Caianiello's Best PhD Thesis Award
Honoring excellence in Neural Networks research
The Caianiello's Best PhD Thesis Award is devoted to young scholars who have completed their PhD thesis within three-calendar years preceding the WIRN current meeting.
The award is named after Prof. Eduardo R. Caianiello, founder of SIREN (Società Italiana Reti Neuroniche) in 1989 and pioneer of neural networks and computational neuroscience in Italy.
To be eligible for the competition the topic of the thesis must be among those presented in the current annual WIRN's call for paper.
Winners
2026
1st Prize
Jonathan Melchiorre
(Politecnico di Torino / Princeton University)
"Integrative Form Finding and AI-Driven Human-in-the-Loop Approach for Structural Optimization in Long-Span Architectural Design"
2nd Prize
Antonio Marceddu
(Politecnico di Torino)
"Multivariate Analysis in Research and Industrial Environments"
Past Winners
2025
1st Prize
Marco Martino Rosso
(Polytechnic University of Turin)
"Machine Learning Perspectives in Structural Health Monitoring"
2nd Prize
Pasquale De Luca
(Parthenope University)
"Computational simulations of tumor angiogenesis: Reliability, efficiency and sustainability"
2024
1st Prize
Eleonora Grassucci
(Università di Roma "La Sapienza")
2nd ex-aequo
Andrea Cossu
(University of Pisa)
2nd ex-aequo
Francesco Prinzi
(Università di Palermo)
2023
1st ex-aequo
Gabriele Ciravegna
"On the Two-fold Role of Logic Constraints in Deep Learning"
1st ex-aequo
Marialucia Cuciniello
"Psychological Monitoring of Mental Disorders Through Conversation"
2012–2022
Winner data to be retrieved (TBA)
2011 – 17th Edition
Winner
Francesco Iorio
(Polytechnic University of Turin & EMBL European Bioinformatics Institute & Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK)
"Automatic Discovery of Drug Mode of Action and Drug Repositioning from Gene Expression Data"
2010 – 16th Edition
Winner
Paolo Motto Ros
(Polytechnic University of Turin)
"Mobile Reader Device for Blind"
2009 – 14th Edition
Winner
Davide Bacciu
(IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca)
"A perceptual learning model to discover the hierarchical latent structure of image collections"
2008
Winner data to be retrieved (TBA)
2007 – 13th Edition
Winner
Nadia Mammone
(Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria)
"Quantification, Topography and Modelling of the Short-term Maximum Lyapunov Exponent in the Epileptic Brain"
2006 – 12th Edition
Winner
Daniele Vigliano
(Sapienza University of Rome)
"Unsupervised Neural Networks: An Approach to Blind Source Separation"
2005 – 11th Edition
Winner
Francesco Camastra
(University of Genoa)
"Kernel Methods for Unsupervised Learning"
2004 – 10th Edition
Winner
Corrado Manara
(University of Milan)
"Relating the Theory of Non-Boolean Partitions to the Design of Interpretable Fuzzy Systems"
2003 – 9th Edition
Winner
Edmondo Trentin
(University of Florence)
"Robust Combination of Neural Networks and Hidden Markov Models for Speech Recognition"
2002 – 8th Edition
Winner
Massimiliano Pontil
(University of Genoa)
"Study and Application of Statistical Learning Theory"
2001 – 7th Edition
Winner
Simone Fiori
(University of Bologna)
"Neural Networks for Blind Signal Processing"
2000 – 6th Edition
Winner
Camilla Rigoti
(Polytechnic University of Milan)
"Use of a Neural Engine for Simulated Ergonomic Design of Workplaces"
1999 – 5th Edition
Winner
Paolo Campolucci
(University of Bologna)
"A Circuit Theory Approach to Recurrent Neural Network Architectures and Learning Methods"
1998 – 4th Edition
Winner
Gianluca Setti
(University of Bologna)
"Theory and Applications of Electronic Circuits with Complex Dynamics"
1997 – 3rd Edition
Winner
Maurizio Cirrincione
(University of Palermo)
"Diagnostics and Control of Electrical Drives using Neural Networks"
1995–1996 – 1st & 2nd Edition
Winner data to be retrieved (TBA)