Sandro Sousa

Complexity & Network Scientist

Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS), University of Copenhagen

About me

Sandro is a multidisciplinary researcher grounded in complexity and network science. He is driven by a curiosity to understand the mechanisms behind issues emerging from population dynamics, merging breadth and depth of knowledge for a pluralist approach. His vision is to use this curiosity drive and science to help the most vulnerable in society by understanding socioeconomic inequalities.

He draws approaches from a wide multidisciplinary toolset, including network science, stochastic processes, computational simulations, randomised trials, surveys, text as data, web scraping, and spatial analysis. His research spans topics of ethnic segregation, epidemic spreading, health image classification, unequal incidence of epidemics, spatial complexity, and gender inequalities in science. Currently, he is an External Lecturer at the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS), University of Copenhagen.

He has a PhD in Complex Systems at The School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, with supervision by Vincenzo Nicosia. His PhD research focused on quantifying the heterogeneity of spatial systems through random walks on graphs with a particular interest on urban segregation. Previously he had worked as a research associate on a project between Brazilian and British academics entitled RESOLUTION where the cities of London and São Paulo were compared for social segregation and transport accessibility. His MSc used a graph-based approach to quantify topological changes in Sao Paulo’s public transport network at different spatial scales while tested the robustness of the system against simulated attacks. Before the research career, he worked on IT consulting and data solutions for more than 7 years.

Interests

Complex Networks
Spatial Complexity
Science of Cities
Computational Social Science
Socioeconomic inequality
Climate-induced population dynamics
Algorithmic fairness

Education

PhD in Mathematical Sciences, 2021

Queen Mary University of London
MSc in Complex Systems Modelling, 2015

University of Sao Paulo
PG Cert in Information Management and Business Intelligence, 2013

Business School Sao Paulo
BSc in Computer Network Management, 2008

College Inforium of Technology

Experience

Head of Research

Geopolitical Insight & Education Foundation (GIEF)

Jan 2025 – Present Washington DC, US

Part-time External Lecturer

Center for Social Data Sience (SODAS), University of Copenhagen (UCPH)

Aug 2024 – Apr 2025 Copenhagen, DK

Part-time Postdoc

Computer Science Department, IT University of Copenhagen (ITU)

Jul 2024 – Mar 2025 Copenhagen, DK

Postdoctoral Researcher

Center for Social Data Sience (SODAS), University of Copenhagen (UCPH)

Nov 2023 – Jun 2024 Copenhagen, DK

Postdoctoral Researcher

NEtwoRks, Data, and Society Group (NERDS), IT University of Copenhagen (ITU)

Nov 2021 – Oct 2023 Copenhagen, DK

PhD Researcher

Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)

Sep 2017 – Dec 2021 London, UK

Research Associate

University of São Paulo(USP)/University College London(UCL)

May 2016 – May 2017 São Paulo/London, BR/UK

Business Intelligence Architect

Braskem

Dec 2011 – Jun 2014 São Paulo, BR

Business Intelligence Consultant

Accenture

Oct 2010 – Dec 2011 São Paulo, BR

Business Consultant

DBM Systems

Oct 2010 – Feb 2010 São Paulo, BR

Business Analyst

TOTVS

Aug 2009 – Feb 2010 Maringá, BR

Featured Publications

Sandro Sousa, Vincenzo Nicosia

October 2022 Nat Communications

Quantifying ethnic segregation in cities through random walks

Socioeconomic segregation is one of the main factors behind the emergence of large-scale inequalities in urban areas. We propose two non-parametric measures of spatial variance and local spatial diversity, based on the statistical properties of the trajectories of random walks on graphs. We analyse the segregation of synthetic systems and large metropolitan areas in the US and the UK and our results confirm that the spatial variance and local diversity as measured through simple diffusion on graphs provides meaningful insights about the spatial organisation of ethnicities across a city.

Aleix Bassolas, Sandro Sousa, Vincenzo Nicosia

January 2021 J. R. S. Interface

Disproportionate incidence of COVID-19 in African Americans correlates with dynamic segregation

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemics disproportionately affects people from Black and African American backgrounds. We propose a model to quantify the dynamic segregation of ethnicities in a city, based on passage times and coverage times of random walks on graphs. The results confirm that knowing where people commute to, rather than where they live, is potentially much more important to contain and curb the spreading of infectious diseases.

Recent Publications

Quickly discover relevant content by filtering publications.

Magnus J. Haughey, Aleix Bassolas, Sandro Sousa, Ann-Marie Baker, Trevor A. Graham, Vincenzo Nicosia, Weini Huang (2023). First passage time analysis of spatial mutation patterns reveals evolutionary dynamics of pre-existing resistance in colorectal cancer.

PDF PLOS Computational Biology

Aleix Bassolas, Andrea Santoro, Sandro Sousa, Silvia Rognone, Vincenzo Nicosia (2022). Optimising the mitigation of epidemic spreading through targeted adoption of contact tracing apps. Phys. Rev. Research.

PDF Physical Review Research

Projects

QGIS Segreg

An open source plugin to compute spatial and non-spatial segregation measures on QGIS.

Academic Activities

Research Visits

Complexity Science Hub, Vienna, AT, Apr 2024

Conference abstracts (Oral presentations and Posters)

Danish Digitalization, Data Science and AI 1.0 (D3A)
Poster: Scientists’ gender drives different citation outcomes in Randomized Web Experiments. Copenhagen, DK, Feb 2024
Conference on Complex Systems (CCS) Scientists’ gender drives different citation outcomes in Randomized Web Experiments. Salvador, BR, Oct 2023
International Conference on Comp. Social Science (IC2S2) Lightning talk: Quantifying ethnic segregation in cities through random walks.; Parallel: The impact of COVID-19 on scientific productivity and collaboration. Copenhagen, DK, Jul 2023
2nd Nordic Network for the Science of Science (NordicSciSci) The impact of COVID-19 on scientific productivity and collaboration. Athens, GR, Dec 2022
Conference on Complex Systems (CCS) The emergence of segregation driven by mobility and homophily. e-Conference, GR, Dec 2020
Conference on Complex Systems (CCS) Quantifying spatial heterogeneity through random walks. Thessalokini, GR, Sep 2018
Complex Systems Digital Campus’15 – World Empirical analysis and modelling of urban public transport network of Sao Paulo. e-Conference, US, Sep 2015

Special Educational Support

Provided academic support to students at ITU, DK, 2022/2023

Teaching

I’ve been Demonstrator for the following courses:

2023 - Advanced Social Data Science I, Social Network Analysis classes, UCPH.
2019 - 2020 Introduction to Computer Programming in Python (MTH5001), QMUL.
2018 - 2019 Probability and Statistics I (MTH4116/MTH4216), QMUL.

Supervision

Cluster of 6 M.Sc. students, Co-supervisor. UCPH, DK, 2024
Camilla Veronica Branas (M.Sc.), Principal supervisor. UCPH, DK, 2023
Anton Folkmann and Alexander Hjelmgaard (B.Sc.), Co-supervisor. ITU, DK, 2023
Chiara Zappalà (Visiting PhD), Co-supervisor. ITU, DK, 2022
Maria Elena Perruzza (External M.Sc., ISI Foundation), Co-supervisor. ITU, DK, 2022