CURRICULUM VITAE
SUMMARY
I received my Ph.D. from the University of Rome Tor Vergata in 2004 (spending part of the Ph.D. as a Marie-Curie Fellow at MPII). I was a PostDoc at MPII, University of Rome Sapienza, and TU Berlin, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. I made long research visits at the University of Berkeley, EPFL, and University of Bergen. Since 2011 I am a Research Professor at IDSIA, University of Lugano.

My work on Steiner tree approximation received the best STOC paper award in 2010. I was the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant in 2011. My work on Measure and Conquer was awarded the EATCS-IPEC Nerode Prize in 2017. I served (26 times, once as a co-chair) in the PC of most of the main conferences in my area, including STOC, FOCS, SODA, ICALP, and ESA. I taught approximation algorithms at Ph.D. level in 5 Universities and Research Centers, including ETH Zurich.

My research is focused on the design and (mostly theoretical) analysis of algorithms and data structures to address a variety of problems. My main sub-area of interest is polynomial-time approximation algorithms. I also work(ed) on polynomial-time exact algorithms and data structures, exact/parameterized exponential-time algorithms, and distributed algorithms.

I currently have 103 publications (36 journals) with 88  coauthors, including top conferences (STOC, FOCS, SODA, ICALP...) and journals (Journal of the ACM, SIAM Journal on Computing, ACM Transactions on Algorithms...).  According to Google Scholar, my papers received over 3000 citations and my h-index is 31.


AWARDS and PRIZES

2010 Best STOC Paper Award for the paper "An Improved LP-Based Approximation for Steiner Tree",  with J. Byrka, T. Rothvoss and L. Sanità.

EATCS-IPEC 2017 Nerode Prize for the paper "A Measure & Conquer Approach for the Analysis of Exact Algorithms", J. of the ACM 2009, with F. Fomin and D. Kratsch.


OTHER HONORS

Italian Scientific Habilitation to Full Professorship in Computer Science, Engineering Track (ING-INF/05), 2015.

Italian Scientific Habilitation to Full Professorship in Computer Science, Science Track (INF/01), 2013.

Founding member of the Interest Group on Algorithmic Foundations of Information Technology (IGAFIT), 2014.

Letter of Commendation (Italian) of the Rector of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", 2011.


GRANTS

Principal Investigator of the SNSF Excellence Grant Approximation Algorithms for Network Problems II (approximately 680.000 CHF), 2018-2021.

Principal Investigator of the ERC Starting Grant New Approaches to Network Design (approximately 1.100.000 EUR), 2012-2016.

Principal Investigator of the SNSF Grant Approximation Algorithms for Network Problems (approximately 680.000 CHF), 2015-2018.

Swiss Principal Investigator of the Indo-Swiss PEP project Mathematical Programming in Parameterized Algorithms, 2012-2014.

Team Member of the Italian Project of National Interest Algorithmic Challenges for Data-Intensive Processing on Emerginig Computing Platforms, 2010-2012.

Team Member of the Italian Project of National Interest Algorithms for Massive Information Structures and Data Streams, 2007-2009.

Marie-Curie Doctoral Fellow, MPII Saarbrücken, 2002.


POSITIONS

Research Professor (tenure) at IDSIA, USI-SUPSI, Lugano (Switzerland), since December 2011.

Assistant Professor (tenure) at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome (Italy), November 2007-November 2011.

PostDoc at the Technical University of Berlin, Berlin (Germany), January 2007-October 2007.

PostDoc at the University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome (Italy), November 2004-December 2006.

PostDoc at the MPII, Saarbrücken (Germany), April 2004-October 2004.


LONG VISITS

Visiting Researcher at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, UC Berkeley, Berkeley (USA), September 2016 and November 2016.

Visiting Researcher at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, UC Berkeley, Berkeley (USA), August-September 2015.

Invited Professor at the EPFL, Lausanne (Switzerland), July-August 2009.

Invited Professor at the EPFL, Lausanne (Switzerland), June 2008.

Visiting Researcher at the University of Bergen, Bergen (Norway), May-June 2006.


EDUCATION

Visiting student at the MPII, Saarbrücken (Germany), December 2002, April 2003-June 2003. Supervisor: Prof. Friedrich Eisenbrand.

Marie-Curie Fellow at the MPII, Saarbrücken (Germany), March 2002-November 2002. Supervisor: Prof. Kurt Mehlhorn.

Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Roma (Italy), November 2011-May 2004. Advisor: Prof. Giuseppe F. Italiano. Thesis title: "Exact Algorithms for Hard Graph Problems".

Master Degree in Software Engineering  with 100/100 Summa cum Laude, at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome (Italy), October 1995-July 2000.


PROGRAM COMMITTEE WORK

Highlights of Algorithms (HALG), 2019-2022 (Steering Committee)

ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC), 2016

IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS), 2019

ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), 2012, 2016, and 2018

International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming (ICALP), 2013 (Track A) and 2016 (Track A)

European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA), 2011 (Track A) and 2016 (Track B), 2017 (Track A)

International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN), 2014, 2016 (Co-chair), and 2018

ACM Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures (SPAA), 2017

International Workshop on Approximation Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization Problems (APPROX), 2011, 2015, and 2018

International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC), 2015

Workshop on Approximation and Online Algorithms (WAOA), 2013 and 2016
O Scandinavian Workshop on Algorithm Theory (SWAT), 2010 and 2012
O Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS), 2016
O International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS), 2011

International Computer Science Symposium in Russia (CSR), 2018
O International Conference on Algorithms and Complexity (CIAC), 2010


STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN), 2018


JOURNAL (GUEST) EDITOR

Operations Research Letters, 2018-2019.

ACM Transactions on Algorithms. Guest Editor of a special issue devoted to the best papers of SODA'16.

Theoretical Computer Science. Guest Editor of a special issue devoted to the best papers of FUN'16.


PH.D. STUDENTS

Afrouz Jabal Ameli, since April 2017

Waldo Galvez, since November 2015

Sumedha Gupta, graduated on October 2017

Salvatore Ingala, graduated on October 2017


POSTDOCS AND VISITING PH.D. STUDENTS

Kamyar Khodamoradi, 2019- (postdoc)

Sumedh Tirodkar, 2018-2019 (postdoc)

Krzysztof Sornat, 2018 (postdoc)

Arindam Khan, 2015-2017 (postdoc)

Stefano Leucci, 2015 (visiting student)

Bundit Laekhanukit, 2014-2015 (postdoc)

Joydeep Mukherijee, 2014 (visiting student)

Bundit Laekhanukit, 2012 (visiting student)

Marek Cygan, 2012 (postdoc)


TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Ph.D. Level

Approximation Algorithms, Bertinoro International Spring School (BISS), Bertinoro (Italy), 2017.

Approximation Algorithms, Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), L'Aquila (Italy), 2016.

Advanced Approximation Algorithms, ETH, Zurich (Switzerland), 2014.

Advanced Approximation Algorithms, University of Italian Switzerland, Lugano (Switzerland), 2013.

Iterative Rounding, School for Graduated Studies Galileo Galilei, Pisa (Italy), 2013.
O Measure and Conquer, Spring School on Fixed Parameter and Exact Algorithms, Lozari (France), 2009.

Master Level

Algorithms and Complexity, University of Applied Sciences and Art of Southern Switzerland, Lugano (Switzerland), 2016-2018.

Bachelor Level

Algorithms and Data Structures, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", 2005-2012.

Programming Languages, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", 2004-2005, 2009-2011.


ORGANIZATION OF EVENTS

Flexible Network Design, Lugano (Switzerland), 2014.


INVITED SPEAKER

ALGO, Vienna (Austria), 2017. EATCS-IPEC Nerode Prize 2017 Talk.

ABC Workshop, Bonn (Germany), 2016.

ROBOKUM Workshop, Berlin (Germany), 2012.

DIMACS/Princeton Approximation Algorithms Workshop, Princeton (USA), 2011.


 TALKS AT WORKSHOPS (without proceedings)

Workshop on Advances in Modern Graph Algorithms, Venezia (Italy), 2019.

TP Combinatorial Optimization, Bonn (Germany), 2018.

BIRDS Workshop on Approximation Algorithms and the Hardness of Approximation, Banff Centre, Banff (Canada), 2017.

Discrete Optimization via Continuous Relaxations, Simons Institute, Berkeley (USA), 2017.

Algorithms and Optimization Under Uncertainty, Shonan (Japan), 2017.

Algorithms and Uncertainty, Simons Institute, Berkeley (USA), 2016.

Computational Complexity of Low-Polynomial Time Problems, Simons Institute, Berkeley (USA), 2015.

Flexible Network Design: Maryland (USA), 2018; Amsterdam (Netherlands), 2016; Lugano (Switzerland), 2014; Toronto (Canada), 2013; Warsaw (Poland), 2012; Dagstuhl (Germany), 2010; Warwick (Great Britain), 2008; Bertinoro (Italy), 2006.

International Symposium on Mathematical Programming (ISMP): Bordeaux (France), 2018; Pittsburgh (USA), 2015; Chicago (USA), 2009.

Relaxations and Polyhedral Methods, Bonn (Germany), 2015.

Frontiers and Connections between Parametrization and Approximation, Bertinoro (Italy), 2014.

European Meeting on Algorithmic Challenges of Big Data, Warsaw (Poland), 2014.

Cargese Workshop on Combinatorial Optimization, Cargese (France), 2013.

Algorithmic Meeting, EPFL, Lausanne (Switzerland), 2013
O Algorithms and Optimization in Action, Roma (Italy), 2011.
O Bellairs Approximation Algorithms Workshop, Holetown (Barbados), 2011.
O Exact Complexity of NP-Hard Problems, Dagstuhl (Germany), 2010.
O Algorithms and Data Structures: Bertinoro (Italy), 2009; Bertinoro (Italy), 2005.
O International Network Optimization Conference, Pisa (Italy), 2009.
O Workshop on Network Design, Dortmund (Germany), 2007.
O Recent Advances in Approximation Algorithms, Kolkata (India), 2006.
O Combinatorial Optimization Workshop, Aussois (France), 2005.


REFEREEING

External Reviewer of Ph.D. Thesis: Jesper Nederlof, University of Bergen (Norway), 2011; Sandy Heydrich, Saarland University (Germany), 2018.
p Reviewer of  Projects: European Research Council (ERC); Israel Science Foundation (ISF); Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO); United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF); French National Research Agency (ANR).
p International Journals: Journal of the ACM, SIAM Journal on Computing, ACM Transactions on Algorithms, Journal of Computer and System Sciences, SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, Mathematical Programming, ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, Algorithmica,  Theoretical Computer Science, Journal of Discrete Algorithms, ACTA Informatica, Information Processing Letters, Operations Research Letters, Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, Discrete Applied Mathematics, Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Journal of Experimental Algorithms, etc.
p International Conferences: STOC, FOCS, SODA, ICALP, ESA, STACS, IPCO, APPROX, FSTTCS, IPEC, SPAA, SWAT, WADS, WG, WAOA, WEA, ALENEX, etc.


SOMETHING ABOUT ME ON ITALIAN NEWPAPERS
p Corriere della Sera 15-09-2011   
p Sole 24 Ore 03-08-2011
p Sole 24 Ore 04-08-2010
p Corriere della Sera 29-03-2010   


MISCELLANEA

During his 2014 graduate class at MIT on "Algorithmic Lower Bounds: Fun with Hardness Proofs", Prof. Erik Demaine describes some very recent results of mine with Amir Abboud and Prof. Virginia Vassilevska Williams, both from Stanford University. Those results appear in SODA'15. Here's a link to the lecture:
http://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.890/fall14/lectures/L21.html

The J. ACM paper "Steiner Tree Approximation via Iterative Randomized Rounding" is in the Best of 2013 List of Computing Reviews


THE (52) COUNTRIES THAT I VISITED
Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, San Marino, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, USA, United Kingdom, Vatican City



Updated 15th July 2019