Dr. Riccardo Paccagnella

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Riccardo Paccagnella is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, where he is a core faculty member of the Software Societal Systems group and holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2023, where he was advised by Chris Fletcher. His research interests focus on system hardware security, particularly in uncovering and mitigating new classes of microarchitectural vulnerabilities that impact secure software. In the past, he has worked on improving the security of operating system audit frameworks, contributing significantly to the field of cybersecurity and software security.

Research Interests

Requirements for Carnegie Mellon University

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3.5
GRE General
Verbal
Required:158
Quantitative
Required:149
Analytical Writing
Required:4
Overall
Required:4
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Psychology or related field Research experience/publications
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Transcripts
  • GRE scores (optional but reported in profile)
  • English Proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo)
Specialization Notes

Admission is extremely competitive with no strict GPA cut-offs; holistic review is used.