Photo: Karl-Kristjan Nigesen

Please introduce yourself.

I am an Italian mathematician who moved to Estonia in 2012, where I started my doctoral studies in information and communication technology at Tallinna Tehnikaülikool. I defended my PhD thesis in 2017 and relocated to Denmark, where I spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the IT University of Copenhagen. I returned to the Department of Software Science at TalTech in 2019 as a researcher, and became assistant professor in January 2023. My research field is theoretical computer science. I mostly study applications of mathematical logic to programming languages and the formal verification of software.

What kind of knowledge and experience do you bring to your professorship?

I have always been lucky enough to have great mentors and being part of lively and exciting research environments, both in Tallinn and in Copenhagen. Also being able to participate in many international conferences and seminars and meet lots of inspiring researchers from all over the world. Keeping an open mind, always trying to learn something new, sharing research ideas with your colleagues – these are fundamental lessons that I’ve learned and followed during my academic career, which surely will also guide me throughout this new professorship adventure.

What are your goals in your position at TalTech?

I want to keep growing as a researcher, a lecturer and a supervisor. I intend to continue my research, focusing on the development of theoretical frameworks and tools for the production of software with strong guarantees of correctness. I currently co-supervise four doctoral students, who I plan to guide to a successful dissertation in the upcoming years. I want to organize many scientific events in Tallinn, which will help increasing the international recognition of the computer science community at TalTech and in Estonia.

One surprise as a professor in TalTech?

I managed to get a new personal office, but I think this has absolutely nothing to do with the promotion!