I am a mathematician and software engineer turned language scientist, and my research is very much still shaped by this background. I mainly use data science, statistics and computer models to investigate the patterns of linguistic diversity, and the processes that shape the origins and evolution of language and of languages. In particular, I look at how very weak biases, rooted in our culture, cognition and biology, are sometimes amplified by the repeated use and transmission of language in complex and dynamic communities, resulting in large-scale cross-linguistic variation. In the meantime, I try to argue that language and speech are really old, and that our evolutionary cousins, including the Neanderthals and the Denisovans, probably also told fascinating stories around campfires using fairly complex languages.

Alfonso is interested in understanding how an egg transforms itself into an organism. To address this question, his research draws techniques and inspiration from embryology, genetics and engineering. Over the last few years, using Embryonic Stem Cells he has developed ‘gastruloids’,  a novel culture system that allows modelling the early stages of mammalian development. His group uses gastruloids to understand normal and abnormal embryonic development. He is a member of EMBO and, in 2012 received the Waddington medal for his contributions to british developmental biology. Currently he holds an ERC Advanced Investigator grant to study the emergence of the mammalian body plan.

Francisco Ortega research focuses on the interactions between global biopsychiatry and local psychiatric epistemologies. His work examines the extent to which global mental health initiatives appropriately address mental health challenges in the global South, with a focus on the role of culture in mental health. To that end, he explores the historical roots, and the political and epistemological aspects present in the discussion about cultural diversity and mental health, and investigates experiences in public mental health that incorporate the cultural dimension. His research assumes that integrating cultural studies in mental health can help describe and interpret the complexity of the issues involved in mental health care in global times. He is currently conducting research in Brazil. 

Diana applies machine learning and cutting-edge technology to analyse key cultural transformation processes within a transnational and cultural analytics approach. She is fascinated by the circulation of cultural goods and the study of how historical networks offer new insights into patterns of cultural change. Within a sociological and digital humanities perspective, her research pushes forward global literary and cultural history to analyse multiple connections that go beyond intercultural entanglements in Europe or the Western world. Her research is grounded in a decentred and empirical approach, a big data turn, and a focus on agents and social network research to abandon the focus on innovative centres and imitative peripheries, when studying large accounts of literary and translation processes between spaces and over time. She is the PI of an ERC StG (2018-2023).