Hej Edoardo! Please tell us a bit about yourself, your current research project and your Master’s thesis.
Edoardo: I did the Master’s program Complex Adaptive Systems here in Gothenburg for the past two years. Previously I studied at the University of Pisa in Italy, where I’m from.
Towards the end of my thesis project, I applied for the Blanceflor scholarship and was accepted. The scholarship has enabled me to work on an extension of my thesis project project.
What is the research project about?
The project is about rare events in reaction-diffusion systems. Reaction-diffusion systems are a very broad class of mathematical models, in the sense that they can represent different natural processes.
So, for example, chemical reactions. There’s the reaction itself and then the diffusion describes how the particles that contribute to the reaction move in space. And I'm interested in describing how these processes behave and, in particular, how to compute the probability of rare events in these processes.
How can these models be implemented in other fields of study?
Although their most straightforward applications are in chemistry and physics, these models find many applications in life sciences, too. For example, they can also be used to describe population dynamics, both animal and human. Like the movements of predators and prey animals and their interactions when they come into contact with one another.
Another example that we’re all familiar with at this point is epidemics and disease spreading. You might have heard about the SIR model, which was used to predict the evolution of the covid-19 pandemic. That model is a reaction diffusion model, but instead of particles, you have individuals.
Humans are not like oxygen or hydrogen, but you do have susceptible individuals, infected individuals and recovered individuals. And the way these individuals interact in space can be modeled as a reaction-diffusion model. This way, you create a model for an event that you're interested in studying, like the epidemic itself, starting from a very small number of infected people and looking at the probability of having almost the entire population being affected.
That's a very rare event that can be studied through the methods that I'm developing. Of course, the methods I'm working on specifically are toy models, dealing with very simple reactions, but in theory, with longer computations, you could extend it to more complicated cases.
How is the Blanceflor scholarship awarded?
It’s a research scholarship, so you have to present a compelling research proposal. This was my first time writing one, and it was a fundamental learning experience because I’m sure I’ll write many more in the future!
Any Swedish or Italian citizen planning to do research abroad is eligible to apply for the scholarship.
How has this scholarship helped you continue your work?
For the spring term, I’ve just continued with the project in the same office with Johannes as a supervisor, but it's no longer part of my Master's degree. It's an extracurricular project supported financially by the scholarship that basically covers rent and a little bit more which allows me to stay here in Sweden. The project itself doesn't cost money in and of itself. I'm not an experimentalist, I just need a laptop and a desk, basically.
What is your plan going forward?
I’m continuing my studies with a PhD. The scholarship granted me a little more time - an extra semester of research experience and time for applications. Since obtaining the scholarship, I have been admitted to and accepted a PhD position in Computational Biology at Cornell University in the U.S.! I believe that obtaining this scholarship played a significant role in my application process.
I’m very excited to continue my career in research!
