| CARVIEW |
📢 I have open PhD (starting Fall 2026) and postdoc positions!
I am a member of the INRIA research team ANTIQUE (ANalyse StaTIQUE). Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Programming Methodology, led by Peter Müller at ETH Zurich. I completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science, working under the joint supervision of Radhia Cousot and Antoine Miné at École Normale Supérieure. I hold a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Computer Science, both received with full marks and honors (summa cum laude) from the Università degli Studi di Udine.
My research interests span the whole spectrum of formal methods and aim at developing methods and tools to enhance the reliability of computer software and understanding complex software systems. My main area of expertise is static analysis based on abstract interpretation, which provides rigorous mathematical guarantees of the behavior of computer programs. I am currently engaged in a long-term research effort to enhance the understanding and reliability of data science software, which nowadays plays an increasingly important role in critical decision making in fields such as finance and medicine.
I am curating a personal (and unfinished) collection of (what I think is) good advice for academics.
News (as of Dec 4th, 2025)
👥 I am on the program committee of PLDI 2026.
👥 I am on the program committee of CAV 2026.
👥 I am on the program committee of OOPSLA 2026.
Interests
- Static Program Analysis
- Abstract Interpretation
- Programming Languages
- Data Science
- Machine Learning
Education
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HDR in Computer Science, 2025
École Normale Supérieure | Université PSL, Paris, France
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PhD in Computer Science, 2015
École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
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MSc in Computer Science, 2011
Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy
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BSc in Computer Science, 2009
Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy
Research Projects
ForML
The ForML project investigates the use of abstract interpretation and counterexample-guided abstraction refinement with the purpose of efficiently answering queries about semantic properties of machine learning models such as robustness, fairness, and explainability. We also aim to formally verify existing and novel algorithms for answering such queries, and to derive certified implementations.
SAIF
The goal of SAIF is to use the vast knowledge accumulated over decades in formal methods to rethink them and address the novel safety concerns raised by machine learning-based systems. Through the synergy of a diverse consortium with complementary expertise, we aim to bring society closer to a state where it can benefit from achievements in machine learning without suffering undue consequences.
SeDaNo
[…page under construction…]
Libra
The goal of the Libra project is to develop new analyses and tools to reason about and certify fairness of decision-making software.
Lyra
The Lyra research project is a long-term research effort to enhance the understanding and reliabilty of data science software. It aims ad developing new practical and accessible analyses and tools to reason about and provide rigorous guarantees of the behavior of data analytics, big data, machine learning, and deep learning applications.
FuncTion
The goal of the FuncTion project was the development of a static analyzer which automatically infers ranking functions and sufficient precondition for program termination (and other liveness properties) by means of abstract interpretation.
Recent Publications
Recent Talks
People
PhD Students and Research Engineers
- Heyuan Liu
Research Engineer, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Dec 2025 - Nov 2026 - Priyanka Maity
PhD, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Oct 2025 - Sep 2028 (expected) - Naïm Moussaoui-Remil
PhD, École Normale Supérieure, France: Nov 2023 - Oct 2026 (expected) - Serge Durand
(co-supervised with Zakaria Chihani)
PhD, Université Paris-Saclay, France: Nov 2021 - Dec 2025
Interns
- Lorenzo Gazzella (PhD Student, Università di Pisa, Italy)
Research Internship, École Normale Supérieure, France: Sep 2025 - Jan 2026
Alumni
- Xiaolin Liu (PhD Student, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
Research Internship, École Normale Supérieure, Oct 2025 - Alessandro De Palma
Postdoc, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Nov 2023 - Oct 2025 - Sarah Dribi Alaoui (Master Student, Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux, France)
M1 Research Internship, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, Jun - Sep 2025 - Marco Campion
Postdoc, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Feb 2023 - Aug 2025 - Guannan Wei
Postdoc, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Sep 2024 - Jul 2025 - Thomas Winninger (Master Student, Télécom SudParis, France)
M1 Research Internship, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, Mar - May 2025 - Greta Dolcetti (PhD Student, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, Italy)
Research Internship, École Normale Supérieure, France: Sep - Dec 2042 - Giacomo Zanatta (PhD Student, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, Italy)
Research Internship, École Normale Supérieure, France: Sep - Dec 2042 - Denis Mazzucato
PhD, École Normale Supérieure, France: Oct 2020 - Dec 2024 - Pierre Goutagny (Master Student, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France)
M2 Research Internship, École Normale Supérieure, France: Mar - Jul 2024 - Loïc Chevalier (Master Student, École Normale Supérieure, France)
Supervised Research Project, École Normale Supérieure, France: Spring 2024 - Naïm Moussaoui-Remil (Master Student, École Normale Supérieure de Rennes, France)
M2 Research Internship, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Mar - Aug 2023 - Kevin Pinochet (Master Student, University of Chile, Chile)
Research Internship, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Jan - Apr 2023 - Abhinandan Pal (Bachelor Student, IIIT Kalyani, India)
Research Internship, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Nov 2022 - Jan 2023 - Abhinandan Pal (Bachelor Student, IIIT Kalyani, India)
Research Internship (remote): May - Jul 2022 - Ali El Husseini (École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, France)
M2 Internship, École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay & Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Mar - Aug 2022 - Luca Negrini (PhD Student, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italy)
Research Internship, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Jan - Apr 2022 - Guruprerana Shabadi (Bachelor Student, École Polytechnique, France)
L3 Internship, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France: Jan - Mar 2022
🥇 Winner of the Global Undergraduate Awards 2022 - Abhinandan Pal (Bachelor Student, IIIT Kalyani, India)
Research Internship (remote): Dec 2021 - Jan 2022 - Serge Durand (Master Student, École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, France)
M1 Internship, École Normale Supérieure, France (remote): Jun - Aug 2020 - Marco Zanella (PhD Student, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy)
Research Internship, Inria & École Normale Supérieure, France (remote): May - Aug 2020 - Radwa Sherif Abdelbar (Bachelor Student, German University in Cairo, Egypt)
Bachelor’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Mar - Aug 2018 - Lowis Engel (Master Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Bachelor’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Feb - Aug 2018 - Madelin Schumacher (Master Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Sep 2017 - Mar 2018 - Samuel Ueltschi (Master Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Mar - Sep 2017 - Mostafa Hassan (Bachelor Student, German University in Cairo, Egypt)
Bachelor’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Mar - Aug 2017 - Simon Wehrli (Master Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Feb - Aug 2017 - Flurin Rindisbacher (Master Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Mar - Aug 2017 - Severin Münger (Master Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Sep 2016 - Mar 2017 - Nathanaëlle Courant (Bachelor Student, École Normale Supérieure, France)
L3 Internship, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Jun - Jul 2016 - Lukas Neukom (Master Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Mar - Sep 2016 - Seraiah Walter (Master Student, ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Master’s Thesis, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: Feb - Aug 2016
Teaching
Year 2025-2026
- Abstract Interpretation: Application to Verification and Static Analysis
M2, Master Parisien de Recherche en Informatique (MPRI), Université de Paris, France - Static Analysis and Software Verification
Master Program in Computer Science, University of Parma, Italy
Year 2024-2025
- Abstract Interpretation-Based Static Analysis for Machine Learning Safety and Security
4th Summer School on Security Testing and Verification (ST&V 2025), Brussels, Belgium - Static Analysis by Abstract Interpretation and Applications to Security and Machine Learning
Oregon Programming Languages Summer School 2025 (OPLSS 2025), Eugene, USA - Abstract Interpretation: Application to Verification and Static Analysis
M2, Master Parisien de Recherche en Informatique (MPRI), Université de Paris, France
Year 2023-2024
- Formal Methods for Machine Learning Pipelines
Lipari Summer School on Abstract Interpretation 2024 (LSSAI 2024), Lipary, Italy. - Formal Methods for Machine Learning Pipelines
Summer School on Role and effects of ARTificial Intelligence in Secure ApplicatioNs 2024 (ARTISAN 2024), Valence, France. - Formal Methods for Machine Learning Pipelines
16th Summer School on Verification Technology, Systems & Applications (VTSA 2024), Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
Slides - Formal Methods for Machine Learning Pipelines
École Jeunes Chercheuses et Jeunes Chercheurs en Programmation 2024 (EJCP 2024), Argelès-sur-Mer, France. - Abstract Interpretation: Application to Verification and Static Analysis
M2, Master Parisien de Recherche en Informatique (MPRI), Université de Paris, France
Year 2022-2023
- Abstract Interpretation: Application to Verification and Static Analysis
M2, Master Parisien de Recherche en Informatique (MPRI), Université de Paris, France
Year 2021-2022
- Formal Methods for Machine Learning Pipelines
4th International Programming Language Implementation Summer School (PLISS 2022), Bertinoro, Italy. - Formal Methods for Machine Learning
13th International School of Rewriting (ISR 2022), Tbilisi, Georgia. - Formal Methods for Machine Learning
2nd Inria-DFKI European Summer School on Artificial Intelligence (IDESSAI 2022), Saarbrücken, Germany
Slides - Abstract Interpretation: Application to Verification and Static Analysis
M2, Master Parisien de Recherche en Informatique (MPRI), Université de Paris, France
Year 2020-2021
- Abstract Interpretation and Applications Beyond the Beaten Track
Doctoral Program in Computer Science, Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), Italy - Abstract Interpretation: Application to Verification and Static Analysis
M2, Master Parisien de Recherche en Informatique (MPRI), Université de Paris, France
Software
ApronPy
Python Interface for the APRON Numerical Abstract Domain Library
FuncTion
Abstract Interpretation-based Static Analysis for (Conditional) Termination (and Other CTL Properties)
Libra
Perfectly Parallel Abstract Interpretation-based Fairness Certification for Neural Networks
Lyra
Abstract Interpretation-based Static Analysis for Data Science Applications
Typpete
Contact
- caterina.urban@inria.fr
- Zulip Abstract Interpretation Server
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ANTIQUE Research Team
École Normale Supérieure
45, rue d'Ulm
75005 Paris, France