Currently, I am a Research Assistant at the Freie Universität Berlin, working closely with the Brain Language Laboratory (BLL) team.

My research lies at the intersection of cognitive linguistics and psychology, with a special focus on semantics, categorization mechanisms,  and joint meaning-making processes.

I worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Bologna (2022-2025) within the ABSTRACTION ERC-funded project led by Prof. Marianna Bolognesi. I investigated the mechanisms of abstraction in human language and cognition, using gamified experimental approaches to collect linguistic data from both adults and children. 

During my PhD (University of Bologna, 2018-2022), I studied the conceptual representation and communicative effects of abstract language (e.g., freedom, utopia) under the supervision of Prof. Anna Borghi. In my research, I combine behavioural, psycholinguistic, and computational methods to study the impact of individual, socio-cultural, and perceptual factors on conceptual processing, language comprehension, and language acquisition.

Some of my recent interests include studying how word meanings interact with conversational dynamics. I'm particularly fascinated by the "subtle dance" of conversational alignment and repair—how people collaboratively achieve shared understanding and fix communication breakdowns. I would like to apply conversational analysis and NLP to study how speakers co-create abstract meaning, balancing convention and creativity.

I'm a strong advocate of Open Science and passionate about making scientific knowledge accessible and engaging for a diverse audience.