Francesca Burelli
francesca.burelli@student.unisi.it
Title of the project: “From Deliberation to Decision: Conditions for Policy Impact in Italy”
Supervisors: Pierangelo Isernia (UniSI DISPOC), Iolanda Romano (Avventura Urbana)
Francesca is a PhD candidate in Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Siena. Her research investigates the conditions under which deliberative processes - such as citizens’ assemblies and participatory budgeting - can move beyond participation to actually shape public policies. By analyzing a wide set of Italian cases, the project aims to highlight the institutional and political factors that favor the policy impact of democratic innovations.
Francesco Currò
Title of the project: “Virtual realities, real interactions: exploring human-robot collaboration in VR environments”
Supervisors: Oronzo Parlangeli (Università di Siena, Italia), Simone Grasssini (University of Bergen, Norway)
Francesco Currò is a psychologist and psychotherapist, and a PhD candidate in Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Siena. His research focuses on the interplay between social psychology and human-robot interaction, within the context of virtual reality. The project aims to explore how humans perceive, interact with, collaborate, and adapt to robots to improve HRI knowledge from a humanistic point of view. Main topics are perception, cognition, responsibility, delegation, and trust towards robots, as well as designing ethical principles in human-robot collaboration. This research project will advance our understanding of HRI using VR environments, contributing to the development of socially acceptable robots and promoting a trustworthy integration of robots in society.
Sara Ermini
Title of the project: “How do users examine fake news to prevent conspiracy beliefs?”
Supervisors: Prof. Pierangelo Isernia, Prof.ssa Alessandra Rufa (University of Siena)
Sara’s doctoral research investigates how eye-tracking technology can measure visual attention patterns and cognitive processes during engagement with fake news, examining the effectiveness of intervention strategies in mitigating the spread of misinformation. This interdisciplinary project bridges cognitive science, user experience design, and social science, employing eye-tracking metrics to understand the mental and affective mechanisms underlying users' susceptibility to disinformation and their responses to various countermeasures.
Riccardo Franchini
Title of the project: “Social Wood. Cohesion and conflict regarding forest use in Tuscany's inland areas”
Supervisors: Fabio Berti (Unisi, DISPOC), Giorgio Osti (University of Padova)
Riccardo Franchini is a PhD student in Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Siena. His research investigates the ecological relationships between inhabitants and forest resources in the inland areas of Tuscany. Through an ethnographic approach, the project explores the interplay between biodiversity conservation, migration, economic development, and territorial housing, with the aim of understanding how these communities are transforming both internally and in their interaction with the surrounding environment.
Giulia Roti
Title of the project: “Antispecism’s valuescapes in italy: a multi-situated ethnography”
Supervisors: Filippo Lenzi Grillini (Università di Siena, DISPOC), Mara Benadusi (Università di Catania)
Giulia Roti is a PhD candidate in Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Siena, where she also earned her master’s degree in Anthropology. Her primary research interests are multispecies ethnography and political anthropology, and is currently conducting a research project on the valuescapes of the antispeciesist movement in Italy. Her fieldwork involves participant observation across different sites of the movement, with particular attention to multispecies care in farm animal sanctuaries and the ontopolitical practices — carried out by both activists and sanctuary caregivers — that shape interspecies relations.