Julia Lawall

Julia Lawall is a Senior Research Scientist (Directrice de Recherche) at Inria-Paris, where she leads research in the Whisper group. She has made significant contributions to the fields of programming languages, operating systems, and software engineering, with a particular focus on program transformation and Linux kernel development. Her work bridges theoretical computer science with practical software engineering challenges.

Dr. Lawall's research primarily centers on the design and implementation of domain-specific languages for operating system problems, program transformation techniques, and automated software evolution. Her most notable contribution is the Coccinelle framework, which has been instrumental in automating the evolution of Linux device drivers for over a decade. Her work spans from theoretical foundations in optimal reduction of the lambda calculus to practical tools that address real-world software maintenance challenges in large-scale systems like the Linux kernel.

Her publication record demonstrates consistent contributions across multiple domains, with recent work focusing on Android API evolution, Linux kernel bug detection, and program transformation techniques. The trajectory of her research shows a progression from theoretical programming language concepts to increasingly practical applications in system software maintenance and evolution.

• EuroSys Test of time award for 'Documenting and Automating Collateral Evolutions in Linux Device Drivers' at EuroSys 2008
• Best paper award for 'Diagnosys: Automatic Generation of a Debugging Interface to the Linux kernel' at ASE 2012
• Most Influential ICFP Paper Award for foundational work on lambda calculus
• Best Reviewer at GPCE 2020 and Distinguished Reviewer at ASE 2020

Dr. Lawall has been actively involved in the academic community, serving as program co-chair for numerous prestigious conferences including ASE 2019, FSE 2026, and EuroSys 2025. She has also contributed to community initiatives as the Linux kernel coordinator for Outreachy (2015-2018) and as a member of the advisory board for Software Heritage. Her leadership extends to editorial roles, including associate editor for Higher-Order and Symbolic Computation and membership on the editorial board of Science of Computer Programming.

She leads the Whisper research group at Inria-Paris, which focuses on program transformation techniques and their applications to system software. The group has developed several influential tools including Coccinelle, Coccinelle4J, LiLiput, Prequel, and JMake, which have had substantial impact on both academic research and industrial practice in software maintenance and evolution.