Researcher & Software Engineer

João
Correia

PhD in Computer Science  ·  PUC-Rio & Northern Arizona University

I research how AI-powered conversational agents can help developers navigate software dependability challenges. My work bridges empirical software engineering, large language models, and developer tooling.

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João Correia PhD · 2025

Biography

About Me

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), where I also completed my PhD in Computer Science in 2025, advised by Prof. Alessandro Garcia and co-advised by Prof. Rafael Maiani de Mello.

My doctoral research investigated how conversational agents powered by large language models can guide developers in addressing software dependability issues — from exception handling to robustness improvements. As part of my PhD, I undertook a research exchange at Northern Arizona University (NAU), supervised by Profs. Igor Steinmacher & Marco Gerosa.

Before my doctorate, I earned a Master's degree from the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), where I studied the challenges and practices of Brazilian data scientists in machine learning model development.

Institution
PUC-Rio — Postdoctoral Researcher
Location
Maceió, Brazil
Research Group
OPUS - LES - PUC-Rio
Languages
Portuguese (native) · English (proficient) · Spanish (intermediate)

Focus Areas

Research Interests

Conversational Agents & LLMs Software Dependability Empirical Software Engineering Developer Support Tools Exception Handling & Robustness Code Refactoring Machine Learning Practices Legacy Software Modernization Mining Software Repositories Pull Request Analysis

Selected Work

Publications

2026
ICSE
A Comparison of Conversational Models and Humans in Answering Technical Questions: the Firefox Case
João L. M. Correia et al. · IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software Engineering · 2026
2025
Journal
Evaluating the Noise Tolerance of Cloud NLP Services Across Amazon, Microsoft, and Google
João L. M. Correia et al. · Computers in Industry · Elsevier · 2025
SBQS
PRemo: A Dataset of Emotions Found on Pull Request Discussions
João L. M. Correia et al. · Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering · 2025
ISSRE
Case Study: Applying Fuzzing to REST APIs in a Large-Scale Industrial Setting
João L. M. Correia et al. · IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering · 2025
2024
Journal
Understanding Developers' Discussions and Perceptions on Non-functional Requirements: The Case of the Spring Ecosystem
João L. M. Correia et al. · ACM on Software Engineering · 2024
SCAM
On the Investigation of Exception Pull Request Characteristics: Exploring the Apache Ecosystem
João L. M. Correia et al. · IEEE International Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation · 2024
AIware
Unveiling the Potential of a Conversational Agent in Developer Support: Insights from Mozilla's PDF.js Project
João L. M. Correia et al. · ACM International Conference on AI-Powered Software (AIware) · 2024
MSR
Don't Forget the Exception!: Considering Robustness Changes to Identify Design Problems
João L. M. Correia et al. · IEEE/ACM International Conference on Mining Software Repositories · 2024
2021
ICSME
Look Ahead! Revealing Complete Composite Refactorings and their Smelliness Effects
João L. M. Correia et al. · IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution · 2021
2020
ICPC
How Does Incomplete Composite Refactoring Affect Internal Quality Attributes?
João L. M. Correia et al. · International Conference on Program Comprehension · 2020
SBQS
Brazilian Data Scientists: Revealing their Challenges and Practices on Machine Learning Model Development
João L. M. Correia et al. · Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality · 2020
2018
ICSE ext.
The Buggy Side of Code Refactoring
João L. M. Correia et al. · International Conference on Software Engineering — Extended Abstract · 2018

Academic Background

Education

2025 — Present
Postdoctoral Researcher
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil
2021 — 2025
PhD in Computer Science
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil
Advised by Prof. Alessandro Garcia · Co-advised by Prof. Rafael Maiani de Mello
Research exchange at Northern Arizona University (NAU), supervised by Profs. Igor Steinmacher & Marco Gerosa · CNPq Fellowship
Thesis: "Exploring Conversational Agents for Developer Guidance on Software Dependability Issues"
2019 — 2021
MSc in Computer Science
Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Brazil
Advised by Prof. Baldoino Fonseca dos Santos Neto · Co-advised by Prof. Rafael Maiani de Mello · CAPES Fellowship
Dissertation: "Brazilian Data Scientists: Revealing their Challenges and Practices on Machine Learning Model Development"
2015 — 2019
BSc in Computer Science
Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Brazil
Advised by Prof. Baldoino Fonseca dos Santos Neto
Undergraduate thesis: "Reproducing Algorithms for Bug Insertion Point Detection"
2011 — 2014
Technical Course in Informatics
Federal Institute of Alagoas (IFAL), Campus Palmeira dos Índios, Brazil

Tools & Registrations

Software

SGA — Tourism Attraction Management
A management system for tourism attractions with integrated features for accessibility and visitor experience.
INPI · BR512020001028-8 · 2020
TATU — Assistive Technology for Tourism
Mobile applications (iOS & Android) for visually impaired and deaf visitors at museums, featuring audio descriptions and accessibility features.
INPI · BR512020001032-6 · 2020
JMT — Multi-language Mining Tool
A multi-language tool for mining code elements impacted by software revisions, supporting empirical studies on code evolution.
Open source · 2022

Get in Touch

Contact

I'm always open to discussing research collaborations, academic visits, or opportunities in software engineering research and AI-powered developer tooling. Feel free to reach out.

Email
jcorreia@inf.puc-rio.br
GitHub
github.com/correiajoao
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/joaolmarquesc