theoretical and Empirical METaknowledge (TEMET) lab.
• 2015–2017 — Senior Research Scientist at METRICS — Meta-Research Innovation Center, Stanford University.
• 2013–2014 — Professeur invité at EBSI, Université de Montréal, Canada; PI on the NIH-funded From countries to individuals: unravelling the causes of bias and misconduct with multilevel meta-meta-analysis; affiliated faculty at CIRST, Université du Québec à Montréal.
• 2010–2013 — Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at The University of Edinburgh, on the project Bias, misconduct and the Hierarchy of the Sciences: towards a unified science of scientific objectivity.
• 2012 — Visiting fellow at ECOOM, University of Leuven, BE — bibliometrics training and research.
• 2011 — Visiting fellow at the Centre for the Philosophy of the Natural and Social Sciences, London School of Economics.
• 2008–2010 — Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow, The University of Edinburgh, on the project Quantifying objectivity in the natural and social sciences.

• Member of the Luxembourg Agency for Research Integrity (LARI).
• Member of the Advisory Board of ENERI — European Network of Research Ethics and Research Integrity.
• Member of the Research Ethics and Bioethics Advisory Committee of CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy); chair of the Research Integrity Subcommittee.
• Member of the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Research Integrity, convened in 2010 upon mandate by the Canadian government.
• Member of the organising committee of the 3rd World Conference on Research Integrity.
• Editorial board: Accountability in Research, Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine, ScienceMatters; academic editor for PLOS ONE.
• Peer-reviewer for Nature, Nature Human Behaviour, JRSS Series A, PLOS ONE, PLOS Biology, PLOS Medicine, PNAS, Lancet, BMJ Open, Science & Engineering Ethics, Research Policy, and many others; funding agencies including the US NSF and Swiss NSF.

When I'm not thinking about science, I'm often exploring other facets of the cognitive spectrum. I am a regular meditator. I play the piano and serve on the Council of the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, one of Scotland's oldest musical institutions. I also photograph: one of my photographs was among the winners of Stanford SLAC's 2015 Photowalk competition, which is so far the only photography competition I have ever entered, giving me a 100% career success rate in the medium.

For more on the artistic practices, see the Studio page.