Italian Science Fund (FIS)

Luiss research projects funded by the Italian Science Fund.

CODYBE - Collective dynamics in networks beyond pairwise interactions

Many biological, social and technological systems are shaped by complex interactions among their components. Traditional network models describe these systems through pairwise connections, but growing empirical evidence shows that many real-world interactions involve larger groups and cannot be reduced to combinations of individual links. The CODYBE - Collective dynamics in networks beyond pairwise interactions - project intends to overcome these limitations by developing a new mathematical framework to describe the structure and dynamics of systems characterised by higher-order interactions. Drawing on statistical physics, graph theory and dynamical systems theory, the project has as its main goals the development of data-informed models and measures to quantify higher-order complexity, compress network representations and infer patterns of interaction from large-scale data. It also aims to investigate how higher-order structures shape processes such as synchronisation, spreading and evolution, providing new tools and unifying principles to understand the emergent behaviour of complex systems.

COLLAGE - Continuous, Decentralized Compositionality for Sustainable Artificial Intelligence

Scientific Leader: Vincenzo Lomonaco

Thanks to recent advances in machine learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has achieved extraordinary results. However, current solutions demand vast amounts of computing power and memory, posing challenges in terms of efficiency and sustainability. The COLLAGE project—Continual, Decentralized Compositionality for Sustainable Artificial Intelligence—aims to drastically reduce these costs by developing AI methodologies based on reusability, with a continuous, decentralized, and compositional system for sustainable AI solutions. The project aims to create a scientific foundation for models that can adapt over time, protocols for sharing knowledge between applications, and methods for building new AI from existing ones. COLLAGE proposes a paradigm shift: from an application-centric approach to a structural and sustainable one by design. The results, validated through a proof of concept on a decentralized “AI for flood forecasting” system in Europe, aim to define a circular economy for the development and use of AI.

FAST-D - Framing Self-Determination in Digital Ecosystems

Scientific Leader: Antonio Davola

Digital ecosystems increasingly shape users’ choices and behaviour, challenging traditional understandings of individual autonomy and self-determination. The FAST-D - Framing Self-Determination in Digital Ecosystems – project aims to reframe digital self-determination by investigating the distinctive characteristics of online environments and the risks they pose to users’ autonomy and freedom of choice. The project will analyse the techniques used by digital actors to influence users’ behaviour, focusing on mass content personalisation, dynamic choice architectures, and addictive strategies. Combining legal analysis with online and laboratory experiments, FAST-D will develop objective and empirically verifiable metrics to assess their impact and translate the findings into existing legal standards. The project will ultimately provide courts and policymakers with new tools to assess the lawfulness of digital conduct, contributing to a regulatory framework better equipped to safeguard consumer autonomy and individual rights in digital environments.

MAEDINA - Media, Audiences, and Emotions in Driving Immigration News Avoidance

Scientific Leader: Donatella Selva

The MAEDINA project—Media, Audiences and Emotions in Driving Immigration News Avoidance—explores the phenomenon of news avoidance, specifically focusing on news related to immigration. The term “news avoidance” refers to practices of resistance or rejection toward information, sources, or news outlets, in relation to news consumption habits, digital disconnection, and forms of critical citizenship. The project aims to advance field research by introducing a new qualitative approach that integrates the analysis of public practices and their meanings, media representations, and, for the first time, the perceptions and strategies of journalists. Particular attention is given to the role of emotions in the processes of producing, disseminating, consuming, and rejecting news about immigration. Specifically, MAEDINA aims to: 1) develop a White Paper on Immigration News through a collaborative process involving citizens and journalists, with the goal of providing guidelines for more responsible communication; 2) proceed with an open-source browser extension to collect and monitor data on news consumption and avoidance behaviors. With Italy serving as a pilot case, the project lays the groundwork for a methodological framework applicable to comparative and international contexts.

POLISMOD - A political sociology of religious moderation in 21st-century Europe

Scientific Leader: Kristina Stoeckl

The POLISMOD project, A political sociology of religious moderation in 21st-century Europe, explores how religious figures navigate Europe's increasingly polarized “culture wars.” While European Christian churches supported democracy, human rights, and European integration throughout the second half of the 20th century, this legacy is now being challenged as far-right movements and reactionary Christian networks mobilize religious identity against democratic pluralism, gender equality, LGBTIQ+ rights, and immigration. Positioned between conservative religious activism and secular progressivism, religious moderates affirm the role of religion in public life, resisting its exploitation as an anti-democratic force. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines ethnographic fieldwork, discourse analysis, and survey data, POLISMOD examines democratic religious actors in four national and denominational contexts—Catholic Italy and Germany, Protestant Germany and Finland (with its Orthodox minority), and Orthodox Romania. The project maps how they articulate their identities and values, and how they position themselves on key social and political issues.