UCL Computer Science Professor Federica Sarro awarded prestigious David Lorge Parnas Fellowship

In a commendable acknowledgment of her distinguished career, Professor Federica Sarro, a prominent figure in the field of Software Engineering, has been honoured with the David Lorge Parnas Fellowship by Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software. 

The David Lorge Parnas Fellowship celebrates exceptional individuals in the field of software research and development globally. This senior position allows recipients to spend a short-term tenure at Lero, fostering collaboration with industry partners and delivering a Distinguished Lecture to share their insights with students and staff. 

Professor Sarro, who serves as the Head of the Software System Engineering group and holds the position of Professor of Software Engineering at UCL Computer Science, is renowned for her expertise in Search-Based Software Engineering, Empirical Software Engineering, and Software Analytics. 

With a portfolio boasting over 100 peer-reviewed scholarly articles, Professor Sarro's research primarily focuses on automated software management, optimisation, testing, and repair. She has been invited to present her work at prestigious international industrial and academic events and has collaborated with industry giants such as Bloomberg, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. 

In 2021, Professor Sarro was honoured with the Rising Star Award by the IEEE Technical Community on Software Engineering, recognising her excellence in Software Engineering research with both scholarly and real-world impact. 

Professor Sarro has also played pivotal roles in leadership positions for various software engineering international events and has contributed significantly as a Programme Chair, Steering Committee member, and Associate Editor for reputed publications in the field. 

On receiving the fellowship, Federica said: “I am very honoured to receive this prestigious fellowship. I am looking forward to working closely with LERO distinguished researchers and industry partners, to further push my research agenda on Engineering Responsible Software encompassing important aspects like fairness, sustainability, and trustworthiness of modern software systems such as AI-enabled ones”. 

Head of UCL Computer Science, Professor Steve Hailes, said: “Federica's exceptional expertise has had a profound impact on our department and we’re immensely proud of her achievements. This fellowship is a well-deserved acknowledgement of her influential contributions.” 

Lero, as Ireland's national software research centre, is committed to establishing the country as a global hub for high-quality software research and development. With a focus on diverse areas such as driverless cars, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, fintech, govtech, smart communities, agtech, and healthtech, Lero collaborates with leading academic institutions across Ireland, reinforcing its mission to shape Ireland's future in the software landscape.