Paola Velardi is a Full Professor (retired in 2025) with the Department of Computer Science at Sapienza University of Roma. She currently maintains a research position at Sapienza and serves as a Senior Associate with CNR-ISTC. With a career in Artificial Intelligence starting with her time as a visiting researcher at Stanford University (1983), she is an internationally recognized expert in the field. Throughout her career at Sapienza, she has held institutional roles, including Head of Bachelor and Master Programs and, since 2015, Coordinator of the Distance Learning Degree in Computer Science. She has published over 200 papers in international journals and conferences, with an H-index of 42 on Google Scholar and an H-index of 28 on Scopus (as of November 2025).
Her main research interests include text processing, network science, machine learning, and knowledge-bases. Her applications of interest span critical areas such as social networks, e-health, e-learning, bioinformatics, cultural heritage, and visual analytics.
She has published more than 200 papers in top-tier conferences and journals, including ACM and IEEE Transactions, and has an impressive citation record with an H-index of 42 on Google Scholar (as of November 2025).
Since 2020, she has been a key contributor and leader in several major projects:
European Projects: Unit Partner in ELEXIS (H2020) and DataCloud (H2020).
National Projects: WP leader for FAIR SPOKE 5 (PNRR MUR), Unit Co-Leader for SMARTOUR (MIUR), and Scientific Responsible for the @HOME and E-LINUS projects (Regione Lazio).
She has carried out Third Mission and technology transfer activities, collaborating with local companies and signing contracts for the transfer of licenses for the use of software developed within research projects.
Professor Velardi is deeply committed to addressing the gender gap in ICT. She is the founder of the influential educational project “NERD? Non e' roba per donne?” (2012), which partners with IBM Italy to encourage high-school girls to pursue Computer Science.
More recently, she has created and coordinated:
G4GRETA (2022-2024): An educational project combining IT skills with environmental sustainability for female high-school students.
sIAte PROMPTE! (2025): A project focused on teaching high-school girls the principles of generative AI and prompting techniques for ethical and sustainability topics.
@GICT: A coordination action to map and collect initiatives aimed at reducing the gender gap in Italian and European ICT.
She is member of the Project Management Group of PER-LEI-STEM (2025-2027), funded by the Department for Equal Opportunities, focused on training school teachers in innovative STEM teaching methods to bridge the gender gap.
Her contributions have been recognized through prestigious awards and appointments:
2025: Her biography and photograph have been included, along with 18 other profiles of international women scientists, in the virtual Women in Science room of the UNESCO Virtual Science Museum, a project launched in December 2025.
2025-26: Member of the Ministerial Commission on Artificial Intelligence (Ministry for Regional Affairs and Autonomies).
2019-2023: Member of the Steering Committee of the International Network Medicine Alliance (coordinated by Harvard University).
2019: Standout Woman Award International (at the Italian Parliament in Montecitorio).
2018: Nominated in the list of Italian Inspiring Fifty.
2017: Awarded an IBM Faculty Award.
2016: Included in the list of "100 esperte" (Top 100 Italian female STEM experts).
2023: Portrayed in the exhibition "Portraits: Women in Art and Science" (Carlo Bilotti Museum, Roma).
She is also active in scientific dissemination, regularly cooperating with RaiCultura on topics like Bias in AI and Information Diffusion (appearing on programs like #Maestri, Italian Green, and Rai Parlamento Settegiorni).