David Garcia (computer scientist)

David Garcia is a Spanish computer scientist and professor specializing in computational social science. He is a professor of social and behavioural data science at the University of Konstanz, Germany, and a faculty member at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna.

Early life and education

Garcia studied computer science at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and ETH Zürich, where he earned his master's and doctoral degrees. He later completed a habilitation in computational social science at ETH Zürich.

Career

Garcia has held academic positions at ETH Zürich,^[1] the Medical University of Vienna and the Graz University of Technology.^[2] In 2022, he was appointed Professor of Social and Behavioural Data Science at the University of Konstanz.^[3] That same year, he joined the Extended Directorate of the university’s Centre for Human | Data | Society.^[4] He also serves as a faculty member at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna.^[5]

Research

Garcia’s work bridges computational methods and social science, analyzing large-scale digital data to study collective behavior, online social networks, and emotional dynamics.^[6][2] His research addresses societal challenges such as the effects of social media and intelligent technologies on mental health, privacy concerns, and systemic inequalities.^[7] Notable contributions include modeling emotional contagion in online communities and developing frameworks to quantify digital well-being.^[8]