Curriculum vitae of Roberto Prevete
Education
- Since September 2002 I am a researcher in Computer Science at the Department of Physical Sciences in the University of Naples "Federico II".
- I subsequently engaged in the study of Computer Science at the University of Naples "Federico II", where I obtained a post-graduate degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science in 1999.
Positions and research experience
- During the years of 1999-2001 I worked at ITC-IRST (Istituto di Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica) of Trento in the field of the Cognitive Technologies in order to develop both Question-Answering (QA) Systems and automatic evaluation methods of QA systems.
- My current research interests are mainly framed in the field of machine learning. In particular, my research is focused on artificial neural networks, with both shallow and deep learning techniques, and on sparse coding. Particular interest is also devoted to eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI). XAI attempts to explain the behavior of a machine learning system by providing explanations that can be understood by human beings.
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In the field of machine learning my research contributions have addressed both theoretical and practical aspects, and include: 1) a new type of trainable activation function for artificial neural networks; 2) new methods for the synthesis of explanations of the behavior of machine learning systems; 3) new solutions for sparse dictionary learning; 4) the application of machine learning techniques on biological signals for the classification of behaviors or emotional states in both humans and animals.
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On the basis of this research on machine learning, my study and research activity is also devoted to cognitive and computational neuroscience. I have been interested in the study and development of computational models of the central nervous system, with particular emphasis on motor cortical areas (such as F4, F5, AIP) which appear to be strongly involved both in the control of object-oriented actions and in the recognition of such actions. In this context, I focused my research on the study of mirror neurons, on the notion of programmability applied to neuronal tissue and on the study of grasping actions.
- In the past, I have also been interested in Information Retrieval. I collaborated in works on the possibility of querying search engines through queries expressed in natural language (Italian or English) obtaining answers, also in natural language. In addition, I collaborated in the development of a Question-Answering system (Diogene) which participated in the international competitions TREC2001 and TREC2002.
- I was principal investigator of the Naples unit for the neuroscience project “Actions representations and their impairement” funded by the San Paolo company. I was scientific responsible of workpackages in national research projects such as PRIN 2007 (2007MNH7K2_003) entitled "The adaptive behavior of biological systems and the scientific method: the role of formal and material models, functional explanations, disciplinary approaches and unification "or PRIN 2015 (2015TM24JS_009), from title "Perception, Performativity and Cognitive Sciences". I participated in several national and international research projects such as, for example, the PON SMART HEALTH project or the European ETHICBOTS project.
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Since Semptember 2002 Ricercatore at Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Universita` di Napoli Federico II
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Since 2013 Ricercatore at Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica e delle Tecnologie dell'Informazione, Universita` di Napoli Federico II
Teaching
I have had various teaching positions in the field of research doctorates accredited since
Ministry, such as the "Methods for Explainable Machine Learning" module (12 hours) accredited by the ITEE Doctoral School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, 21-31, May 2019.