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Dr Francesca Scarabel

Dr Francesca Scarabel

  • Position: Lecturer in Mathematical Biology
  • Areas of expertise: population dynamics; structured population models; delay equations; dynamical systems; numerical bifurcation analysis; infectious disease dynamics
  • Email: F.Scarabel@leeds.ac.uk
  • Phone: +44(0)113 343 4660
  • Location: Office 11.02 School of Mathematics
  • Website: Personal webpage | LinkedIn | Googlescholar | Researchgate | ORCID

Profile

I am currently Lecturer in Mathematical Biology at the University of Leeds.

I completed my doctoral degree in Applied Mathematics in October 2018, under the supervision of Mats Gyllenberg (Helsinki, Finland), Rossana Vermiglio (Udine, Italy), and Odo Diekmann (Utrecht, the Netherlands).

Before joining the University of Leeds, I held postdoctoral positions at:

  • University of Szeged, Hungary (2019), under the supervision of Gergely Röst
  • York University, Toronto (2019-2021), in the Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), under the supervision of Jianhong Wu
  • the University of Manchester, UK (2021-2022), in the infectious disease modelling group under the supervision of Ian Hall.

I currently hold visiting positions at the University of Manchester and at the Computational Dynamics Laboratory (CDLab) of the University of Udine (Italy). I am also a member of the JUNIPER consortium in the UK and a member of the “Socio-Epidemic Modelling group” of the Italian Mathematical Union. I am also a member of the London Mathematical Society, of the European Society for Mathematical Biology (ESMTB), and the European Women in Mathematics (EWM).

Responsibilities

  • Mathematical biology seminar organiser

Research interests

My research lies at the interface between numerical analysis, dynamical systems theory and mathematical biology. Continued attention is focused on pseudospectral techniques for the bifurcation analysis of physiologically structured population models, formulated as delay equations or partial differential equations. More recently I have devoted particular interest in modelling and data analysis in epidemiology, and I have been part of several national-level projects including JUNIPER and the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study. 

Qualifications

  • BSc, University of Udine, Italy (2011)
  • MSc, University of Udine, Italy (2013)
  • PhD, University of Helsinki, Finland (2018)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2025)

Student education

As a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, I contribute to teaching modules in the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Leeds. I am also supervising undergraduate projects and MMath and MSc dissertations related to my research areas.

Research groups and institutes

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Mathematical Biology and Medicine
  • Applied Nonlinear Dynamics
<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>
Projects
    <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1679-approximation-of-solutions-of-initial-value-problems-for-delay-equations">Approximation of solutions of initial value problems for delay equations</a></li> <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/2370-mathematical-biology---infection-and-immunity">Mathematical Biology - Infection and Immunity</a></li> <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/2396-mathematical-approaches-to-airborne-infection-risk">Mathematical approaches to airborne infection risk</a></li> <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1680-time-since-infection-models-in-public-health">Time-since-infection models in public health</a></li>