Curriculum Vitae

Education

PhD Computational Neuroscience and Machine Learning

University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany – (Oct 2023 - present)

  • Working under the supervision of Matthias Bethge and Thomas Euler, towards neural systems identification in the retina.
  • Collaborating with the Tolias lab in Stanford on the Enigma Project as part of the modelling team.

MSc Machine Learning

University College London, London, UK – (Sep 2021 - Sep 2022)

  • Core modules: Supervised Learning, Graphical Models, Reinforcement Learning, Natural Language Processing, Machine Vision, Applied ML, Bayesian Deep Learning.
  • Working in the Neural Computation Lab (Michael Hausser) as part of the MSc Project. Building Deep Semi-Supervised models to classify cerebellar cell types from Neuropixel recordings in awake, moving animals.

BSc Neuroscience with Cognitive Science

University of Sussex, Brighton, UK – (Sep 2018 - June 2021)

  • Graduated with 1st Class Honours (80%), winning the School Prize for Neuroscience for best third-year performance in the school.
  • Data-analysis dissertation on Collective Intelligence, incorporating statistical and tracking methods to analyse ants’ behavioural data.
  • Focused on evidence- and data-driven approaches to the biological sciences
  • A selection of modules taken includes: Intelligence in Animals and Machines, Neural Circuits, Sensory Function and Computation, Techniques in Neuroscience. The degree encompassed a broad range of themes in Neuroscience and the Cognitive Sciences.

Neuromatch Academy

Online, worldwide – (July 2020 - August 2020)

  • Participated as an interactive student, attending lectures and tutorials as well as completing peer-led project work.
  • Attended a Python bootcamp prior to course start
  • Solved coding exercises and challenges in Python through peer-programming

High School Diploma

Liceo Scientifico “Vittorio Sereni”, Luino, Italy – (Sep 2013 - July 2018)

  • Main subjects: Maths, Physics, Biology, Philosophy.
  • Graduated with 100/100 – A levels A*-A equivalent.

Work Experience

Research Assistant - UCL Neural Computation Lab

University College London, London, UK – (Sep 2021 - Sep 2022)

  • Collaborated with PhD students and postdoctoral researchers on the final stages of a 3-year long international project aiming at classifying cerebellar cell types from high-density Neuropixels recordings in awake mice.
  • Overhauled the machine learning pipeline by introducing modern Deep Semi-Supervised methods that leveraged the abundance of unlabelled data to solve the problem with 2× less labels.
  • Outperformed previous approaches adopted by the lab, finding and correcting methodological flaws in modelling practices.

Teaching Assistant - NMA CN

Neuromatch Academy - Computational Neuroscience, online - (Jul 2021 )

  • Actively guided a small group of students in daily peer-coding sessions in Python as part of the course curriculum
  • Advised the group in project sessions, facilitating the emergence of ideas and helping speed up their subsequent implementation
  • Collaborated with other TAs, project TAs and course organisers to exchange ideas and deliver the best possible teaching experience according to group needs and feedback

Voluntary Work and Experience

Early content tester

University of Pennsylvania - UPenn Deep Learning Academy, online - (Jan 2021 - May 2021)

  • Run bi-weekly meetings with selected students around the world to test early content of the new CIS-522 UPenn course on Deep Learning, delivered on Google Colab
  • Flagged bugs and reporting issues on GitHub as part of the feedback process
  • Course run by Professors Konrad Kording and Lyle Ungar

Website Manager – Volunteer

“La Rondine” Cultural Organisation, Varese, Italy - (Sept 2017 - Dec 2020)

  • Served as a front-end website manager for a non-profit cultural organisation focused on running literary prizes for the young
  • Curated page content, layout and graphical elements by cooperating with the organisation
  • Performed periodic traffic analytics as part of SEO adjustments

President of the High School Student Council

Liceo Scientifico “Vittorio Sereni”, Luino, Italy – (Sept 2017 - July 2018)

  • Held and organized events, assemblies and charities for 1080 students
  • Reported issues and suggestions directly to the School Board
  • Learnt public speaking, team-working, organisational, problem-solving, and leadership skills

Technical Skills

Adobe Creative Cloud

I learned how to use Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator and Audition as part of free-time projects and activities with friends. Specifically, I used to run a YouTube channel and a Podcast.

R and R-Studio

I have learned R as part of University-led Statistics courses, and is the programming language I used to analyse data for my BSc dissertation project. As a proud student of Prof. Andy Field at Sussex, I have learned to work with packages of the tidyverse collection.

Python

I have started learning Python on my own in the last years of my undergraduate studies. By now it is my daily driver: I have built several projects and packages. Check out open-retina!

Miscellaneous

bash, zsh, git, docker, linux, LaTeX, markdown, Quarto,… all the essentials for PhD survival.

Languages

Italian 🇮🇹

Native speaker

English 🇬🇧

Proficient speaker

German 🇩🇪

Basic knowledge

Serbian 🇷🇸

Good understanding

Interests

Meditation

I have been practicing mindfulness meditation on and off for around 7 years now. It helps me stay grounded and focused.

Running

Wasn’t expecting to like it, but I do. Add me on Strava to follow my poor running performance.

Videogames

Productivity drain.

Music

I have played the piano for around 10 years, and I love listening to music from all genres.

Reading philosophy

No good science can be made without a solid philosophical ground. From Plato to Nietzsche, passing by Spinoza, I love reading the philosophical works that built our culture.

TV shows

I am somewhat of a Sitcom addict. Favourites include: The Office, Seinfeld, Friends.