Curriculum Vitae - Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab

Last updated: April, 2015
Alberto Testolin
Curriculum Vitae
Personal information
Date of birth
Nationality
E-mail
Website
Phone (office)
Address (office)
29 July, 1987
Italian
alberto.testolin@gmail.com
http://ccnl.psy.unipd.it/people/testolin
+39 049 8276528
Department of General Psychology, Via Venezia 12/2, 35131 Padova (Italy)
Education
2015 – present
Post-doc researcher
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova (Italy)
2012 – 2015
Ph.D., Cognitive Science
Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (Prof. Marco Zorzi)
Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Padova (Italy)
2014
Visiting Student Researcher
Parallel Distributed Processing Lab (Prof. James McClelland)
Department of Psychology, Stanford University (California)
2009 – 2011
M.Sc., Artificial Intelligence (summa cum laude)
Department of Pure and Applied Mathematics, University of Padova (Italy)
2009 – 2010
Visiting Student
Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Leiden University (Netherlands)
2006 – 2009
B.Sc., Computer Science
Department of Pure and Applied Mathematics, University of Padova (Italy)
Research interests
Cognitive neuroscience, computational modeling, artificial intelligence, machine learning, probabilistic
graphical models, generative models, Bayesian statistics, deep learning, recurrent neural networks, sequence
learning, cortical computation, orthographic processing, numerical cognition, attentional processes, predictive
coding, parallel computing architectures
Peer-reviewed publications

Zou, W., Testolin, A., and McClelland, J. (in preparation). Numerosity judgment in deep neural networks:
roles of experience and corpus structure in development.

Sadeghi, Z., and Testolin, A. (submitted). Farsi character recognition with deep neural networks and
transfer learning.

Testolin, A., Stoianov, I., Sperduti, A., and Zorzi, M. (to appear). Learning orthographic structure with
generative neural networks. Cognitive Science.

Pasa, L., Testolin, A., and Sperduti, A. (to appear). Neural networks for sequential data: a pre-training
approach based on Hidden Markov Models. Neurocomputing.

Testolin, A., Zanforlin, M., De Filippo De Grazia, M., Munaretto, D., Zanella, A., Zorzi, M. and Zorzi, M.
(2014). A machine learning approach to QoE-based video admission control and resource allocation in
wireless systems. IEEE IFIP Annual Mediterranean Ad Hoc Networking Workshop, Piran (SL).

Badia, L., Munaretto, D., Testolin, A., Zanella, A., Zorzi, M. and Zorzi, M. (2014). Cognition-based networks:
applying cognitive science to wireless networking. IEEE International Symposium on a World of Wireless,
Mobile and Multimedia Networks, Sydney (AUS).

Pasa, L., Testolin, A., and Sperduti, A. (2014). A HMM-based pre-training approach for sequential
data. European Symposium on Artificial Neural Networks, Computational Intelligence and Machine
Learning, Bruges (BE).

Zorzi, M., Testolin, A., & Stoianov, I. (2013). Modeling language and cognition with deep unsupervised
learning: a tutorial overview. Frontiers in Psychology, 4 - 515

Testolin, A., Stoianov, I., De Filippo De Grazia, M., and Zorzi, M. (2013). Deep unsupervised learning on a
desktop PC : A primer for cognitive scientists. Frontiers in Psychology, 4 - 251

Testolin, A., Sperduti, A., Stoianov, I., and Zorzi, M. (2012). Assessment of sequential Boltzmann machines
on a lexical processing task. European Symposium on Artificial Neural Networks, Computational
Intelligence and Machine Learning, Bruges (BE).
Oral Presentations

Learning orthographic structure with sequential generative neural networks
Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop, Lancaster University (UK), 22 August 2014

Deep networks and generative models
Psychobiology Journal Club, University of Padova (IT), 4 February 2013

An introduction to neural networks and artificial intelligence
General psychology undergraduate course, University of Padova (IT), 8 January 2013

The computational approach in cognitive neuroscience
Researchers’ Night, University of Padova (IT), 28 September 2012

Assessment of sequential Boltzmann machines on a lexical processing task
ESANN Conference, Bruges (BE), 25-27 April 2012
Teaching Activities


“Neuroscienze Cognitive” (2015)
Università della terza età, Torri di Quartesolo, Vicenza (IT)
“Bioinformatics” (2013)
Teaching Assistant
Molecular Biology undergraduate program, Department of Biology, University of Padova (IT)
Students Supervision


Arman Bordbar
Luca Pasa
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova (2014)
Department of Mathematics, University of Padova (2013)
Reviewers Board


Frontiers in Psychology, Language Sciences
IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems (Ad-Hoc reviewer)
International Training Schools

Introduction to the FERMI Blue Gene/Q - CINECA (IT), 2013
A primer course on supercomputing for PRACE users and developers

Intrinsic motivations: from brains to robots - Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (D), 2012
Biological and computational aspects of intrinsic motivations

Visceral Mind - Bangor University (UK), 2012
A hands on course in the neuroanatomy of cognition

Names of Time - Feltre (IT), 2012
Philosophy of science summer school on the concept of time
Grants and Awards
200 € - Rumelhart Memorial Travel Award, NCPW 2014
40.915 € - Ph.D. research grant, Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, 2012
2.000 € - Erasmus exchange scholarship, 2009
Languages
Italian
English
French
Spanish
Mother tongue
Very Good
Basic
Basic
IT Skills
Operating Systems
Programming
Other Languages
Specific software
Development Tools
Linux, Windows, Macintosh, Android
Python, MATLAB, R, C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Prolog, Lisp, Perl, Pascal…
HTML, PHP, XML, JQuery, SQL, Latex, PyCUDA, OpenMPI
OpenGL, C-Plex, Mathematica, CMU Sphinx, Office & Adobe suites
Eclipse, Emacs, NetBeans, IDLE
Software Projects

VoiceControl [http://kde-apps.org]
“Open source speech-recognition plug-in for Amarok music player, which allows to control the application
using vocal commands. The project aimed at improving and exploring innovative human-computer
interfaces.”
Roles: Project Manager/Analyst/Designer/Developer
Year: 2010

AjaxDraw [http://ajaxdrawing.sourceforge.net]
“Web application for vector graphics using Web 2.0 interactive technologies.”
Roles: Project Manager/Analyst/Designer/Developer
Year: 2009
Work Experiences

Design and development of Web sites for small companies, integrating data management systems with
particular attention to interface usability and ranking on search engines.
Years: 2008 – 2009

Tutoring high school students in scientific disciplines (mathematics, calculus, physics, computer science).
Years: 2006 – 2010