Dr. Giovanni Merola
Raised and educated in Rome, Italy, Giovanni completed a double major Bachelor degree in Statistics and Economics from the university La Sapienza in Rome. He completed his Masters and Ph.D. in Statistics at the University of Waterloo in 1994 and 1998, respectively. He was associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalunya in Spain, then moved to work in the area of Privacy Protection first at the National Statistics Office (ISTAT) in Rome and then at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in London, UK. He was employed for several years at a large hedge fund based in London, UK, researching systematic trading strategies for Futures. He returned to Academia in 2010, first at RMIT Vietnam and then at Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China and later in India.
Giovanni’s research interests span from Multivariate Analysis to Privacy Protection and Statistical Learning, with a strong interest in computation, data analysis and visualization. He authored several refereed publications. He is proficient in programming, favouring the statistical language R and C++0, among others.
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Tertiary Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning (2012)
RMIT, Australia
- Ph.D. in Statistics (1998)
University of Waterloo, Canada
- Masters in Mathematics (Statistics) (1994)
University of Waterloo, Canada
- Bachelor Degree (Laurea) double major in Statistics and Economics (1992)
University “La Sapienza”, Roma
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
- British University Vietnam (BUV)
Senior Lecturer (2025 – Present)
-
Alliance University & MIT World Peace University (India)
Professor (2022 – 2023)
-
Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University (China)
Lecturer V (2016 – 2022)
-
RMIT University (Vietnam)
Senior Lecturer (2010 – 2016)
-
Winton Capital Management
Quantitative Analyst ( 2006 – 2009)
-
ISTAT (Italy) & ONS (UK)
Senior Methodologist (2002 – 2006)
-
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain)
Associate Professor (1999 – 2001)
RESEARCH AREAS
-
Multivariate Analysis
-
Computational Statistics
-
Machine Learning
RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
-
Merola, G. M. & Chen, G. (2019). Projection sparse principal component analysis: An efficient least squares method. Journal of Multivariate Analysis, 173, 366–382.
-
McCauley, B., Gumbley, S., Merola, G. M. & Do, T. (2016). Facebook in Vietnam: Uses, Gratifications & Narcissism. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 4(11), 69–79. Link
-
Merola, G. & Abraham, B. (2002). Dimensionality Reduction Approach to Multivariate Prediction. Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, Special Issue on PLS.
RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS & EXHIBITIONS
-
62nd ISI World Statistics Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2019)
Topic: Improved estimation of wealth indices from asset counts -
61st ISI World Statistics Congress, Marrakech, Morocco (2017)
Topic: High-frequency financial time series, pattern recognition and volatility -
International Symposium on Business and Industrial Statistics (ISBIS), Bangkok, Thailand (2012)
Topic: A new framework for measuring disclosure risk for tabular data
RESEARCH GRANTS
-
2019 – Summer Undergraduate Research Framework Grant, Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Project: Analysis of Chinese stock prices with respect to risk reward – 5,000 RMB -
2019 – Research Development Fund, Liverpool University
Project: Reducing the effect of data clumping in the estimation of wealth indices – 60,400 RMB
Collaborators: Dr. Bob Baulch (IFPRI, Malai), Prof. Marco Bonetti (Bocconi, Italy), Dr. Yang Chen (XJTLU) -
2012 – Personal Grant, Italian Institute for Commerce, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Project: Analysis of the perception of “Made in Italy” in Vietnam – 20,000 USD
Collaborator: Dr. Mattia Miani
- Share
Read more 
Senior Lecturer
Programme Lead – Professional Communication
Before joining BUV, Dr. Pham Hai Chung was a researcher at Harvard Kennedy School in the U.S. She earned her Ph.D. in Media and Communication from Bournemouth University, England, and holds an M.A. in International Journalism from Hong Kong Baptist University. Chung’s Ph.D research focuses on the evolving narratives of Vietnam, examining its war-torn past […]
Senior Teaching Fellow
Discipline Lead - Business (University of London)
Born in Canada, raised and educated in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Mark completed a B.Sc. (Econ) at the University of Buckingham, England. Following graduation in 1984, he worked with an Economics Consultancy for a year before returning to Buckingham as a tutor. While completing his Master’s degree, he worked his way up to Lecturer before leaving […]
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President
Professor Rick BennettRaised and educated in London, Rick completed undergraduate studies in the Fine Arts before working for 7 years within the UK film & television industry specialising in TV commercials and music video production. After emigrating to Australia in 1990, Rick worked at the University of New South Wales (in Sydney) where for 24 years he […]
Teaching Fellow
Tran Phuong Thao NgocTran Phuong Thao Ngoc is a design educator and graphic designer specialising in branding and website design. Born in Hue, Vietnam, she earned a full scholarship to British University Vietnam and graduated with first-class honours in Contemporary Creative Practice: Graphic Design in 2021. After discovering her passion for design education and academia, Ngoc remained at […]
Senior Teaching Fellow - Academic Ambassador
Lee McMillanRaised and educated in the UK, Lee holds a TEFL, PGDBJ and an MA Degree in History from the University of Glasgow. Lee moved to Vietnam in 2015 working as an IELTS teacher, examiner and VTV4 presenter before starting her role at BUV in 2018 under part time employment as an English teacher. In 2020 […]
Teaching Practitioner
Nhu Huong TraTra Nhu is an illustrator and printmaker creating welcoming and inclusive visual solutions. As an art coordinator and educator, Tra organizes workshops, fairs and community events in Vietnam and the UK. Tra earned a Bachelor of Professional Communication from RMIT University and recently graduated with a MA Illustration from University of the Arts London. From […]
Senior Teaching Fellow
LTM Maredi (In Memoriam)Maredi was raised and educated in South Africa. He studied Accounting at the University of Johannesburg where earned a Bachelor of Commerce and Honours in Accounting in 2006. He worked at Deloitte from 2007 to 2009 in assurance as part of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) program where he successfully completed the […]
Distinguished Visiting Professor (Art & Design)
Professor Paul GoughAn academic leader with over 40 years’ experience in higher education in UK, Europe and Australasia. Professor Paul Gough is a painter, author and broadcaster who has exhibited his paintings and drawings globally, and has authored over 10 books and 100 research papers on art history and cultural memory. With extensive experience in higher education […]
Distinguished Visiting Professor (Business)
Professor Teo Tong KooiDato’ Dr. Teo Tong Kooi is from Malaysia. With a distinguished background in management and leadership, Dato’ Dr. Teo brings a wealth of experience spanning various industries, including financial services, manufacturing, property development, corporate advisory, and investment management. Over the course of his career, he has held pivotal leadership positions in multinational corporations and conglomerates, […]
Senior Lecturer
Head Academic Quality
Dr. Jyotsna Ghildiyal Bijalwan is an academic, an author and researcher with a diverse international work experience in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students. She holds Graduation and Master degrees in Commerce from University of Mumbai, India. She is also a Master of Business Administration (Finance) and MPhil. She got her doctoral degree in Management from […]
