Automated Program Repair Professors and Supervisors

Djamel Eddine KhelladiView profile

Researcher

Max Planck Institute for Security and PrivacyGermany

Djamel Eddine Khelladi is a CNRS Researcher at the IRISA laboratory within the DIVERSE team at University of Rennes, specializing in software engineering with emphasis on model-driven techniques and empirical validation. His work bridges theoretical frameworks and industrial-scale applications, particularly in evolving software ecosystems. His academic foundation includes a Ph.D. from Sorbonne University (formerly University Pierre et Marie Curie) at the Laboratory of Computer Science of Paris 6 (LIP6), followed by postdoctoral research at Johannes Kepler University Linz's Institute for Software Systems Engineering. This trajectory established his expertise in software evolution and model-driven approaches. Khelladi's research centers on software evolution challenges, particularly model-code co-evolution in highly-configurable systems like the Linux kernel. He develops scalable analysis tools (e.g., HyperAST, HyperDiff) and investigates empirical phenomena in build systems, configuration management, and polyglot programming environments. Recent work increasingly integrates large language models for automated co-evolution tasks while maintaining rigorous empirical validation. His publication trends reveal a consistent focus on practical tooling for software evolution, with growing exploration of AI-assisted engineering. Key themes include scalability in software history analysis, reproducibility in configurable systems, and debugging multi-language environments, often using Linux kernel ecosystems as testbeds. As an active community contributor, Khelladi serves on program committees for ASE, ICSE, and ESEC/FSE while advancing research through the DIVERSE team at IRISA. This group specializes in variability-intensive software systems, providing the collaborative environment for his empirical and tool-building research.

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Ajitha RajanView profile

Professor

Max Planck Institute for Security and PrivacyGermany

Ajitha Rajan is a Professor (Personal Chair of Software Testing & Verification) at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. She joined the university in December 2012 as a Reader (equivalent to Associate Professor in American terms) and was promoted to Professor in 2024. Prior to her position at Edinburgh, she held postdoctoral positions at Oxford University and Laboratoire d'Informatique de Grenoble in France. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota in August 2009 under Professor Mats Heimdahl. Her research focuses on two primary directions: Automated Software Testing (including test input generation, test oracles, and coverage measurement) and Biomedical AI (particularly cancer survival models and interpretability for biological sequences and medical images). Her work has applications in safety-critical systems, blockchains, embedded systems, and medical diagnostics. She has made significant contributions to explainable AI for healthcare applications, especially in lung cancer detection and cancer survival analysis. Her recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward interdisciplinary research at the intersection of software engineering and biomedical applications. She has numerous publications in top venues including ICSE, ASE, and healthcare-focused conferences. Her work increasingly focuses on making AI systems more interpretable and trustworthy, particularly in medical contexts where model decisions can have life-or-death consequences. ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Reviewer Award, ISSTA 2025 Best Paper Award at ICHI 2025 Promoted to Professor (Chair in Software Testing & Verification) 2024 SICSA Best Supervisor Award 2024 ACM Distinguished Paper Award 2008 Professor Rajan actively supervises PhD students in both software testing and biomedical AI domains. She leads several funded projects including MANIFEST (a cancer immunotherapy response research platform), a Huawei Joint Lab project on RobustCheck, a Royal Society Industry Fellowship on AutoTest, and the KATY project on clinical knowledge for personalized medicine. Her research group includes current PhD students working on explainable AI for medical image analysis, scenario-based testing for autonomous driving, and protein design applications.

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Leopoldo TeixeiraView profile

Assistant Professor

Max Planck Institute for Security and PrivacyGermany

Leopoldo Teixeira is an Assistant Professor at the Informatics Center (CIn) of the Federal University of Pernambuco, where he leads the Software Testing and Analysis Research group. He is also affiliated with the Software Productivity Group and CIn-Trust. Since May 2023, he has served as head of graduate studies at his department. His educational background includes: PhD in Computer Science from the Federal University of Pernambuco (CIn-UFPE) in 2014, supervised by Paulo Borba and Rohit Gheyi MSc in Computer Science from CIn-UFPE in 2010 Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from the Polytechnic School of Pernambuco in 2007 During his PhD, he spent a winter term at the University of Waterloo working with Krzysztof Czarnecki. In 2022, he was a CAPES-Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Research Fellow at the Chair of Software Engineering of Universität des Saarlandes, working with Sven Apel on variability analysis over time and space. His research focuses on Software Engineering with emphasis on improving software quality and productivity. His work spans software product lines, configurable systems, refactoring, formal methods, software testing, and mobile development. His publication record shows a consistent focus on software analysis, testing, and maintenance, with recent work exploring Dockerfile repair and flaky test detection. His scientific recognition includes the CAPES-Alexander von Humboldt Experienced Research Fellowship in 2022. As an active member of the software engineering research community, he has served on program committees for numerous conferences including ASE, ICSE, ESEC/FSE, and others across multiple years. Leopoldo leads the Software Testing and Analysis Research group at CIn-UFPE and is affiliated with the Software Productivity Group and CIn-Trust, indicating a strong institutional presence and collaborative research environment.

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Alfonso González BrionesView profile

Associate Professor

University of SalamancaSpain

Dr. Alfonso González Briones is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Automation at the University of Salamanca, where he conducts cutting-edge research in intelligent systems and their applications. He is a prominent member of the BISITE Research Group and has also worked with the GRASIA Research Group at Complutense University of Madrid as a 'Juan De La Cierva' postdoc. His academic journey at the University of Salamanca includes a Bachelor of Technical Engineering in Computer Engineering (2012), a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering (2013), a Master's Degree in Intelligent Systems (2014), and a PhD in Computer Engineering (2018). His research focuses on Ubiquitous Computing and Ambient Intelligence for developing smarter, more energy-efficient cities that improve social welfare and promote sustainable development. His work spans Multiple Agent Systems (MAS), energy optimization, smart cities infrastructure, Industry 4.0 applications, and machine learning techniques for various domains including social networks, transportation, and agricultural systems. Dr. González Briones has published extensively with over 30 journal articles and 60 conference proceedings publications, demonstrating consistent productivity across multiple domains of computer science and artificial intelligence. His research trends show a clear progression from foundational work in multi-agent systems toward increasingly sophisticated applications in smart cities, energy management, and Industry 4.0 contexts, with a growing emphasis on practical implementations that address real-world challenges. 2nd place in 1st SENSORS+CIRTI Award for best national thesis in Smart Cities (CAEPIA 2018) Juan de la Cierva State Program Grant in ICT - Information and Communication Technologies (2018) Member of scientific committees for Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal (ADCAIJ) and British Journal of Applied Science and Technology (BJAST) Reviewer for prestigious journals including Supercomputing Journal, Journal of King Saud University, Energies, Sensors, Electronics, and Applied Sciences As an active researcher, Dr. González Briones has participated in 10 international research projects and served on technical committees for prestigious international conferences including AIPES, HAIS, FODERTICS, PAAMS, and KDIR. His work bridges academic research with practical industry applications, particularly in energy optimization systems, IoT, and Machine Learning solutions for real-world problems. He has also collaborated with private research centers including Virtual Power Solutions in Portugal and AIR Institute, where he worked as Project Manager in Industry 4.0 and IoT projects. His research infrastructure includes work with the BISITE Research Group, where he develops and implements multi-agent architectures for optimizing energy consumption and other complex systems. His laboratory work spans smart home energy management, intelligent transportation systems, semantic analysis for Industry 4.0, and social network analysis applications.

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