Carlos de Matos Fernandes

Carlos de Matos Fernandes is a researcher at the University of Groningen’s Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, affiliated with the Sociology/ICS department. His work focuses on social networks, cooperative behavior, personality traits, and computational modeling. He holds an MSc and completed his PhD in 2023 at the University of Groningen.

His research explores how personality traits shape friendship and collaboration networks, the role of social influence in promoting cooperation via agent-based models, and dynamics of student team formation. He has also investigated exclusionary mechanisms in sustaining cooperation and the reliability of social value orientation measures.

Key themes in his articles include interdisciplinary approaches blending computational methods (e.g., stochastic actor-oriented models) with social psychology and education. His work highlights the interplay between individual traits, network structures, and collective outcomes in contexts like higher education and social dilemmas.

Carlos has contributed to academic events such as the GESIS Spring Seminar on simulation techniques and presented at conferences on topics like meritocratic matching’s impact on cooperation and peer learning networks. His research emphasizes methodological rigor and ethical considerations in social sciences.