We study the automorphism groups of two families of varieties. The first is the family of stable curves of low genus. To every such curve, we can associate a combinatorial object, a stable graph, which encode many properties of the curve. Combining the automorphisms of the graph with the known results on the automorphisms of smooth curves, we obtain precise descriptions of the automorphism groups for stable curves with low genera. The second is the family of numerical Godeaux surfaces. We compute in details the automorphism groups of numerical Godeaux surfaces with certain invariants; that is, corresponding to points in some specific connected components of the moduli space; we also give some estimates on the order of the automorphism groups of the other numerical Godeaux surfaces and some characterization on their structures.
