FERRARA Massimiliano

Data and Education
Massimiliano Ferrara was born in Pisa on June 8, 1972. He holds a master’s degree in Economics (MSc) cum laude (1995) and a PhD cum laude both from University of Messina (2001) and two post-master’s studies cum laude from University of Naples Federico II (on Mathematical Economics - 1998) and Scuola Normale Superiore - Pisa (on Mathematical Finance - 2001)

Academic Career
Massimiliano Ferrara currently is Full Professor of Mathematical Economics - Business Analytics & Decisions Theory (S.S.D. 13/D4) at “Mediterranea” University of Reggio Calabria since 2016, where he has been Vice Rector to strategic planning, development and general affairs (2013-2015), Member of the Academic Senate (2015-2021), Chairman Department of Law, Economics and Human Sciences (2018-2021), Scientific Coordinator PhD School (2021-2022). He served as Researcher from 2000 to 2002 at University of Messina, Associate Professor from 2002 to 2007 at University of Messina and successively from 2007 to 2016 at University Mediterranea

Professional Activities
Research Affiliate at ICRIOS – "The Invernizzi Center for Research on Innovation, Organization, Strategy and Entrepreneurship", Bocconi University since 2013 and President of Scientific Committee of MEDAlics Research Centre - University "Dante Alighieri" of Reggio Calabria and Scientific Director of Decisions_LAB at University Mediterranea. He is also President of Research Institute named "IRITMED" - Istituto di Ricerca per l'Innovazione e la Tecnologia nel Mediterraneo" since 2014. Massimiliano Ferrara was in time General Counsel of Fondazione Banco di Napoli (2013-2015), Vice Rector at University for foreigners “Dante Alighieri” of Reggio Calabria (2009-2010) and Director (Head) of Department of Culture, University and Research of Calabria Region, Italy (2010-2013). Member of the AMASES Scientific Committee (2017-2022) and re-elected (2025-2027). Member of the Evaluation Board of "Politecnico di Torino" (Italy) (2022)

International Research Experiences
Currently is Visiting Professor at Advanced Soft Computing Lab - Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences - Istanbul OKAN University (Turkey). He has been Visiting Professor at Harvard University, Cambridge (USA), Western Michigan University (USA), Morgan State University, Baltimora (USA), Northeastern University di Boston (USA) and Center for Dynamics of Dresden University of Technology (Germany). Member of the Mathematical Association of America and of the Indian Academy of Mathematics. Member of The Indian Academy of Mathematics, Indore, India.

Invited Seminars and Lectures
He has been invited as Speaker in keeping Seminars, Conferences and Lectures at: Center for Dynamics, Dresda University of Technology (Germany), Harvard University, Cambridge, Morgan State University - Baltimora, Western Michigan University, New Jersey Institute of Technology di NewArk (NJ) (U.S.A.), Calcutta Mathematical Society (India), Eotvos Lorand University of Budapest (Department of Atomic Physics, Hungary), Politehnica di Bucarest (Department of Mathematics), Romania, GERAD Montreal (Canada), University of Portsmouth, Faculty of Business and Law (UK), Lomonosov State University of Moscow (Russia), University of Hagen, (Germany), Bocconi University, Catholic University of Piacenza, University Federico II of Naples, University of Milan Department of Political Sciences, University of Bologna, University of Calabria, University of Messina, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere, Milan, Accademia Peloritana dei Pericolanti, Messina

Editorship and Publications

He serves as Editor, Co-Editor, Associate Editor several Journals. In particular as:

Editorial Board Member - Scientific Reports NATURE -
​Associate Editor - Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer
Associate Editor - Soft Computing, Springer
Associate Editor - Journal of Dynamics and Games, AIMS
Associate Editor - Annales Mathematicae Silesianae, University of Silesia Press (Poland)
Associate Editor - Journal of the Calcutta Mathematical Society (INDIA)
Advisory Board Member) The Journal of Indian Academy of Mathematics

Lead Guest Editor and Guest Editor of over 20 Special Issues on: Annals of Operations Research, Soft
Computing, Mathematics - MDPI, Information Processing and Management, Symmetry - MDPI, Sustainable
Computing: Informatics and Systems and so on.

He is actually serving as Referee over 100 international scientific Journal in economics, pure and applied mathematics inserted on SCOPUS, WoS, MathSciNet. In particular (the list is NOT full):

- Computation MPDI
- Information Sciences
- The European Physical Journal Plus
- Frontier in Psychology
- Fractal Fractional
- Axioms - MPDI
- Acta Applicandae Mathematicae
- Acta Mathematica Sinica
- Acta Politica
- Annals of Operational Research
- Advances in Difference Equations
- Advances in Nonlinear Analysis
- Administrative Sciences
- Algorithms
- Applicable Analysis
- Applied Mathematics and Computation
- Applied Mathematics Letters
- Boletim de Sociedade Paranaense de Matematica (BSPM)
- Boundary Value Problems
- British Journal of Economics, Business and Trade
- Bulletin of Mathematics – Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica
- Bulletin of the Malaysian Mathematical Sciences Society
- Cambridge University Press
- Carpathian Journal of Mathematics
- Chaos
- Chaos, Solitons and Fractals
- Collectanea Mathematica
- Complex Variables and Elliptic Equations
- Computational and Applied Mathematics
- Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience
- Control and Cybernetics
- Connection Science
- DCDIS B, Applications & Algorithms
- Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society
- Dynamic Games and Applications
- Ecological Modeling
- Electronic Journal of Differential Equations
- Electronics
- Entropy
- European Journal of Operational Research
- European Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics
- Global and Stochastic Analysis
- Homo Oeconomicus
- Il Politico
- International Journal of Biomathematics
- International Journal of Dynamical Systems and Differential Equations
- International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling (IJSPM)
- International Transactions in Operational Research
- International Journal of Control
- Journal of Business Logistics
- Journal of Inequalities and Applications
- Journal of King Saud University– Science
- Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications
- Journal of Mathematical Finance
- Journal of Mathematical Physics
- Journal Mathematical and Computer Modelling
- Journal of Applied Finance and Banking
- Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications
- Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy
- Journal of the Franklin Institute
- Journal of Nonlinear Science and Applications
- Journal of Mathematics and Computing
- Journal of the Operational Research Society of India (OPSEARCH)
- Macroeconomic Dynamics
- Matematica Bohemica
- Mathematics - MPDI
- Mathematical Biosciences and Engineerings
- Mathematical Modelling and Analysis
- Mathematical and Computational Applications
- Mathematical Methods in Economics and Finance
- Mathematical Problems in Egineerings
- Mathematical Social Sciences
- Mathematische Nachrichten
- Managerial and Decision Economics
- Nonlinear Analysis: Modelling and Control
- Optimization Letters
- Operations Research and Decisions
- Proceedings of The Royal Society A
- R&D Management
- Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo
- Rendiconti del Comitato per gli Studi Economici dell’Università Cà Foscari
- Research in Economics
- Results in Mathematics
- Rocky Mountain Mathematics Journal
- Sahand Communications in Mathematical Analysis
- Symmetry – MPDI
- Soochow Journal of Mathematics
- SpringerPLus
- Soft Computing

Author and co-author of over 300 papers on peer-reviewed and WoS Journal and 10 research monographs

Among the international journals in which the papers have been published, in particular:

Scientific Reports Nature, Journal of Cleaner Production, CHAOS, Chaos Solutions and Fractals, Annals of Operational Research, Results in Physics, Chemosphere, Dynamic Games and Applications, Proceedings of The American Mathematical Society, Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Journal of Global Optimization, Optimization Letters, Journal of Mathematical Economics, Applied Mathematics and Computation, Proceedings A - Royal Society of London: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Scientometrics, Decisions in Economics and Finance, Advances in Nonlinear Analysis, Sustainable Cities and Society , Results in Engineerings.
The full list is available on: https://www.digies.unirc.it/scheda_persona.php?id=787

Bibliometry
SCOPUS: 251 items, 3335 citations, H-index: 30
WoS Clarivate: 189 items, 2220 citations, H-index: 28
Scholar Google: 446 items, 4256 citations, H-index: 35


Research Interests
Mathematical Economics, Game Theory, Artificial Intelligence and XAI, Machine Learning, Optimization Theory, Dynamical Systems, Epidemic Modeling, Applied Economics.

Awards and Recognitions
2023 - Honorary Member of Sigma Xi (USA)
2022 (since) - World's Top 2% cited Scientists (by Stanford University-Elsevier)
2016 - Silver Medal - Universiti PUTRA Malaysia- Invention, Research and Innovation Exhibition (PRPI) 2016 by Research Project: “Simple Motion Pursuit and Evasion Differential Games with many Pursuers on Manifolds with Euclidean Metric”;
2015 - He was cited in the prestigious US Encyclopedia Hmolpedia on thermodynamics and the theoretical and applied physics, for offering a decisive contribution to the creation and development of the scientific theory called “Economic geometric dynamics”.
2010 - Hepites Award” by Romanian Academy of Science
2010 - "Knight Order of Merit" of the Italian Republic for international scientific merits"

Grants (as Principal Investigator) and Funding by peer reviewing [around 1.800.000€]

2025 - Scientific Component of the international research project entitled: "Quantum Kernels in Management Optimization - Pilot Test" - (Project Code: IM-2025-3-0049) Scientific Area: Engineering and Mathematics. Funding Scheme: Fast HPC Access - Red Española de Supercomputación (RES) - Infrastructure: Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), Spain
2025 - Scientific Component of the international research project entitled: "Quantum Decision Intelligence: From Quantum Theory to Market Decisions" - Funding Scheme: AEI Knowledge Generation Program (Non-Directed Research) - State Research Agency, Spain - Duration: 48 months - Total Budget: EUR 237,500 (EUR 190,000 direct costs + EUR 47,500 indirect costs at 25%) - Principal Investigator: Prof. Laura Sáez Ortuño (University of Barcelona)
Computing Infrastructure:
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC/ONA) through RES Awards (IM-2025-2-0052 and IM-2025-3-0003)
- Computational Resources and Storage, University of Barcelona;
2022 - Deputy Principal Investigator - PRIN 2022 PNRR Project by title: “Climate risk and uncertainty:environmental sustainability and asset pricing”. PNRR - Missione 4, Componente 2, Investimento 1.1 - Bando Prin 2022 PNRR;
2019 - Scientific Coordinator of MEC - Marketplace Ecosostenibile Calabria - Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico Fondo per la Crescita Sostenibile – Sportello “Agrifood” PON I&C 2014-2020 (total amount getting 1.364.905);
2006 - Scientific Coordinator of the international project by title: "Economic Geometric Dynamics", funded by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Executive Programme of scientific and technological cooperation between Italy and Romania during 2006-2008;
2005- Scientific Coordinator of the international project by title:"Econophysics models for the study of chaotic and complex social-economic systems", funded by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Executive Programme of scientific and cultural cooperation between Italy and Esthonia during 2005-2008.