Evolution of the Internet

The Internet and its evolution are at the center of Dr Grosso’s research interests. Her scientific curiosity is born out of the realization that networks have de facto become the underlying fabric of our digital society. This implies that they cannot any longer just be built with technical performance in mind, but also with their broader impact on society.  Dr. Grosso studies the relation between ongoing engineering advances and their effects on computing architectures and digital services. She explores the opportunities offered by novel techniques, such as in-network computing, network programmability, native artificial intelligence and use these engineering advances to develop novel algorithms and tools, while addressing emerging societal challenges. Prominent examples of such challenges are the large energy consumption of current computer networks (e.g. energy-hungry future 6G developments), the reliability and trustworthiness of networking services (e.g. networked autonomous driving) and the security and privacy level of networked applications (e.g. data sharing applications). The networks and systems that are investigated span multiple scales in distance, from local virtual networks and virtual network functions in single machines to large networks with a global footprint.

Career

As a professor at the UvA, Grosso will consolidate the experimental facilities at the Faculty of Science, particularly those in current OpenLab of the Informatics Institute (IvI) and in the upcoming Quantum Computing and Networking lab. To support cutting edge research on Internet developments, she will ensure that the UvA networking laboratories are connected to related national and international efforts, both ongoing and future, such as the national Quantum Internet. Participation from Prof. Grosso and her group to the US-FABRIC and the EU-SLICES innovation initiatives will provide the experimental facilities to test and build a truly user-centric Internet.

Teaching

Grosso is a passionate lecturer whose courses in the Bachelor Informatica program and in the Master Security and Network Engineering program provide students with a solid knowledge of computer networks and their operations.

Education

Grosso received her PhD in 2000 from the Universita’ di Torino (Italy); she was a postdoc and network engineer at the Stanford Linear Accelerator (Stanford University) from 2000 to 2004. She joined the UvA in 2004 and has been postdoc, assistant professor, and associate professor. She has been leading the MNS (Multiscale Networked Systems) group at the IvI since 2020. She has served as director of the Graduate School of Informatics from 2020 to 2023.

Over the years Grosso has received funding for her research from NWO, e.g. in the UPIN and CATRIN projects focused on the establishment of ‘the responsible Internet'; from the EU, e.g. in the GEANT and FedFire+ projects focused on the development of novel network services; from SURF, through the Research on Networks projects. At the moment Grosso is member of the Scientific Advisory Board (WTR) of SURF.