Welcome!

I am a Full Professor at the University of Molise (Italy), where I currently serve as Director of the Department of Biosciences and Territory. From 2020 to 2025, I served as Deputy Director of the same Department, while from 2014 to 2020 I was Chair of the Board of the Computer Science degree program. I am also the founder of the Software and Knowledge Engineering Lab (STAKE) Lab at the University of Molise, which I directed until 2019.

I received my PhD in Computer Science from the University of Salerno in 2008. I am the co-author of approximately 250 scientific publications on topics related to empirical software engineering, with particular emphasis on the development of recommendation systems based on machine learning techniques.

In a bibliometric study published in 2021, I was ranked fourth worldwide among the most active researchers in software engineering over the period 2013–2020, based on 68 scientific articles published in top-tier conferences and journals in the field. Furthermore, in the 2025 edition of the Best Computer Science Scientists ranking published by Research.com, I was ranked 14th in Italy and 1,211th worldwide, with a total of 19,392 citations and an h-index of 84. This ranking is based on the D-index (Discipline H-index) metric and includes only leading scientists with a D-index of at least 30.

I have received several awards for my research activity, including six prestigious ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Awards (MSR 2019, ASE 2017, ICPC 2016, ESEC/FSE 2015, ICSE 2015, ASE 2013) and four Most Influential Paper Awards (SANER 2024, SCAM 2022, ICSME 2021, ICPC 2020), which are granted based on the long-term impact and citation record of published research over a ten-year period.

My research activities span multiple international communities in the field of software engineering. I have actively contributed to the organization of, and served on the program committees for, numerous international conferences. I was General Chair of SANER 2018 and Program Co-Chair of ICPC 2015, TEFSE 2015 and 2009, SCAM 2014, and WCRE 2013 and 2012. I was also a keynote speaker at MUD 2012.

I have been the co-founder and the CEO (from 2017 to 2025) of Datasound Srl, a spin-off company of the University of Molise established to conceive, design, and develop innovative recommendation systems for application in diverse contexts.