Full Professor in Portuguese and Brazilian Literature at the School of Languages and Literatures, Translation and Intepretation of the University of Bologna since 2014, Roberto Vecchi holds the chair in Portuguese Literature and Brazilian Literature (since Academic Year 1993 as associate professor). Head of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures of this University, director of the Postcolonial Study Centre (Centro Studi sulle Letterature Omeoglotte dei paesi Extraeuropei - a Centre for the Study of the Literatures in European Languages of Non-European Countries), he is also coordinator (since 2010) of the Iberian Studies PhD program of the University of Bologna where he is responsible for the branch of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies. He has taught at the University of Venezia, at the University of Parma and at the Universitiy of Milan. He is Fellow Researcher of the CES (Centro de Estudos Sociais) of University of Coimbra studying trauma, colonial war and violence, researcher at the ELAB, Laboratório de Estudos Literários Avançados at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and, in Brazil, he is CNPq resarcher in the research group on violence and literature. He is Honorary Professor (2015-2018) of Lusophone Studies at the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham (UK). He is the president (since 2014) of the AIL, International Association of Lusitanists.
Since the beginning of his academic education, his scientific interests have been focused on the theory and history of Portuguese speaking cultures - embracing both Brazilian and Portuguese areas.
He has cooperated with the Archive Project, with the Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem of UNICAMP (São Paulo). He is member of ABRALIC (Associação Brasileira de Literatura Comparada), of the International Research Group CLÍOPE (História e Literatura) and Fellow Correspondent of the Centro Interdepartamental Angel Rama of the USP (São Paulo).
He hold a series of lectures for the Brazilian Literature course at the Departamento de Estudos Portugueses of the Universidade Nova of Lisbon (1999, 2001 and 2004).
He was Visiting Professor in 1998 for the graduate course in “História do Brasil” at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre), in 2001 for the graduate course in “Teoria da Literatura” at the University of Campinas (São Paulo), in 2012 for the graduate course in Literature of th Federal University of S. Catarina and since 2007 he has been Visiting Professor for the PhD programs in “Póscolonialismos e cidadania global” and "Patrimónios de Influência Portuguesa" at the University of Coimbra.
He has hold seminars and conferences in various Brazilian Universities and he has participated at numerous international scientific conventions also as coordinator of thematic symposiums (for example during the last editions of ABRALIC Conferences in Belo Horizonte, 2002, Porto Alegre, 2004, Rio de Janeiro 2006, São Paulo 2008 with Ettore Finazzi-Agrò).
Since now, he was supervisor for the Faculty of Foreign Literatures and Languages of the University of Bologna the discussion of more than 80 final dissertations and 13 PhD thesis. He has coordinated PhD thesis discussed in foreign Universities (Portugal, Brazil, USA, UK). He has co-examined, as external member or co-supervisor, PhD thesis in France (University of Caen), in United Kingdom (University of Nottingham), in USA (University of Santa Barbara California) in Portugal (Univ. do Minho, Univ de Coimbra and Univ. de Lisboa) and in Brazil (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul and Univ Federal de S. Catarina) Spain (Valencia, Santiago de Compostela).
He is responsible of the exchange program between the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, UFRJ, PUCPR and USP (Brazil) and the University of Bologna.
He is member of International Research Groups, such as “Lusophone Post-colonial Studies” coordinated by the University of Utrecht and “Memory, Forgetfulness and Philology” coordinated by the University of Lisboa . He has finished two research projects in partnership with Margarida Calafate Ribeiro of the CES (Centro de Estudos Sociais) of the University of Coimbra, focusing on the traumatic representations of colonial war. He coordinates the research project “Estrema Europa-Occidente” for the publishing house Diabasis. Since 2007, he is responsible of the Eduardo Lourenço Chair, hold by Margarida Calafate Ribeiro and funded by Instituto Camões of Lisbon (since 2007).
Among the national and international research projects that he has elaborated and coordinated: Topografia delle Culture (UNIBO strategic project currently proceeding at the Centro Studi sulle Letterature Omeoglotte and in partnership with Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil); Formas e mediações do trágico-moderno (currently proceeding in partnership with the Department of Literary Theory of the University of Campinas, Brazil and coordinated with Ettore Finazzi-Agrò); Rappresentazioni storiche nelle culture omeoglotte (2001-2004 at the Centro Studi sulle Letterature Omeoglotte); Transliterando o real: representações culturais (2001-2004, between the Centro Studi sulle Letterature Omeoglotte and the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil); 500 anni di Brasile la scoperta le scoperte (1999-2002, responsible for the Bologna group within an ex 40% national research project); Multiculturalismo e multimedialità (1997-1999, at the Department of Foreign Modern Liteartures and Languages).
He is member of the Advisory Board of the following Reviews and Journals: Brasília (2016); Santa Barbara Portguese Studies (2016) Alea (2015); Plural Revista de Ciências Sociais (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, since 2013) Convergência Lusíada (Real Gabinete Portuguese de Leitura Rio de Janeiro); Diffractions – Graduate Journal for the Study of Culture (Univ. Católica Lisboa) since 2012; Percorsi Storici (since 2011), Via Atlântica (USP- Brazil) Românica (Universidade de Lisboa) since 2010 - Rivista di Italianistica (USP - Brazil) - Manaus (UEAM-Brazil) since 2009 - Plural Pluriel- Revue des cultures de langue portugaise (Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense); Ellipsis (American Portuguese Studies Association, APSA-USA - since 2005); Comissão editorial for Cadernos Comárca (Centro Angel Rama - USP Brazil; since 2003); Comissão editorial for Revista Outra Travessia (Santa Catarina - Brazil; since 2003); Caligrama (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; since 2005), Triceversa (Assis - SP; since 2007); P Portuguese Cultural Studies (Utrecht; since 2003).
He is the author of more than 230 scientific publications dealing in particular with history and theory of Lusophone cultures.