I’m a Persian based in Copenhagen. My first name is Abbas [æbˈbɒːs], basically ABBAs, like the Swedish band, but plural. My last name is “Karimi Rizi,” and I often go by K. Rizi. “Riz” was the old name of my birthplace. I look up to Galileo Galilei and Michael Faraday for their approach to doing science, and I enjoy combining ideas and techniques from different fields to tackle interdisciplinary problems. I also write about science for the public on sitpor.org. I believe in the power of storytelling, so I have honed my writing and narrative communication skills since my undergraduate years. In March 2022, I was honored to receive the Charkh Award for Best Persian Science Blog from Iran National TV (IRIB TV 4). My Orcid is 0000-0002-3710-583X.
As a Researcher
I’m currently a postdoc researcher at Sune Lehmann‘s group at DTU Compute & Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science. My work involves developing mathematical and computational models to explore how people’s behavior influences the spread and control of infectious diseases within social networks. By using nationwide testing and vaccination records linked to administrative data on socioeconomic variables, demographics, and geography, I examine how differences in testing and vaccination behaviors can bias surveillance efforts and distort assessments of epidemics and intervention effectiveness.
I’m also a member of the Nordic Pandemic Preparedness Modelling Network. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked with other scientists and policymakers in the NordicMath Covid project to develop and implement strategies to combat the virus. This means I’m equally motivated by the challenge of fine-grained network representations and by developing stratified transmission models that remain analytically clear, empirically informed, and useful for public-health decision-making.
I earned my D.Sc. degree under the guidance of Mikko Kivelä from the Computer Science Department of Aalto University in March 2024. In my doctoral studies, I investigated how network structure, clustering, and temporal contact dynamics reshape epidemic trajectories and the performance of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions. This work led to publications in PNAS, Nature Communications, APS journals, and PNAS Nexus, on topics including vaccination homophily and herd-immunity thresholds, contact tracing on clustered networks, and spreading phenomena in temporal networks. These projects included mechanistic infectious disease modeling, computational simulation, and analysis of large quantitative datasets.
My day job is all about crunching data, building mathematical models, and figuring out what might happen next in a population regarding spreading patterns, diffusion processes, and epidemic trajectories.
For example, I use fancy math and codes to figure out how bad things can get when a virus spreads like wildfire, like how many people could get sick and all that. Then, I tackle questions like how many people, and in what order, we’d need to vaccinate or quarantine to put COVID or the flu in check.
I have a background in Physics. I earned my BSc in Solid State Physics (2016) and my MSc in Physics of Complex Systems (2018) from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. My MSc project aimed to infer link strengths in Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) for breast cancer using a maximum entropy approach. Then, given the networks of cancerous and healthy cells, compare their interaction networks. In a nutshell, my previous work focused on signed networks and balance theory, but during my doctoral studies, I shifted to temporal networks and the study of spreading phenomena. Before beginning my doctoral studies, I worked as a data scientist on a project to improve socioeconomic diversity in higher education.
Out of Science
I deeply admire beautifully crafted writing. I fancy Kafka, and among contemporary writers, I like Hisham Matar. Rainer Maria Rilke and Albert Camus also hold a special place in my heart, because of their takes on life. If I were to step beyond academia, I would find myself drawn to becoming a writer or a filmmaker. Cinema has an irresistible charm that captivates me entirely. I’m particularly fond of dark comedy and drama and appreciate the works of Wilder, McDonagh, Kieślowski, Tarr, Naderi, and Wong, to name a few. My friends say I’m an alright photographer when the light hits right. See some of my photos here. I also care about cooking and enjoy trying new recipes, particularly in fusion cuisines. I also take delight in talking with drunk acquaintances, hosting friends, cycling, and listening to Chopin for long hours. Unlike most of my fellows, I’m neither a fan of bouldering nor board games.
من غلام نظرِ آصف عهدم کو را
صورت خواجگی و سیرت درویشان است
BBQ at Porkkalanniemi
