Since February 2026, our Area Manager Ouijdane Guiza has been based at the University of Zurich for a six-month research stay.
Agentic AI for Software Evolution
Ouijdane is working with Prof. Harald Gall and the SEAL group (Software Evolution and Architecture Lab), one of Europe’s leading research teams in software engineering. Her research focuses on agentic AI applied to software evolution, in particular, developing AI-driven approaches to assist developers with third-party library upgrade workflows, a growing challenge as software ecosystems become increasingly complex.
Connecting with the Swiss research community
In February, Ouijdane attended the CHOOSE Forum, an established platform bringing together academic and industry participants from across Switzerland to exchange ideas on software engineering, artificial intelligence and scientific computing, a valuable opportunity to build new connections and present her research directions.
A collaboration in both directions
The partnership between Pro²Future and the University of Zurich has proven to be a genuinely reciprocal exchange. Pooja Rani (formerly a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich and now a Professor at the University of Mannheim) visited the Pro²Future team to present her research on green software engineering, sparking valuable discussions on sustainable software practices.
In return, Ouijdane delivered a guest lecture to master’s students at the University of Zurich as part of the Advanced Software Engineering course, bringing an industry-research perspective directly into the classroom. Further exchanges between the two groups are already being planned for the future.
Funded by the HR Excellence Initiative
This research stay is supported by the HR Excellence Initiative of the UAR Innovation Network. The initiative promotes international research stays to strengthen the UAR Innovation Network as an attractive employer for highly qualified researchers, while enhancing the international visibility of the network and securing Upper Austria’s long-term position as a research and innovation location.
In the latest funding round (open to UAR member organisations until end of 2025) five research stays across three institutions received funding. Pro²Future is proud to have two researchers supported: Ouijdane Guiza at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and Ekaterina Sysoykova at TU Berlin, Germany.
Pro²Future extends its sincere gratitude to the UAR Innovation Network for enabling these international research opportunities. Their continued investment in researcher mobility and excellence is a vital contribution to the growth and visibility of the Upper Austrian research community.