A new Institute for software research and development

The Software Institute (SI) was created to serve as an international benchmark for software engineering research and development, and to ease the transfer of fundamental research in the field of informatics.

Supported by USI Faculty of Informatics, the Software Institute relies on three cornerstones: education, research, and development, through which the Institute will open up to applied research by taking part in startup projects in the field of software. The Institute will also take on the role of business incubator, facilitating technological transfer to the business sector.  

The journey towards the creation of the new Institute dates back to 2004 with the establishment of USI Faculty of Informatics, which has distinguished itself in the Swiss and European Academic world in over ten years of activities. According to CSRankings, the system ranking Faculties of Informatics around the world according to their research achievements, USI ranks second in Europe in the Software Engineering area.

Encouraged by these results and by the innovative educational approach typical of the Faculty, a group of Professors led by Prof. Michele Lanza worked towards the establishment of the new Institute with the aim of consolidating the skills acquired throughout the years in the field of Software Engineering, by creating a dedicated Institute. According to Prof. Lanza “the Software Institute is not a revolution, rather an evolution: it is the next logical step of a journey undertaken by the Faculty of Informatics. The desired goal is to become, not one, but the reference point for software research and development.”

USI Software Institute is organised in 5 groups specialised in: Reverse Engineering, Software testing and analysis, Web information systems architecture and design, Software efficiency, and Computer science education.

Concerning education, the Institute manages the Master in Software & Data Engineering – a new study programme that will train experts in designing and improving complex IT systems of today and the future.

For information: www.si.usi.ch and msde.usi.ch.