Large Language Models for Code Refactoring (ICSE 2026 - Doctoral Symposium) - ICSE 2026

Sun 12 - Sat 18 April 2026 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Track

ICSE 2026 Doctoral Symposium

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When

Tue 14 Apr 2026 17:30 - 18:00 at Capri I - Doctoral Symposium Poster Session (Tuesday)
Wed 15 Apr 2026 15:30 - 16:00 at Catering and Exhibition Hall (Europa I to IV) - Doctoral Symposium Poster Session (Wednesday)

Abstract

This PhD proposal investigates the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) for code refactoring. We present and discuss three studies. The first evaluated LLMs in identifying and refactoring maintainability issues, showing that, despite their limitations, the results are promising. The second introduced MaRV, a refactoring dataset designed for prompting techniques. The third is an ongoing study in which we will evaluate the performance of several prompting techniques applied to different refactoring types. This proposal also presents our contributions and the future agenda of my PhD.

Time Zone

The program is currently displayed in (GMT-03:00) Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil.

Use conference time zone: (GMT-03:00) Brasilia, Distrito Federal, BrazilSelect other time zone

The GMT offsets shown reflect the offsets at the moment of the conference.

Time Band

By setting a time band, the program will dim events that are outside this time window. This is useful for (virtual) conferences with a continuous program (with repeated sessions).
The time band will also limit the events that are included in the personal iCalendar subscription service.

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Session Program

Tue 14 Apr
Displayed time zone: Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil change

	17:30 - 18:00	Doctoral Symposium Poster Session (Tuesday)Doctoral Symposium at Capri I

	17:30 30m Poster		Rebuilding AI from the Small: The Path Toward Democratized Intelligence Doctoral Symposium Antonio Della Porta University of Salerno Pre-print
	17:30 30m Poster		Trustworthy Resolution of Requirement Conflicts at Runtime Doctoral Symposium Antonia Welzel Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg
	17:30 30m Poster		Evolving Artificial Ecosystems: Towards the Infusion of Multi-Agent Systems with Inclusive Inheritance Doctoral Symposium Alessandro Giugno University of St. Gallen
	17:30 30m Poster		Towards Behavior-Space Testing of Critical ML-Enabled Systems Doctoral Symposium Eunho Cho Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Pre-print
	17:30 30m Poster		System Comprehension and Source Code Manipulation in eXtended Reality Doctoral Symposium Mattia Giannaccari REVEAL @ Software Institute – USI, Lugano, Switzerland
	17:30 30m Poster		SE4AI: Structured AI/ML Enabled Software Development Process Doctoral Symposium Felipe Sonntag Manzoni Federal University of Amazonas - UFAM
	17:30 30m Poster		Advancing Language Models for Code-related Tasks Doctoral Symposium Zhao Tian Tianjin University
	17:30 30m Poster		Utilizing LLMs for Industrial Process Automation Doctoral Symposium Salim Fares University of Passau, Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, Chair of AI Engineering DOI Pre-print
	17:30 30m Poster		The Dynamics of Knowledge Concentration in Long-lived Collaborative Software Codebases Doctoral Symposium Arthur Pilone University of São Paulo Pre-print
	17:30 30m Poster		Green AI by Default: Energy Reduction Techniques for LLMs in SE Doctoral Symposium Enrique Barba Roque TU Delft
	17:30 30m Poster		Toward a Multi-Agent System for Reliable Mocking of Static Methods and Continuous Integration Doctoral Symposium Jasper Stone Mississippi State University
	17:30 30m Talk		Preventing Failures of Smart Human-Centric Ecosystems Doctoral Symposium Niccolò Puccinelli Università della Svizzera Italiana
	17:30 30m Poster		Challenging Agile: Empirical method's tailoring validation at large-scale Doctoral Symposium Francisco Gracia Ahufinger University of Seville
	17:30 30m Poster		Toward Intelligent, Reliable, and Secure Automation of CI/CD Workflows Doctoral Symposium Jiangnan Huang Radboud University
	17:30 30m Poster		An Empirical Perspective on the Lifecycle and Quality Attributes of AI Artifacts Doctoral Symposium Joel Castaño Fernández Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
	17:30 30m Poster		Toward Intelligent Feedback Systems in Programming Education: AI Tutors, Large Language Models, and Future Directions Doctoral Symposium Eduard Frankford University of Innsbruck
	17:30 30m Poster		Architecture Conformance Checking for Microservice-based Systems Doctoral Symposium Ednilson Geraldo Rossi Federal Institute of São Paulo
	17:30 30m Poster		Shifting the Maintenance Burden: Towards Data-Driven Dependency Management Doctoral Symposium Cathrine Paulsen Delft University of Technology
	17:30 30m Poster		Toward Self-Adaptive and Decentralized Intelligent Software Systems: A Federated Learning Perspective Doctoral Symposium Xiangchi Song Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) DOI
	17:30 30m Poster		Reinforcement Learning from Testing Targets for Effective SLM Test Generation Doctoral Symposium Kevin Céspedes-Arancibia Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
	17:30 30m Poster		Plan4code: Planning Code Changes with Chain-of-Thought and Ontologies Doctoral Symposium Andrey Justo Microsoft, Jefferson Seide Molléri Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, Luiz Eduardo G. Martins Universidade Federal de São Paulo
	17:30 30m Poster		Information Flow-Based Quantification of Timing-Based Software Systems Doctoral Symposium Fatma Chebbi Karlsruhe Institut of Technology
	17:30 30m Poster		Trustworthiness of Continuous Integration Practices Doctoral Symposium Pablo Valenzuela-Toledo University of Bern, Universidad de La Frontera
	17:30 30m Poster		Towards a Software Supply Chain Security Barometer: A Model to Assess and Guide Community Efforts Doctoral Symposium Sivana Hamer North Carolina State University
	17:30 30m Poster		Mapping and Mitigating Bottlenecks in the Linux Kernel Development Model Doctoral Symposium David Tadokoro University of São Paulo
	17:30 30m Poster		Transformative Impact of Agentic AI on Software Project Management Doctoral Symposium Lakshana Assalaarachchi Monash University, Australia
	17:30 30m Poster		Studying and Automating Issue Resolution for Software Quality Doctoral Symposium Antu Saha William & Mary Pre-print
	17:30 30m Poster		SoS Governance in Smart Cities: A Tertiary Review Highlighting Research Gaps in the Global South Doctoral Symposium Gilmar Teixeira Junior Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG
	17:30 30m Poster		Human-Centered AI for Software Engineering Doctoral Symposium Theocharis Tavantzis Aalborg University in Copenhagen
	17:30 30m Poster		Towards Systematic Treatment of Community-Driven Variability Doctoral Symposium Roman Bögli University of Bern DOI Pre-print Media Attached
	17:30 30m Poster		A Multi-Modal Robotic Framework for Physical GUI Interaction Testing Doctoral Symposium Davi Simoes Freitas Federal University of Pernambuco, Breno Miranda Federal University of Pernambuco, Juliano Iyoda Centro de Informática at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
	17:30 30m Poster		Execution-Aware Code Documentation through Semantic Data Differences Doctoral Symposium Giacomo Fantino Politecnico di Torino, Italy
	17:30 30m Poster		A Methodological Framework for Intelligent Vulnerability Management in Microservice Architectures Doctoral Symposium Danelys Brito Gonzalez Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María
	17:30 30m Poster		Next Level: a maturity model in construction for the evolution of software teams based on performance indicators Doctoral Symposium Sergio Ricardo de Oliveira Cavalcante Universidade Federal do Amazonas
	17:30 30m Poster		Power Relationships Effects on Social Sustainability Goals in Software Ecosystems Doctoral Symposium Juliana Outão UNIRIO - Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
	17:30 30m Poster		From Collaboration to Team Effectiveness: The Role of Emergent States in Distributed and Dynamic Software Teams Doctoral Symposium Stella Lo Giudice Eindhoven University of Technology
	17:30 30m Poster		Data-driven Test Generation for Fuzzing AI Compiler Doctoral Symposium Qingchao Shen Tianjin University
	17:30 30m Poster		Testing Programs Expecting Highly Constrained Inputs Doctoral Symposium Valentin Huber CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security
	17:30 30m Poster		Multi-Level Testing of Conversational AI Systems Doctoral Symposium Elena Masserini University of Milano - Bicocca
	17:30 30m Poster		An Incident Management Approach Based on Site Reliability Engineering Practices to Support Governance in Proprietary Software Ecosystems Doctoral Symposium Luiz Alexandre Costa UNIRIO - Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
	17:30 30m Poster		Interpretable AI with MLIR (IAM):A Unified Framework for Neural Network Transparency Doctoral Symposium SHAKTHI BACHALA University of Nebraska - Lincoln
	17:30 30m Poster		Towards Task-Agnostic Evaluation Framework for LLM-Embedded Applications Doctoral Symposium Dilani Widanapathiranage Applied Artificial Intelligence Initiative, Deakin University
	17:30 30m Poster		Tailoring Software Engineering Generative AI Agents to Company Standards and Developers’ Preferences Doctoral Symposium Pedro Fiuza Linhares The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark
	17:30 30m Poster		Comprehensibility-guided Automated Code Refactoring Doctoral Symposium Nadeeshan De Silva William & Mary
	17:30 30m Poster		Detection of Optimization-introduced Bugs in C Compilers Doctoral Symposium Abdullah Al Noman Baylor University
	17:30 30m Poster		Intellectual Property Protection in Model-Based Development – The Deltachain Approach Doctoral Symposium Thomas Weber Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
	17:30 30m Poster		Comprehensive and Realistic Evaluation on the Code Reasoning Capability of LLMs Doctoral Symposium Changshu Liu University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
	17:30 30m Poster		A Strategy-based Framework for Exploratory Playtesting in Open-World Games Doctoral Symposium Yohan Duarte Federal University of Sao Carlos
	17:30 30m Poster		Human-Centric Integration of Large Language Models into Software Engineering Tasks Doctoral Symposium Samuel Ferino Monash University
	17:30 30m Poster		Towards Cognitive-Agent-Driven Prompt Optimization for Automated Program Repair Doctoral Symposium Felipe Gaia Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology Goiano (IF Goiano), Marcelo De Almeida Maia Federal University of Uberlandia
	17:30 30m Poster		Intelligent Approach for Fostering Research Collaborations between Academia and Industry Doctoral Symposium Denis Marques University of Pernambuco, Cleyton Rodrigues University of Pernambuco, Wylliams Santos University of Pernambuco
	17:30 30m Poster		Automating Code-Change Rationale Generation to Support Software Maintenance Tasks Doctoral Symposium Mehedi Sun William & Mary
	17:30 30m Poster		Toward an ISO-Based Epistemic Capability Framework for Specializing LLMs Through Knowledge and Reasoning Integration for Software Artifact Generation Doctoral Symposium Helaine Solange Lins Barreiros University of Pernambuco, Cleyton Rodrigues University of Pernambuco, IVALDIR DE FARIAS JÚNIOR UPE
	17:30 30m Poster		Large Language Models for Code Refactoring Doctoral Symposium Henrique Gomes Nunes Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
	17:30 30m Poster		An Empirical Study on Maintenance and Evolution Processes of Embedded Software Doctoral Symposium Aloysio Carvalho UNIFESP

Wed 15 Apr
Displayed time zone: Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil change

	15:30 - 16:00	Doctoral Symposium Poster Session (Wednesday)Doctoral Symposium at Catering and Exhibition Hall (Europa I to IV)

	15:30 30m Poster		Execution-Aware Code Documentation through Semantic Data Differences Doctoral Symposium Giacomo Fantino Politecnico di Torino, Italy
	15:30 30m Poster		Intelligent Approach for Fostering Research Collaborations between Academia and Industry Doctoral Symposium Denis Marques University of Pernambuco, Cleyton Rodrigues University of Pernambuco, Wylliams Santos University of Pernambuco
	15:30 30m Poster		An Incident Management Approach Based on Site Reliability Engineering Practices to Support Governance in Proprietary Software Ecosystems Doctoral Symposium Luiz Alexandre Costa UNIRIO - Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
	15:30 30m Poster		A Multi-Modal Robotic Framework for Physical GUI Interaction Testing Doctoral Symposium Davi Simoes Freitas Federal University of Pernambuco, Breno Miranda Federal University of Pernambuco, Juliano Iyoda Centro de Informática at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
	15:30 30m Poster		Comprehensive and Realistic Evaluation on the Code Reasoning Capability of LLMs Doctoral Symposium Changshu Liu University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
	15:30 30m Poster		Automating Code-Change Rationale Generation to Support Software Maintenance Tasks Doctoral Symposium Mehedi Sun William & Mary
	15:30 30m Poster		Detection of Optimization-introduced Bugs in C Compilers Doctoral Symposium Abdullah Al Noman Baylor University
	15:30 30m Poster		Green AI by Default: Energy Reduction Techniques for LLMs in SE Doctoral Symposium Enrique Barba Roque TU Delft
	15:30 30m Poster		Next Level: a maturity model in construction for the evolution of software teams based on performance indicators Doctoral Symposium Sergio Ricardo de Oliveira Cavalcante Universidade Federal do Amazonas
	15:30 30m Poster		Data-driven Test Generation for Fuzzing AI Compiler Doctoral Symposium Qingchao Shen Tianjin University
	15:30 30m Poster		Architecture Conformance Checking for Microservice-based Systems Doctoral Symposium Ednilson Geraldo Rossi Federal Institute of São Paulo
	15:30 30m Poster		Comprehensibility-guided Automated Code Refactoring Doctoral Symposium Nadeeshan De Silva William & Mary
	15:30 30m Poster		Large Language Models for Code Refactoring Doctoral Symposium Henrique Gomes Nunes Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
	15:30 30m Poster		An Empirical Study on Maintenance and Evolution Processes of Embedded Software Doctoral Symposium Aloysio Carvalho UNIFESP
	15:30 30m Poster		Information Flow-Based Quantification of Timing-Based Software Systems Doctoral Symposium Fatma Chebbi Karlsruhe Institut of Technology
	15:30 30m Poster		Challenging Agile: Empirical method's tailoring validation at large-scale Doctoral Symposium Francisco Gracia Ahufinger University of Seville
	15:30 30m Poster		From Collaboration to Team Effectiveness: The Role of Emergent States in Distributed and Dynamic Software Teams Doctoral Symposium Stella Lo Giudice Eindhoven University of Technology
	15:30 30m Poster		A Strategy-based Framework for Exploratory Playtesting in Open-World Games Doctoral Symposium Yohan Duarte Federal University of Sao Carlos
	15:30 30m Poster		Advancing Language Models for Code-related Tasks Doctoral Symposium Zhao Tian Tianjin University
	15:30 30m Poster		Human-Centered AI for Software Engineering Doctoral Symposium Theocharis Tavantzis Aalborg University in Copenhagen
	15:30 30m Poster		Multi-Level Testing of Conversational AI Systems Doctoral Symposium Elena Masserini University of Milano - Bicocca
	15:30 30m Poster		An Empirical Perspective on the Lifecycle and Quality Attributes of AI Artifacts Doctoral Symposium Joel Castaño Fernández Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
	15:30 30m Poster		Interpretable AI with MLIR (IAM):A Unified Framework for Neural Network Transparency Doctoral Symposium SHAKTHI BACHALA University of Nebraska - Lincoln
	15:30 30m Poster		A Methodological Framework for Intelligent Vulnerability Management in Microservice Architectures Doctoral Symposium Danelys Brito Gonzalez Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María
	15:30 30m Poster		Intellectual Property Protection in Model-Based Development – The Deltachain Approach Doctoral Symposium Thomas Weber Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
	15:30 30m Poster		Human-Centric Integration of Large Language Models into Software Engineering Tasks Doctoral Symposium Samuel Ferino Monash University
	15:30 30m Poster		Evolving Artificial Ecosystems: Towards the Infusion of Multi-Agent Systems with Inclusive Inheritance Doctoral Symposium Alessandro Giugno University of St. Gallen
	15:30 30m Poster		Mapping and Mitigating Bottlenecks in the Linux Kernel Development Model Doctoral Symposium David Tadokoro University of São Paulo

Henrique Gomes Nunes

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais