Media Society and Literacies
Manuel Pita was awarded a PhD in Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. His postdoctoral work was done in the area of theoretical complex networks with world renowned experts Prof. Luis Rocha (Indiana University) and Melanie Mitchell (Portland State University).
In 2013 Manuel published a theoretical framework to analyse complex biochemical networks, with a particular focus on finding genetic targets to control healthy/disease states. More recently Manuel focused on how genetic networks are “designed” by evolutionary processes, on predicting the onset of flu seasons in European countries, and on studying the dynamics of decision making in the Portuguese parliament.
Very recently Manuel started his own research group in Computational Social Science and networks. His current key project is on understanding the unfolding — in social networks — of timelines with global impact such as Brexit, and the US election. His key expertise is on information processes that are mediated by the complex interactions between many variables/actors. In his toolbox Manuel keeps using (mostly) techniques from Network and Data Science.
Manuel also has a keen interest and growing background knowledge in information visualisation. Finally, Manuel is very passionate about understanding how local interactions lead to global behaviours
