About
I am a PhD student in Complex Systems and Data Science at the Vermont Complex Systems Institute, collaborating with The Joint Lab and Computational Ethics Lab.
My research focuses on understanding complex social dynamics, particularly how beliefs form and evolve, and how algorithmic systems, psychological processes, and social interactions influence these changes. I combine theoretical modelling with empirical analysis to investigate these phenomena.
Before moving to the Green Mountain State, I collaborated with the Social Physics & Complexity Lab, led by Professor Joana Gonçalves de Sá, on an ERC-funded project investigating algorithmic biases in search engines and large language models.
Above all, I am a retired roller hockey player, now turned into a passionate supporter.
You can reach me at joao.franco@uvm.edu.
Full CV available here (pdf).
News
Mar. 2026: New pre-print is out: Evidence of political bias in search engines and language models before major elections.
Mar. 2026: I gave a talk on the project, “Bridging Simple and Complex Contagions in Belief Dynamics: A Voter Model Extension” at NERCCS 2026 on March 11 in Rochester, NY. The project has also been accepted for a poster presentation at NetSci 2026 on June 1-6 in Boston, MA.
Jan. 2026: New (and first ever!) pre-print is out: Cross-National Evidence of Disproportionate Media Visibility for the Radical Right in the 2024 European Elections.
2025: Joined Vermont Complex Systems Institute as a PhD student, collaborated with the Social Physics & Complexity Lab, and attended the Complex Networks Winter Workshop in Quebec!