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 
Lecturer
Programme Lead - Computer Science
Software Engineering Lecturer with over 5 years of academic and industry experience. Holds a PhD in Management Sciences and Engineering from China (2025), and earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Software Engineering from NUST, Pakistan (2015). Her research focuses on UX/UI design and user-centered computing. She has worked on software projects aimed at improving […]
Teaching Fellow
Julien PsomasAs Julien was studying for his BA Hons in Marketing in bonny Scotland, he discovered hospitality, its rhythm, its multicultural pool of talents, its long shifts, and the passion behind all this. Beside his studies, he worked in banqueting in St Andrews and later as a bartender. Julien quickly became team leader and got the […]
Senior Teaching Fellow
Hoang Bao LongBao Long is a lecturer, researcher, entrepreneur and interaction design expert specializing in game design, interaction design, user experience and psychology. He is also interested in entrepreneurship and startups, applying human-centered design to developing products to solve modern social life problems. Outside of teaching, he also is co-founder of LacBird Co. – a game company […]
Dean (Higher Education)
Dr. Mark WheatonRaised and educated in Australia, Mark completed a bachelor’s degree in economics as a mature student at Adelaide University. Following graduation in 1983, Mark commenced employment as an Accountant for a subsidiary of BHP, in Sydney. Many positions followed working in government and banking until the year 2000 when he establishes a successful accounting business. […]
Senior Teaching Fellow
Sven PfrommerSven is a well-rounded creative director & visual artist, with a background in visual communication and 20+ years of industry experience. He was running a design & advertising agency and established a gallery for contemporary photography in the art capital Berlin. Sven was born in Berlin, studied visual communication design at the HAWK University of […]
Lecturer
Programme Lead for Digital & Social Media Marketing
Hoang Phuong has over a decade of experience teaching marketing, branding, business strategy, entrepreneurship in Vietnam’s international programs, bachelor and master levels. She also has experience in consulting, training, and strategic implementation for SMEs across sectors like education, fashion retail, coffee… Additionally, she has been involved in social entrepreneurship and business innovation initiatives. She is […]
Lecturer
Dr. Chris KirraneChris, originally from the UK, has built a distinguished career abroad, specializing in economics, international political economy, and education. He holds a Ph.D. focused on the Asian Currency Crisis, along with a Master’s in International Political Economy, a PGCE in Tertiary Education (Economics), and a B.A. (Hons.) in Politics and Economics. With extensive experience in […]
Teaching Fellow
Programme Lead - Computer Games Design & Programming and Games Art
David has lived and worked as an educator in Vietnam for over a decade and has always focused on creating a fun, inclusive and engaging environment for his students. David currently holds a Masters’s degree in Computer Science, a PGCHE and an FHEA. He has taught a variety of programming languages including C#, C++ and […]
Lecturer - Academic Ambassador
Programme Lead - International Business Management
Raised and educated in Chennai, INDIA, Varun completed a bachelor’s degree in Defense & Strategic studies from University of Madras. Following graduation in 2003, he completed a master’s degree in Mass communication & Journalism in 2005. He started his career as a Lecturer from Chennai. Varun completed National Eligibility Test in 2012 to become certified […]
Lecturer
Lecturer, Programme Lead for MBA
Nguyen holds a bachelor’s degree in international business and economics from Foreign Trade University Vietnam, a Master of Management from Keele University in the UK, and a PhD in Marketing from RMIT University in Australia. Nguyen’s PhD research explores the emergence of social enterprises, and she plans to further pursue impactful research. Nguyen has more […]
