Research interests

    nature
  1. Development of AI methods for the study of ancient written cultures. Since 2017 I have been working with Google DeepMind creating a suite of machine learning tools that address various languages and aspects of inscribed texts. This work has been supported by the European Commission and the Leverhulme Trust. The impact of this research has been widely recognized, featured in international media, and earned the cover of Nature.

  2. Research into AI bias in ancient world datasets, raising awareness about the marginalization of identities in ancient big data. As a member of the Google Cloud Research Innovators programme and co-chair of major scientific conferences ((ML4AL @ACL2024), I actively promote collaboration between Computer Science and the Humanities.

  3. sicily
  4. Study of the epigraphic and funerary practices of Archaic-Classical western Sicily. I was awarded the Nenci prize by the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa for best doctoral thesis on ancient Sicily, and I continue to work on the island's history as cooperation partner in the Consuming the East in Sicily project. In this role, I am responsible for studying inscriptions on transport amphorae from the necropoleis of Himera. I also enjoy publishing new epigraphic material from Himera and its hinterland.

Academic Positions

  • Leverhulme EC Fellowship – Leverhulme Trust, University of Nottingham, 2024 - 2027 (link).

  • Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship – European Commission, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, 2021 - 2023 (link).

  • Google Cloud Research Innovators Cohort – Google Cloud, 2022 - 2024 (link).

  • CHS Fellow – Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University, 2021 - 2022, September-October 2021 residency (link).

  • Ralegh Radford Rome Awardee - The British School at Rome, January - March 2020.

  • Craven University Fellow - Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, Funding research fieldwork in Sicily 2017 - 2019.

Research Projects

2024 - 2027, Project lead
Connecting the Past - Deep Neural Networks for Ancient Greek Networks.
Leverhulme Trust grant ECF-2023-488. Hosted by the University of Nottingham.
2021 - 2023, Project lead
PythiaPlus - Machine Learning for the Study of Ancient Epigraphic Cultures.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101026185. Hosted by Ca’ Foscari Università di Venezia.
2023 - 2027, Cooperation partner
Consuming the East in Sicily – The eastern Greek transport amphorae from the necropolises of Himera and new insights into the colony's extra-regional trade (mid-7th to 5th century BCE).

Responsible for the study of the amphorae inscriptions from the necropoleis of Himera.
FWF Austrian Sciences Fund P. 36827. Institute for Classical Archeology, University of Vienna.
2020 - 2022, Project co-lead
Ithaca – Restoring and attributing ancient Greek inscriptions with Machine Learning.
With Google DeepMind, Ca’ Foscari Università di Venezia, University of Oxford, Athens AUEB University, Google Cloud.
2019, Project co-lead
Pythia – Restoring ancient text using Deep Learning: a case study on Greek epigraphy.
With the University of Oxford and Google DeepMind.
2018 - 2017, Project lead
ISicDef – A digital corpus of Sicilian curse tablets.
Independent research conducted at the University of Oxford.

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