Short Bio
Prof Dr Luis E. C. Rocha is a Professor of Econophysics and Social Physics and leads the Complex Systems Institute at Ghent University, Belgium
(CSI). He is affiliated with the Department of Economics and the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He holds a PhD in Theoretical
Physics from Umeå University, Sweden (2011), and a master's in Applied Physics and Informatics from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He also
holds a post-graduate certificate of Teaching in Higher Education from the University of Greenwich, UK, and is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education
Academy. Before joining Ghent University, he was a Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, UK, and an Assistant Professor at Karolinska Institute,
Sweden. He held research positions at Stockholm University, the University of Namur, and the University of Louvain-la-Neuve.
His interdisciplinary research focuses on complex systems and network science, including computational modelling of dynamic processes on networks,
agent-based modelling, and network data analytics. He collaborates with computer science, social sciences, applied mathematics, and public health
experts, among others. His work contributes to understanding social, economic, and health systems through advanced computational modelling from a
complex systems perspective.
Luis at Nydala Lake, Umeå, Sweden, at 1pm in January 2008
Education and Past Work
2019: Fellow of the United Kingdom Higher Education Academy
2019: Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, University of Greenwich, UK
2018 - 2019: Lecturer in Network Science, Business School, University of Greenwich, UK
2017 - 2018: Researcher, Sociology, Stockholm University, Sweden
2013 - 2017: Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
2013 - 2016: FNRS Research Fellow, Mathematics, University of Namur, Belgium
2011 - 2013: FSR Research Fellow Academie universitaire Louvain & EU Marie Curie Action, Engineering Mathematics, University of Louvain, Belgium
2011: PhD Theoretical Physics, Umeå University, Sweden
2007: Master Applied Physics (Computational Physics), University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Scholarship Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)2005: Bachelor Physics (minor in Informatics), University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Main Research Interests
My research involves diverse topics and methodologies with a focus on complex systems, network science, and agent-base modelling applied to social,
economic, and health systems. I mostly work on developing novel mathematical methods and computational models, frequently in collaboration with
applied researchers, particularly, computer scientists (information visualisation and machine learning), sociologists (social networks, sampling
hard-to-reach populations), and mathematicians (mathematical epidemiology, data analytics), and medical doctors (public health).
Main research topics:
- Computational modelling of dynamic processes on networks, e.g. opinions, random walks, epidemics
- Algorithms for network data analytics
- Agent-based modelling
- Modelling of temporal or time-varying networks
- Data analytics using networks, statistics, time series, (some) machine learning
- Visualisation of temporal or time-varying networks
- Sampling of hard-to-reach populations, both methods and applications (data collection)
- Social, economic and health systems, e.g. sexual and social (communication and contact networks) Human/animal networks.
Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil