I am a Senior Researcher and Deputy Director of the VIEWS project. I also lead VIEWS-PIN, which extends our conflict early warning system to predict the impacts of conflict on humanitarian needs. My main focus lies in investigating and predicting conflicts and their broader societal impacts. I also study the linkages between conflicts, climate extremes and societal vulnerability to disasters. Within the field of AI, my main focus is on machine learning applications for theory testing.
Paola Vesco
Senior Researcher
Email: paoves@prio.org
X: @Vesco_Paola
Interests and experience
Paola Vesco is a Senior Researcher at PRIO and an expert in the field of artificial intelligence. She is currently working on two main projects - Violence & Impacts Early-Warning System (VIEWS) and Enabling Politically Sensitive Climate Change Impact Assessments for the 21st Century (POLIMPACT). Within VIEWS, she co-leads the research management team and co-organizes a prediction challenge to forecast fatalities with uncertainty.
Projects
Sep 2023 – Sep 2025
Uncertainty of Forecasting Fatalities in Armed Conflict (UFFAC)
Uncertainty of Forecasting Fatalities in Armed Conflict (UFFAC)
Jun 2023 – Jun 2025
VIEWS-PIN: People in Need
VIEWS-PIN: People in Need
Apr 2023 – May 2025
VIEWS Prediction Competition: Predicting the number of fatalities in armed conflict, with uncertainty
VIEWS Prediction Competition: Predicting the number of fatalities in armed conflict, with uncertainty
Dec 2022 –
ANTICIPATE: Anticipating the Impact of Armed Conflict on Human Development
ANTICIPATE: Anticipating the Impact of Armed Conflict on Human Development
Oct 2022 – Oct 2027
Enabling Politically Sensitive Climate Change Impact Assessments for the 21st Century (POLIMPACT)
Enabling Politically Sensitive Climate Change Impact Assessments for the 21st Century (POLIMPACT)
Oct 2019 –
VIEWS: Violence & Impacts Early-Warning System
VIEWS: Violence & Impacts Early-Warning System
Sep 2015 – Jun 2021
Climate Variability and Security Threats (CLIMSEC)
Climate Variability and Security Threats (CLIMSEC)
Latest publications
Håvard Hegre et al. (2022)
Forecasting Fatalities
Forecasting Fatalities
Håvard Hegre et al. (2022)
Forecasting fatalities in armed conflict: Forecasts for April 2022-March 2025
Forecasting fatalities in armed conflict: Forecasts for April 2022-March 2025
Sophie von Loeben et al. (2022)
Moving from Reaction to Action: Anticipating Vulnerability Hotspots in the Sahel
Moving from Reaction to Action: Anticipating Vulnerability Hotspots in the Sahel
Håvard Hegre, Paola Vesco & Michael Colaresi (2022)
Lessons from an escalation prediction competition
Lessons from an escalation prediction competition
Journal article in International Interactions
Paola Vesco et al. (2022)
United they stand: Findings from an escalation prediction competition
United they stand: Findings from an escalation prediction competition
Journal article in International Interactions
Paola Vesco, Michael Colaresi & Håvard Hegre (2022)
The Results of a Prediction Competition Suggest the Fog of War Can Be Partially Lifted
The Results of a Prediction Competition Suggest the Fog of War Can Be Partially Lifted
Popular article in PRIO Blogs
Håvard Hegre et al. (2021)
ViEWS 2020: Revising and evaluating the ViEWS political Violence Early-Warning System
ViEWS 2020: Revising and evaluating the ViEWS political Violence Early-Warning System
Journal article in Journal of Peace Research
Paola Vesco et al. (2021)
Climate variability, crop and conflict: Exploring the impacts of spatial concentration in agricultural production
Climate variability, crop and conflict: Exploring the impacts of spatial concentration in agricultural production
Journal article in Journal of Peace Research
Paola Vesco & Halvard Buhaug (2020)
Climate and conflict
Climate and conflict
Book chapter in Routledge Handbook of Peace, Security and Development
Latest news
Monday, 5 Jun 2023
PRIO’s cutting-edge conflict early warning system awarded funding to reshape crisis action
PRIO’s cutting-edge conflict early warning system awarded funding to reshape crisis action
PRIO has been awarded $US700,000 in funding by the Complex Risk Analytics Fund (CRAF'D) for its cutting-edge research into a revolutionary early warning system that assesses the impact of conflict and climate shocks on humanitarian needs.
Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Forecasting Conflict Intensity: Call for Abstracts
Forecasting Conflict Intensity: Call for Abstracts
The Violence and Impacts Early-Warning System (VIEWS) team is committed to providing humanitarian groups with the earliest possible warnings to support anticipatory action.
Thursday, 28 Jan 2021
New special issue on climate change and conflict
New special issue on climate change and conflict
The Journal of PeaceResearch has just published a new special issue on ‘Security implicationsof climate change’ (January 2021), guest edited by Nina von Uexkull and HalvardBuhaug.
Monday, 1 Oct 2018
Workshop on Climate Change and Security
Workshop on Climate Change and Security
On 27-28 September2018, the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and PRIOco-hosted a joint Workshop on Climate Change and Security in Uppsala.
Work positions
2024–
Senior ResearcherVIEWS, POLIMPACTPeace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
2024–
ResearcherDepartment of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala UniversityEnabling climate-resilient development
2020–2023
ResearcherDepartment of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala UniversityPeace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)ViEWS, Societies at Risk
2019
ResearcherCLIMSECPeace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
2018
Visiting PhD candidateCLIMSECPeace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Education
2020
PhD in Science and Management of Climate Change
Economics Department, Ca' Foscari University, Venice (Italy)The Climate-Conflict Nexus: exploring Indirect Pathways and Future Scenarios
2012–2014
M.A. International Studies and Diplomatic Relations
University of Trieste, Italy
Other positions and memberships
2023
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS), Norwegian Academy of Science and LettersStability and Change
2019
Visiting Student Researcher
Standford University, USA
