Current Position
Alessandro Cossard (AC) is a Ph.D. student at the Chemistry Department of Turin, in the Theoretical Chemistry group, as a software developer for the CRYSTAL code (http://www.crystal.unito.it/index.php, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_(software)). His project is about implementing some new tools into CRYSTAL in order to study in deep some branches of quantum chemistry. In particular, he is implementing code for extending the Bader analysis to f and g-orbitals.
He also has a teaching support role for the Physical Chemistry 1 exam (Department of Chemistry, UniTo) during which he shows students how to solve exam-like exercises.
In 2020 he had been named Expert of the Subject in Physical Chemistry.
Work Experiences
Research
- Applied Research Lagrange Scholarship. AC worked one year at ISI Foundation in Turin (https://www.isi.it/en/home) on a project under the name of “Data for Social Good”. In particular, AC analyzed big data from Social Networks in order to follow the development of the anti-vaccination movement in Italy. The tutors of this work were Yelena Mejova, Gianmarco De Francisci Morales, Daniela Paolotti, Michele Starnini, and Kyriaki Kalimeri.
- Scholarship at the Chemistry Department at the University of Turin in the Theoretical Chemistry group. AC developed some computational models for periodic systems into the CRYSTAL code in the framework of the Density Functional Theory. The tutor of this project was Prof. Civalleri Bartolomeo.
Teaching
- Full Teacher at the Campus MFS (http://www.campusmfs.it/):
- At the sessions of December 2018 and January 2019, AC taught the basis of Network Theory and how to use the Gephi software to build and visualize complex networks (show certificate, show certificate)
- At the session of July 2019, AC taught both the previous course about networks and a course named Python for Data Science in which he taught the basics of Machine Learning and how to build a simple AI in Python (show certificate)
- Full Teacher and department coordinator of the Integrate Science Subject (Physics) at the Scholastic Institution of Technical Education Innocenzo Manzetti in the city of Aosta (show certificate)
International Peer-Reviewed Publications
- A. Cossard, S. Casassa, C. Gatti, J.K. Desmarais, A. Erba, Topology of the Electron Density and of Its Laplacian from Periodic LCAO Calculations on f-Electron Materials: The Case of Cesium Uranyl Chloride, Molecules 26 (14), 4227 (2021).
https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/26/14/4227
- A. Cossard, J.K. Desmarais, S. Casassa, C. Gatti, A. Erba, Charge Density Analysis of Actinide Compounds from the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules and Crystals, The journal of physical chemistry letters 12 (7), 1862-1868 (2021).
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c00100
- A. Cossard, G. De Francisci Morales, Kyriaki Kalimeri, Yelena Mejova, Daniela Paolotti, Michele Starnini, Falling into the echo-chamber: the Italian Vaccination Debate on Twitter, 14th International Conference on Web and Social Media (2020).
https://www.aaai.org/ojs/index.php/ICWSM/article/view/7285
- M. DeStefanis, C. Ravoux, A. Cossard, A. Erba, Thermo-Elasticity of Materials from Quasi-Harmonic Calculations, Minerals, 9, 16 (2019). The article also appeared as the cover of the number.
https://doi.org/10.3390/min9010016
Schools and Conferences Participations
- Tutor at the Ab Initio Modeling of Solid State Chemistry School 2021, organized by the Imperial College of London. AC tutored the theoretical lessons, helping the international participants to use the CRYSTAL software, 20/09/2021 -24/09/2021 – Virtual School (show certificate)
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/mssc/mssc2021/
- Tutor at the Ab Initio Modeling of Solid State Chemistry School 2020, organized by the Imperial College of London. AC tutored the theoretical lessons, helping the international participants to use the CRYSTAL software, 21/09/2020 -25/09/2020 – Virtual School (show certificate)
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/mssc/mssc2020/
- Presentation at the Lagrange Scholarship Day, organized by ISI Foundation. AC presented his work titled “Characterizing the debate around vaccination on Twitter in Italy” to ISI researcher leaders and a delegation of CRT Foundation, 21/02/2019 – ISI Foundation (Turin)
- Poster Presentation at the Italian Archeoastronomy Society conference. AC presented his apps Archeoastronomy, 22/10/2018 – 24/10/2018 – National Institute of Astrophysics (Genova)
- Tutor at the Ab Initio Modeling of Solid State Chemistry School, 2018 organized by the University of Turin. AC tutored the theoretical lessons, helping the international participants to use the CRYSTAL software, 2/09/2018 – 7/09/2018 – Turin
http://www.crystal.unito.it/mssc2018/
Academic Courses
- Lean thinking for Research and Innovation, Alessandra Bianco Prevot, Enrico Prenesti, 05/2021 – 06/2021, Chemical and Material Science Ph.D. Program (UniTo)
- An insight into epistemological and didactic issues related with science teaching, Elena Maria Ghibaudi, Giuseppina Cerrato, 05/2021, Chemical and Material Science Ph.D. Program (UniTo)
- Introduction to Scientific Programming (in Python), Alessandro Erba, 11/2020 – 12/2020, Chemical and Material Science Ph.D. Program (UniTo)
- Statistical Mechanics, Giuseppe Santoro, 10/2020 – 12 /2020, Condensed Matter Theory Ph.D. Program (SISSA) (show certificate)
- Introduction to Parallel Programming with MPI, Andrea Mignone, 03/2020, Physics Ph.D. Program (UniTo) (show certificate)
- Complements of Computational Material Science, Bartolomeo Civalleri, 03/2018-06/2018, Master’s Degree in Material Science (UniTo) (show certificate)
Workshops
- Day of discussion on Physical Chemistry Methods used for the study of condensed phases: information from the interaction between photons and materials, 24/02/2021 (show certificate)
- Raman Day, 28-29/01/2021, Virtual Class
- EcoScienza, 26-27/11/2020, Virtual Workshop (show certificate, show certificate)
- Machine Learning meets Chemistry, 17-18/02/2020, Department of Chemistry, Turin (show certificate)
- NIS Colloquium on Theoretical and experimental approaches to thermoelectrics for waste heat harvesting, 09/01/2020, Department of Chemistry, Turin (show certificate)
- Tutorial on Topological Data Analysis, 19/03/2019, ISI Foundation, Turin
- Women in Data Science Conference, 05/03/2019, OGR, Turin
Scientific Dissemination
- Alessandro Cossard, Big Data and Fake News, Semi di Scienza. The article explains what Big Data and Fake News are.
http://www.semidiscienza.it/2019/10/01/big-data-e-fake-news/
- Alessandro Cossard, La prima app di Archoastronomia, ArcheoMedia. The article explains the Archeoastronomy app features.
https://www.archeomedia.net/francesca-bianchi-a-cossard-archeoastronomy-la-prima-app-di-archeoastronomia/
- Alessandro Cossard, Guido Cossard, Anche l’Archeoastronomia ha la sua app, Le Stelle 182, September 2018. The article describes the Archeoastronomy app features.
- Alessandro Cossard, Francesco Dellagiacoma, Come viaggiamo nello spazio?, 24 Maggio 2017. The article appeared in the framework of “Physics and Videogames” in Tom’s hardware websites and explains how to move into the space using the gravity assist.
https://www.tomshw.it/fisica-videogiochi-come-viaggiamo-nello-spazio-85856
- Alessandro Cossard, Gianmario Marelli, Francesco Dellagiacoma, Più veloci della luce: conviene davvero?, 16 Maggio 2017. The article appeared in the framework of “Physics and Videogames” in Tom’s hardware websites and explains the consequence of the superluminal movements into the “Injustice 2” videogame.
tomshw.it/fisica-videogiochi-scienza-d-injustice-2-85633-p2
Education
- Master in Physics of Complex Systems (23/10/2017) at the University of Turin with graduation 105/110. Thesis: Scaling law in Biology. Supervisor: Prof. Mario Ferraro.
- Bachelor in Physics (14/10/2015) at the University of Turin with graduation 90/110. Thesis: The Periodic Table and the Pauli Principle. Supervisor: Prof. Mauro Anselmino.
Computer Science Skills
- Programming Languages: Python (advanced), C++ (basic), C# (basic), Java (basic), Fortran (basic), Basic 4 Android (basic)
- Software: Wolfram Mathematica (advanced), CRYSTAL (advanced), Gephi (advanced), Audacity (basic), WordPress (basic), Unity (basic)
Language Skills
- English: IELTS exam with grade 6 (21/07/2018) (show certificate)
- French: certification of full knowledge of the French language released from Aosta’s Valley offices (show certificate)
Online Courses
- Data Science
Basic Data Programing and Visualization – Coursera – University of California San Diego
Data Science on COVID-19 / Coronavirus spread data – Udemy
Deep Learning and Neural Networks with Python: the complete course – Udemy
Complete course of Data Science and Machine Learning with Python – Udemy
Data Science for Sports – Sports Analytics and Visualization – Udemy (show certificate)
Covid-19 Data Science Urban Epidemic Modeling in Python – Udemy (show certificate)
Data Science on Covid-19: Coronavirus spread data – Udemy (show certificate)
Data-Driven Astronomy – Coursera – University of Sidney
- Software
Build from scratch and publish Android apps with Basic 4 Android – Udemy (show certificate)
Build and Publish Android games using Unity – Udemy (show certificate)
Build your own podcast with Audacity – Udemy (show certificate)
Build your own site using WordPress – Udemy (show certificate)
How to create an arcade game using Construct – Udemy
Discover augmented reality games using Vuforia – Udemy
- Social Sciences
Scientific journalism: dissemination theory and techniques – Feltrinelli online (show certificate)
Stanford’s Nutrition and Health – Coursera (show certificate)
How to defend against fake news – Udemy (show certificate)
Instagram marketing – Udemy (show certificate)
Social Media Marketing: the complete course with certificate – Udemy
Power and Responsibility: Doing Philosophy with Superheroes – EdX
- Science
Global Warming I: the science and Modelling of Climate Change – Coursera – University of Chicago
Covid-19 Contact Tracing – Coursera – Johns Hopkins University (show certificate)
Quantum Mechanics – Coursera – University of Colorado Boulder (show certificate)
- Research Webinars
How to be a statistical detective – how to spot errors on health-related papers, Kristin Sainani, Stanford-online University
- Others courses
Chess Course on Material Strategy – Udemy (show certificate)
Martial Arts Workout Routine -Udemy (show certificate)
Major Research Seminars
- Room-Temperature Coherent Microwave Amplification, Enrico Salvadori, 17/12/2020, virtual seminar
- “Everything is illuminated …”: A “tourist by chance” in photoredox catalysis, Piergiorgio Cozzi, 27/11/2020, virtual seminar
- Babel Covid, information from the first to the second wave of the pandemic, Piero Bianucci, 24/11/2020, virtual seminar
- Organic synthesis and synthetic biology: “thinking outside the box” in optoelectronics, Gianluca Farinola, 20/11/2020, virtual seminar
- A detective in action: catalytic materials under investigation, Silvia Bordiga, 13/11/2020, virtual seminar
- Simulations of thermoelectric coefficients using DFT band structures and energy-dependent scattering mechanism, Patrizio Graziosi, 6/11/2020, virtual seminar
- Climate change, credit risk and Covid-19, 5/09/2020, virtual seminar
- Talk on MultiWall Nanotubes, Naiara Marana, 23/08/2020, virtual seminar
- Machine learning meets chemistry, Pre-Event Warm Up – Introduction to Machine Learning and data analysis – , Gabriel Costante, 10/02/2020, Department of Chemistry, Turin
- Understanding the link between social contact patterns and influenza transmission, Jackie Kleynhans, 22/03/2019,
- ISI Foundation, Turin
- Computational Social Science in Russia, Daniel Alexandrov, 18/03/2019, ISI Foundation, Turin
- Building a Personal Roadmap to One Health: research, study and expectation, Costanza Manes, 15/03/2019, ISI Foundation, Turin
- Tracking political evolution in Twitter during a presidential campaign, Mariano Beirò, 15/01/2019, ISI Foundation, Turin
- Art History as a Systematic Science, Maximilian Schich, 11/12/2018, ISI Foundation, Turin
- One Health and You, Ilaria Capua, 29/11/2018, ISI Foundation, Turin
- Energy-consistent relativistic ab initio pseudopotential, adjustment, calibration and application, Michael Dolg, 24/01/2018, Department of Chemistry, Turin
- Unusual electronics structure of some cerium compounds and ambiguous cerium oxidation state assignment, Michael Dolg, 23/01/2018, Department of Chemistry, Turin
- Vibrational calculational beyond the harmonic approximation: from molecules to periodic systems, Philippe Carbonnière, 18/01/2018, Department of Chemistry, Turin
Supplementary Information
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