XLII Cycle, starting 2026–2027
Essential information for the current admission cycle.
Call for Admission
The call for applications for the XLII Cycle of the PhD Programme in Computer Science, academic year 2026–2027, is available.
Applications can be submitted through the PICA platform from 10 June 2026.
Deadline: 9 July 2026, 12:00 CET.
For the official call, FAQs, application procedures, and further information, please refer to the official University of Bari webpage:
Note: The official University of Bari webpage is the authoritative source for deadlines, requirements, available positions, scholarships, and application procedures.
Admission Procedure
The evaluation criteria for admission to the PhD Programme in Computer Science are available in Italian and English:
The list of candidates admitted to the oral test is available below:
The anonymous results of the oral test are available below:
The final ranking list for admission to the PhD Programme in Computer Science is available below:
PhD Students and Research Projects
| PhD Student | Research Project | Supervisor | Co-Supervisor(s) | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorenzo Abatescianni | Knowledge-Centric Deep Learning for Railway Systems Engineering | Giovanna Castellano | Gennaro Vessio; Vito Santacesaria (industry) | Ai2 S.r.l. (co-funded) |
| Nicola Balzano | Confidential Computing and Post-Quantum Cryptography | Danilo Caivano | Emanuele Carpanzano (industry) | PREM AI S.r.l. (apprenticeship) |
| Roberto Capolongo | AI for Cybersecurity in Mobile Environments | Donato Impedovo | — | Department funds (BullyBuster – PRIN2017) |
| Mattia Colucci | Advancing Safety and Adversarial Robustness in AI-Based Autonomous Systems | Antonio Piccinno | Gennaro Vessio | University scholarship (open topic) |
| Cataldo Dammacco | Artificial Intelligence for Public Safety | Donato Malerba | — | No scholarship |
| Emanuele Fontana | Investigating the Interpretability and Robustness of Internal Signals in Foundation Models | Gennaro Vessio | Giovanna Castellano | University scholarship (open topic) |
| Sara Lumaca | Mathematical and Artificial Intelligence Models for the Improvement and Innovation of Production Processes | Giuseppe Pirlo | Vincenzo Dentamaro | Pirelli Digital Solutions S.r.l. |
| Francesca Mantini | Artificial Intelligence for Competitiveness and Digital Inclusion in Micro and Small Craft Enterprises | Marco de Gemmis | Giovanni Dimauro | CNA Puglia |
| Rebecca Margiotta | Cyber Risk Management through Cyber Ranges and Attack Surface Management | Maria Teresa Baldassarre | Claudio Tinelli (industry) | Eulogic NT S.p.A. |
| Davide Pio Posa | Incident Response in Multi-Domain Cyber-Social Operations | Danilo Caivano | Massimiliano Morga (industry) | Ser&Practices S.r.l. (apprenticeship) |
| Fabrizio Rosmarino | Development of MLOps Pipelines for Earth Observation Data and Machine Learning Algorithms | Fabio Calefato | Nicolò Taggio (industry) | Planetek S.r.l. (co-funded) |
| Maryam Samiepour | AI-Driven Credit Intelligence for Micro and Small Craft Enterprises: Predictive Scoring, Service Recommendation, and Territorial Socioeconomic Observatory | Antonio Piccinno | Pierpaolo Basile | COFIDI.IT |
Study Plan and Courses
The XLII cycle includes advanced PhD-level courses covering several areas of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. PhD students are required to acquire at least 15 ECTS during the first two years and pass examinations corresponding to at least 8 ECTS.
| Course | Lecturer(s) | Hours | ECTS | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sustainable and Secure AIThe course introduces principles and methodologies for building robust, trustworthy, and sustainable AI systems. Topics include adversarial learning, Data-Centric AI, robustness to distribution shifts, data quality, and responsible deployment of machine learning systems in critical domains. ECTS breakdown: 3 ECTS lecture (24 hours) Schedule: June 2027 |
Giuseppina Andresini (8 hours) Vincenzo Pasquadibisceglie (8 hours) Stefano Ferilli (8 hours) |
24 | 3 | First year |
Graph-Based Techniques for Context-Aware AIThe course explores graph-based methodologies for designing context-aware AI systems, including knowledge graphs, graph neural networks, graph embeddings, link prediction, and multimodal graph learning for relational and structured data. ECTS breakdown: 1 ECTS lecture (8 hours); 1 ECTS practical (15 hours) Schedule: January–February 2027 |
Raffaele Scaringi (23 hours) | 23 | 2 | First year |
Emotion Recognition Using Non-Invasive BiometricsThe course focuses on affective computing and emotion recognition using non-invasive biometric sensors. It covers sensor-based emotion analysis, feature extraction, supervised learning techniques, and applications in human-computer interaction and collaborative environments. ECTS breakdown: 2 ECTS lecture (16 hours) Schedule: 3–19 December 2026 |
Daniela Grassi (16 hours) | 16 | 2 | First year |
Few-shot Learning for Deep LearningThe course presents advanced methods for learning from limited labeled data, including meta-learning, metric-based approaches, foundation models, self-supervised learning, and prompt-based adaptation techniques across vision, language, and multimodal domains. ECTS breakdown: 1 ECTS lecture (8 hours); 1 ECTS practical (15 hours) Schedule: January–February 2027 |
Pasquale De Marinis (23 hours) | 23 | 2 | First year |
Heterogeneous Computation for Modern ApplicationsThe course introduces heterogeneous computational architectures combining HPC, GPU acceleration, and hybrid classical–quantum workflows. Particular attention is devoted to intelligent interactive systems and adaptive AI-driven applications. ECTS breakdown: 3 ECTS lecture (24 hours) Schedule: February 2027 |
Corrado Loglisci (8 hours) Angelo Impedovo (8 hours) Giuseppe Palestra (8 hours) |
24 | 3 | First year |
Advanced Interpolation for Image ProcessingThe course presents interpolation techniques for structured and scattered data, including spline methods, subdivision schemes, edge-guided interpolation, Lanczos interpolation, and thin-plate splines, with applications in image, medical, and geospatial processing. ECTS breakdown: 1 ECTS lecture (8 hours) Schedule: December 2026 |
Antonella Falini (8 hours) | 8 | 1 | First year |
Human-Centered CybersecurityThe course investigates cybersecurity from a human-centered perspective, covering usable security phishing, social engineering, authentication, mental models of cyber threats, and user-centered methodologies for secure system design. ECTS breakdown: 2 ECTS lecture (16 hours); 1 ECTS practical (15 hours) Schedule: First 2–3 weeks of December 2026 |
Giuseppe Desolda (8 hours) Francesco Greco (23 hours) |
31 | 3 | First year |
Advanced Topics in AI: Machine Learning and Behavioral BiometricsThe course examines AI and machine learning approaches for analyzing neurodegenerative diseases through imaging, behavioral biometrics, and multimodal data, with applications to diagnosis, prediction, and healthcare decision support. ECTS breakdown: 1 ECTS lecture (8 hours) Schedule: January–February 2027 |
Vincenzo Dentamaro (8 hours) | 8 | 1 | First year |
Symbiotic AI for Natural Language Understanding and Knowledge RepresentationThe course introduces Symbiotic AI approaches combining natural language processing, knowledge representation, ontologies, knowledge graphs, reasoning systems, and large language models for interpretable and knowledge-driven AI. ECTS breakdown: 2 ECTS lecture (16 hours); 1 ECTS practical (15 hours) Schedule: TBA |
Lucia Siciliani (31 hours) | 31 | 3 | First year |
Serious Games for Healthcare: Design, Validation, and Biomarker AnalysisThe course explores serious games as computational systems for healthcare, rehabilitation, and assessment. Topics include digital biomarkers, adaptive interventions, usability evaluation, and validation methodologies for interactive health technologies. ECTS breakdown: 2 ECTS lecture (16 hours) Schedule: January–February 2027 |
Alessandro Pagano (16 hours) | 16 | 2 | First year |
Scientific Research WritingThe course develops advanced scientific communication skills, including paper structure, academic writing, bibliography styles, reviewer response, research ethics, and the responsible use of AI tools in scientific publishing. ECTS breakdown: 1 ECTS lecture (8 hours); 1 ECTS practical (15 hours) Schedule: 28 January; 2, 4, 9, 16, 18, 23 and 25 February 2027 (14:30–17:30, except 28 January: 14:30–16:30) |
Antonietta Bagnardi (23 hours) | 23 | 2 | First and second years |
Metaheuristics Optimization for Swarm IntelligenceThe course introduces deterministic and swarm-intelligence optimization methods, including Particle Swarm Optimization and nature-inspired metaheuristics for search, path planning, and optimization problems in complex environments. ECTS breakdown: 1 ECTS lecture (8 hours); 1 ECTS practical (15 hours) Schedule: TBA |
Antonella Falini (23 hours) | 23 | 2 | Second year |
Learning Settings for Big DataThe course explores machine learning paradigms for large-scale and streaming data, including ensemble learning, stream learning, transfer learning, model reuse, scalability, and data heterogeneity in Big Data environments. ECTS breakdown: 2 ECTS lecture (16 hours); 1 ECTS practical (15 hours) Schedule: TBA |
Michelangelo Ceci (8 hours) Antonio Pellicani (23 hours) |
31 | 3 | Second year |
Additional Training Activities
The programme includes several transversal and interdisciplinary activities, including:
- scientific seminars and workshops;
- PhD Days and public engagement initiatives;
- conferences, doctoral consortia, and schools;
- research project management and European funding systems;
- open science and intellectual property training;
- technology transfer and dissemination activities;
- psychological counseling services for PhD students.
Students are encouraged to participate actively in the scientific life of the department and in international research networks.
Teaching Board
Coordinator
Prof. Giovanna Castellano
Members
| Name | Role | SSD |
|---|---|---|
| Giuseppina Andresini | Assistant Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Annalisa Appice | Full Professor | IINF-05/A |
| M. Teresa Baldassarre | Associate Professor | IINF-05/A |
| Pierpaolo Basile | Associate Professor | IINF-05/A |
| Paolo Buono | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Danilo Caivano | Full Professor | IINF-05/A |
| Fabio Calefato | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Michelangelo Ceci | Full Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Claudia d'Amato | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Marco de Gemmis | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Vincenzo Dentamaro | Assistant Professor | IINF-05/A |
| Giuseppe Desolda | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Antonella Falini | Assistant Professor | MATH-05/A |
| Nicola Fanizzi | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Stefano Ferilli | Full Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Donato Impedovo | Full Professor | IINF-05/A |
| Corrado Loglisci | Associate Professor | IINF-05/A |
| Pasquale Lops | Full Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Donato Malerba | Full Professor | IINF-05/A |
| Corrado Mencar | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Cataldo Musto | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Nicole Novielli | Full Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Antonio Piccinno | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Gianvito Pio | Associate Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Giovanni Semeraro | Full Professor | INFO-01/A |
| Gennaro Vessio | Associate Professor | IINF-05/A |