Manifesto

This document outlines the ethical values and guiding principles that inspire the activities conducted within the Software Institute. The Institute is committed to a culture of excellence, whose pillars include integrity, transparency, inclusion, responsibility, fairness, and academic freedom in research, teaching, supervision, service, and everyday professional interactions. These principles are aligned with the Code of Ethics adopted by Università della Svizzera italiana, as well as internationally recognized best practices and professional codes, including the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the IEEE Code of Ethics.

Core Principles

• Integrity: The Institute upholds the highest standards of scientific honesty and intellectual rigor in all its activities.
• Transparency: The Institute commits to openness, by communicating goals, processes, expectations, and outcomes clearly, to enable trust and informed participation.
• Inclusion: All Institute Members are treated with dignity, respect, and equal opportunity, regardless of their background, identity, or perspective. The Institute values diversity of people, experiences, and ideas.
• Responsibility: Institute Members commit to being accountable for the quality, impact, and consequences of their work, and strive to ensure that research, education, and innovation are conducted ethically and contribute positively to the society.
• Fairness: Institute Members are treated with fairness and justice. The Institute strives to ensure that opportunities, services, and recognitions are distributed according to transparent and merit-based principles.
• Academic Freedom: Institute Members can freely explore ideas, challenge assumptions, and engage in critical inquiry. This freedom must be exercised responsibly, guided by evidence, scientific rigor, and ethical principles.

Research

The Institute conducts its research activities with intellectual honesty, scientific rigor, and respect for scientific truth.

Publication authorship reflects intellectual contributions, and all collaborators receive proper recognition for their work. Following the Vancouver protocol, an author is somebody who contributed to the conception of the work, the acquisition and interpretation of the data, the drafting of the manuscript, and agrees to be accountable for the final version of the work.

The Institute encourages open access dissemination of research results, and promotes the development and maintenance of reliable, reproducible, and high-quality open-source software tools and research artefacts.

Collaboration, interdisciplinary exchange, and engagement with scholars within and outside the Institute are deemed essential.

Teaching

Teaching activities combine strong theoretical foundations with practical, hands-on experience.

Courses are constantly improved based on students' feedback and recent developments and innovations in the field. At the same time, the Institute strives to follow proven pedagogically approaches and long-term viability.

Lecturers promote individual interactions and encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and active participation.

Student Supervision

During their thesis, students are integrated into the research groups and their scholarly activities, benefiting from collaboration, mentorship, and exposure to diverse perspectives.

Supervisors provide guidance and support students' independence.

Work Environment

The Institute ensures a healthy, respectful, and transparent work environment.

Communication in the Institute is open, professional, and free from discrimination or intimidation. Diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints is recognized as a strength and actively encouraged.

The Institute promotes work-life balance and adopts work practices that prevent burnout episodes.

Service

Service responsibilities are distributed transparently and are balanced fairly across members of the Institute.

Interpersonal Behaviour

All Institute Members are expected to behave reasonably with each others.

Disagreements are handled privately and openly, possibly in person, before even considering escalation or third-party involvement.

Local, unofficial actions to solve controversies are to be preferred over formal administrative ones.

Lugano, September 29, 2026

Unanimously approved by the Software Institute Leads: Gabriele Bavota, Marco D'Ambros, Carlo Alberto Furia, Matthias Hauswirth, Michele Lanza, Heather Miller, Cesare Pautasso, Paolo Tonella.