Newsroom

Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia awarded $300K NSF Grant

May 28, 2019

USF Department of Computer Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia is the Principal Investigator (PI) for a $300K National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. The project, in collaboration with Co-PI Brendan Nyhan at the University of Michigan aims to design new content recommendation algorithm for social media that promote information diversity. Social media now plays an important role in exposing people to information about a wide range of topics ranging from entertainment to hard news and political debate. What can be seen on these platforms is heavily influenced by algorithms that are designed to select the most engaging and relevant content for each user. By seeking to maximize engagement, these algorithms may inadvertently amplify factually dubious or low quality information that reinforces users’ existing beliefs. In doing so, they could reduce the diversity of information to which users are exposed. The project will develop new content recommendation algorithms that reduce this risk and improve the quality and diversity of information circulating on social media. The project's duration is from June 2019 to July 2021.

To learn more about Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia’s research visit here.