Research Ecosystem & Collaborations
My research is embedded in a broad international research and innovation ecosystem connecting universities, research institutes, industrial organizations, technology companies, startups, and innovation stakeholders across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia.
These collaborations form an important foundation of my research activities and support joint research projects, competitive funding proposals, scientific publications, technology transfer, industrial innovation, and the supervision and mentoring of students and early-career researchers.
Research Ecosystem
Scope
Across the Boundaries of AI, Software Engineering & CPS
Through these collaborations, I work across the boundaries of Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, intelligent software systems, autonomous and cyber-physical systems, robotics, safety-critical systems, DevOps and MLOps, and AI-enabled Industry 4.0 applications.
A particular emphasis is placed on translating fundamental research into solutions that address real-world industrial and societal challenges, while bringing practical challenges and empirical evidence back into the research process.
IDeaLS Lab
Connecting Academic Research with Industrial Innovation
This ecosystem is closely connected to the activities of the Intelligent Development and Large-Scale Systems (IDeaLS) Lab, which provides a research environment for developing intelligent, adaptive, and trustworthy software systems.
Collaborations with industrial partners provide access to real-world problems, technologies, datasets, and operational contexts, while academic collaborations strengthen methodological foundations, scientific exchange, and international research visibility.
Industry
Industrial & Innovation Ecosystem
I have established long-term collaborations with organizations ranging from large industrial and technology companies to startups and specialized research-driven enterprises. These partnerships span sectors including aerospace and autonomous systems, robotics, automotive and mobility, healthcare and biopharmaceuticals, cloud and distributed computing, railway systems, industrial automation, smart infrastructure, and software engineering tools.
The collaborations take different forms, including joint research projects, industrially driven research questions, competitive research proposals, technology transfer and innovation activities, scientific publications, workshops, and supervision of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses.
Several partnerships also provide opportunities to investigate AI and intelligent software systems in realistic industrial environments, helping bridge the gap between research prototypes and deployable technologies.
The following table summarizes selected industrial and innovation collaborations:
| Organization | Country | Period | Research Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leonardo S.p.A. | Italy | 2026-02–Today | Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems, Software Engineering |
| Cubbit | Italy | 2026-02–Today | Cloud Computing, Distributed Systems, AI-enabled Infrastructure |
| NXP | Netherlands | 2025-05–Today | Embedded Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems |
| Hygeia Hospitals | Greece | 2025-06–Today | Healthcare, AI, Data Analytics |
| TKMS ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH | Germany | 2025-05–Today | Safety-Critical Systems, Autonomous Technologies |
| BioAssist | Greece | 2025-06–Today | Biopharmaceutical R&D, AI, Software Engineering |
| Institut für angewandte Systemtechnik Bremen GmbH (ATB) | Germany | 2025-05–Today | Industrial AI, Cyber-Physical Systems |
| PAL ROBOTICS SLU | Spain | 2025-06–Today | Robotics, Autonomous Systems |
| JetBrains | Netherlands | 2025-05–Today | Software Engineering Tools, Developer Productivity |
| LOXO | Switzerland | 2025-04–Today | Autonomous Driving Technologies |
| Tahereh Zohdinasab (Sonova Group) | Switzerland | 2024-09–Today | Software Engineering, Data Analytics |
| Genedata | Switzerland | 2024-01–Today | Biopharmaceutical R&D, AI/ML |
| Terraview | Switzerland | 2021-05–Today | Agriculture, AI-based Systems |
| Stadler Signalling AG | Switzerland | 2022-05–Today | Mobility, Safety-Critical Systems |
| ANYbotics | Switzerland | 2021-10–Today | Autonomous Robots, Robotics Software |
| LEDCity | Switzerland | 2021-12–Today | AI-based Optimization, Smart Systems |
| BeamNG | Germany | 2020-06–Today | Simulation, Autonomous Vehicles Testing |
| ARQUIMEA | Spain | 2020-02–Today | Autonomous Vehicles, Aerospace Systems |
| BOND | Switzerland | 2019-10–2021 | Smart Mobility, eBikes |
| Helio | Switzerland | 2019-10–Today | Computational Systems |
| Siemens Healthcare GmbH | Germany | 2019-05–Today | Healthcare Software Systems |
| Intelligentia S.r.l. | Italy | 2020-01–Today | Aerospace, Autonomous Systems |
| AICAS GmbH | Germany | 2020-01–Today | Automotive Software |
| Q-media s.r.o. | Czech Republic | 2020-01–Today | Railway Systems |
| Unparallel Innovation LDA | Portugal | 2019-01–Today | Water-Smart Systems |
| smide | Switzerland | 2019-01–2020 | Smart Mobility, eBikes |
| The Open Group | Belgium | 2019-01–Today | Open Standards, Digital Transformation |
| Siemens AG | Germany | 2019-01–Today | DevOps, Industrial Software Systems |
| GMV | Spain | 2019-01–Today | Aviation, Autonomous Systems |
| Red Hat | Switzerland | 2018–Today | DevOps, Cloud-native Software Engineering |
| Haidar Osman (Swisscom) | Switzerland | 2018–Today | Data Science, Artificial Intelligence |
| VSHN | Switzerland | 2018–2019 | DevOps, Cloud Platforms |
| Ikubinfo | Austria | 2018–Today | DevOps, Software Engineering |
| Daniele Romano (ING) | Netherlands | 2017–Today | DevOps, Software Engineering |
| Junji Shimagaki (Sony Mobile Communications) | Japan | 2016–2018 | Mobile Software Engineering |
Academia
International Academic Research Network
My academic research network includes collaborators from universities and research institutes across the following countries, among others:
Italy
Switzerland
Germany
Netherlands
Spain
France
Belgium
Luxembourg
Austria
Finland
Norway
United Kingdom
United States
Canada
Australia
Japan
China
Chile
These collaborations have developed through joint publications, international research projects, scientific leadership activities, conference and workshop organization, research visits, Ph.D. and postdoctoral mentoring, and participation in international research networks.
The network brings together complementary expertise in Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, autonomous systems, software testing and verification, empirical software engineering, robotics, data science, and cyber-physical systems.
An important aspect of this network is its combination of established research leaders, international peers, emerging researchers, and interdisciplinary collaborators.
This creates opportunities for cross-institutional research, the development of new research directions, and the formation of international teams for competitive funding initiatives.
The following table summarizes selected academic collaborations:
| Researcher | Institution | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Jane Cleland-Huang | University of Notre Dame, USA | 2024–Today |
| Pablo Sánchez-Molina | University of Malaga, Spain | 2024–Today |
| Aldeida Aleti | Monash University, Australia | 2023–Today |
| Catia Trubiani | Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), Italy | 2024–Today |
| Anna Rita Fasolino | University of Naples, Italy | 2023–Today |
| Fiorella Zampetti | University of Sannio, Italy | 2017–Today |
| Alexandre Bergel | University of Chile | 2024–Today |
| Sasa Miladinovic | HES-SO Valais-Wallis, Switzerland | 2023–Today |
| Diane de Zélicourt | University of Zurich, Switzerland | 2022–Today |
| Giovanni Guizzo | University College London, UK | 2021–2023 |
| Anand Sawant | University of California Davis, USA | 2020–2022 |
| Pooja Rani | University of Zurich, Switzerland | 2018–Today |
| Pouria Derakhshanfar | Previously Delft University of Technology; currently JetBrains | 2021–2022 |
| Rafael Kallis | Independent Researcher / Rafael Kallis Consulting | 2019–Today |
| Leonardo Militano | Zurich University of Applied Sciences | 2019–Today |
| Alessio Gambi | Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Austria | 2019–Today |
| Sebastian Proksch | Delft University of Technology, Netherlands | 2018–2019 |
| Karina Villela | Fraunhofer IESE, Germany | 2018–Today |
| Emitza Guzman | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands | 2015–2017 |
| Myra Cohen | University of Nebraska, USA | 2023–Today |
| Paolo Arcaini | National Institute of Informatics (NII), Japan | 2023–Today |
| Patricia Lago | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands | 2023–Today |
| Ivano Malavolta | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands | 2023–Today |
| Vincenzo Riccio | University of Udine, Italy | 2020–Today |
| Alessandra Gorla | IMDEA Software Institute, Spain | 2020–Today |
| Alexander Serebrenik | Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands | 2020–Today |
| Vincent Hellendoorn | Carnegie Mellon University, USA | 2019–Today |
| Xavier Devroey | Université de Namur, Belgium | 2020–Today |
| Gordon Fraser | University of Passau, Germany | 2020–Today |
| Aitor Arrieta Marcos | Mondragon Unibertsitatea, Spain | 2020–Today |
| Prof. Scaramuzza | University of Zurich, Switzerland | 2019–Today |
| Domenico Bianculli | University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg | 2019–Today |
| Fabrizio Pastore | University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg | 2019–Today |
| Gregorio Robles | Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain | 2018–Today |
| Damian A. Tamburri | University of Sannio, Italy | 2019–Today |
| Paolo Tonella | University of Lugano, Switzerland | 2019–Today |
| Shaukat Ali | Simula Research Laboratory, Norway | 2018–Today |
| Davide Taibi | University of Oulu, Finland | 2019–Today |
| Oscar Nierstrasz | University of Bern, Switzerland | 2018–2022 |
| Timo Kehrer | University of Bern, Switzerland | 2021–Today |
| Yu Zhou | Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China | 2016–Today |
| Taolue Chen | Birkbeck, University of London, UK | 2016–Today |
| Andy Zaidman | Delft University of Technology, Netherlands | 2016–Today |
| Aaron Visaggio | University of Foggia, Italy | 2015–Today |
| Venera Arnaoudova | Washington State University, USA | 2015–Today |
| Harald Gall | University of Zurich, Switzerland | 2014–Today |
| Gabriele Bavota | University of Lugano, Switzerland | 2013–2015 |
| Gerardo Canfora | University of Sannio, Italy | 2011–Today |
| Massimiliano Di Penta | University of Sannio, Italy | 2011–Today |
| Andrea De Lucia | University of Salerno, Italy | 2009–Today |
People
Researcher Development & Mentoring
A further dimension of my research ecosystem is the network of Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers, research assistants, and early-career researchers with whom I have worked through supervision, co-supervision, collaborative projects, and joint publications.
I have supervised and co-supervised researchers at different career stages across multiple institutions and countries, supporting their development in Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, Data Science, autonomous systems, software testing, and cyber-physical systems.
Several of these collaborations have evolved beyond individual supervision activities into longer-term research partnerships, joint publications, international projects, and new research directions.
I consider research mentoring and community building an integral part of my research activities. Beyond producing scientific results, my goal is to contribute to an international environment in which students and early-career researchers can develop independent research expertise, establish international connections, and contribute to ambitious interdisciplinary research.
Our vision
From Collaboration to Research Impact
Overall, my research ecosystem is designed to create a continuous connection between fundamental research, international scientific collaboration, industrial challenges, innovation, and researcher development.
Academic partners contribute complementary scientific expertise and international perspectives; industrial partners contribute real-world challenges, technologies, and application contexts; and students and early-career researchers contribute new ideas and research capacity.
This ecosystem supports a broader vision of the IDeaLS Lab:
To develop intelligent and large-scale software systems that are not only technically advanced, but also trustworthy, adaptive, reliable, and relevant to real-world applications.
By connecting research across disciplines, institutions, and sectors, I aim to strengthen the translation of scientific advances in AI and Software Engineering into impactful technologies for autonomous and cyber-physical systems.