diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9c22e1fb..a911494b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -38,19 +38,34 @@ matter of days, with no need to reimplement all the plumbings from scratch.
 
 This project requires Python v3.8 or later.
 
-To install the latest version of the package from [PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/black-it/):
+To install the latest version of the package from [PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/black-it/), with all the extra dependencies (recommended):
 ```
-pip install black-it
+pip install "black-it[all]"
 ```
 
 Or, directly from GitHub:
 
 ```
-pip install git+https://github.com/bancaditalia/black-it.git#egg=black-it
+pip install git+https://github.com/bancaditalia/black-it.git#egg="black-it[all]"
 ```
 
 If you'd like to contribute to the package, please read the [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) guide.
 
+### Feature-specific Package Dependencies
+
+We use the [optional dependencies mechanism of `setuptools`](https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/userguide/dependency_management.html#optional-dependencies) 
+(also called _extras_) to allow users to avoid dependencies for features they don't use.
+
+For the basic features of the package, you can install the `black-it` package without extras, e.g. `pip install black-it`.
+However, for certain components, you will need to install some more extras using the syntax `pip install black-it[extra-1,extra-2,...]`.
+
+For example, the [Gaussian Process Sampler](https://bancaditalia.github.io/black-it/samplers/#black_it.samplers.gaussian_process.GaussianProcessSampler)
+depends on the Python package [`GPy`](https://github.com/SheffieldML/GPy/).
+If the Gaussian Process sampler is not needed by your application, you can avoid its installation by just installing `black-it` as explained above. 
+However, if you need the sampler, you must install `black-it` with the `gp-sampler` extra: `pip install black-it[gp-sampler]`. 
+
+The special extra `all` will install all the dependencies.
+
 ## Quick Example
 
 The GitHub repo of Black-it contains a series ready-to-run calibration examples.
diff --git a/black_it/_load_dependency.py b/black_it/_load_dependency.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f028f78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/black_it/_load_dependency.py
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+# Black-box ABM Calibration Kit (Black-it)
+# Copyright (C) 2021-2023 Banca d'Italia
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+"""Python module to handle extras dependencies loading and import errors.
+
+This is a private module of the library. There should be no point in using it directly from client code.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import sys
+
+# known extras and their dependencies
+_GPY_PACKAGE_NAME = "GPy"
+_GP_SAMPLER_EXTRA_NAME = "gp-sampler"
+
+_XGBOOST_PACKAGE_NAME = "xgboost"
+_XGBOOST_SAMPLER_EXTRA_NAME = "xgboost-sampler"
+
+
+class DependencyNotInstalledError(Exception):
+    """Library exception for when a required dependency is not installed."""
+
+    def __init__(self, component_name: str, package_name: str, extra_name: str) -> None:
+        """Initialize the exception object."""
+        message = (
+            f"Cannot import package '{package_name}', required by component {component_name}. "
+            f"To solve the issue, you can install the extra '{extra_name}': pip install black-it[{extra_name}]"
+        )
+        super().__init__(message)
+
+
+class GPyNotSupportedOnPy311Error(Exception):
+    """Specific exception class for import error of GPy on Python 3.11."""
+
+    __ERROR_MSG = (
+        f"The GaussianProcessSampler depends on '{_GPY_PACKAGE_NAME}', which is not supported on Python 3.11; "
+        f"see https://github.com/bancaditalia/black-it/issues/36"
+    )
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        """Initialize the exception object."""
+        super().__init__(self.__ERROR_MSG)
+
+
+def _check_import_error_else_raise_exception(
+    import_error: ImportError | None,
+    component_name: str,
+    package_name: str,
+    black_it_extra_name: str,
+) -> None:
+    """Check an import error; raise the DependencyNotInstalledError exception with a useful message.
+
+    Args:
+        import_error: the ImportError object generated by the failed attempt. If None, then no error occurred.
+        component_name: the component for which the dependency is needed
+        package_name: the Python package name of the dependency
+        black_it_extra_name: the name of the black-it extra to install to solve the issue.
+    """
+    if import_error is None:
+        # nothing to do.
+        return
+
+    # an import error happened; we need to raise error to the caller
+    raise DependencyNotInstalledError(component_name, package_name, black_it_extra_name)
+
+
+def _check_gpy_import_error_else_raise_exception(
+    import_error: ImportError | None,
+    component_name: str,
+    package_name: str,
+    black_it_extra_name: str,
+) -> None:
+    """Check GPy import error and if an error occurred, raise erorr with a useful error message.
+
+    We need to handle two cases:
+
+    - the user is using Python 3.11: the GPy package cannot be installed there;
+        see https://github.com/SheffieldML/GPy/issues/998
+    - the user did not install the 'gp-sampler' extra.
+
+    Args:
+        import_error: the ImportError object generated by the failed attempt. If None, then no error occurred.
+        component_name: the component for which the dependency is needed
+        package_name: the Python package name of the dependency
+        black_it_extra_name: the name of the black-it extra to install to solve the issue.
+    """
+    if import_error is None:
+        # nothing to do.
+        return
+
+    if sys.version_info == (3, 11):
+        raise GPyNotSupportedOnPy311Error
+
+    _check_import_error_else_raise_exception(
+        import_error,
+        component_name,
+        package_name,
+        black_it_extra_name,
+    )
diff --git a/black_it/samplers/gaussian_process.py b/black_it/samplers/gaussian_process.py
index c40a731e..f3942e62 100644
--- a/black_it/samplers/gaussian_process.py
+++ b/black_it/samplers/gaussian_process.py
@@ -26,11 +26,25 @@
 from scipy.special import erfc  # type: ignore[import]  # pylint: disable=no-name-in-module
 from sklearn.gaussian_process import GaussianProcessRegressor, kernels  # type: ignore[import]
 
+from black_it._load_dependency import (
+    _GP_SAMPLER_EXTRA_NAME,
+    _GPY_PACKAGE_NAME,
+    _check_import_error_else_raise_exception,
+)
 from black_it.samplers.surrogate import MLSurrogateSampler
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from numpy.typing import NDArray
 
+_GPY_IMPORT_ERROR: ImportError | None
+try:
+    import GPy  # noqa: F401
+    from GPy.models import GPRegression  # noqa: F401
+except ImportError as e:
+    _GPY_IMPORT_ERROR = e
+else:
+    _GPY_IMPORT_ERROR = None
+
 
 _BIG_DATASET_SIZE_WARNING_THRESHOLD = 500
 _SMALL_VARIANCE_VALUES = 1e-5
@@ -76,6 +90,8 @@ def __init__(  # noqa: PLR0913
             acquisition: type of acquisition function, it can be 'expected_improvement' of simply 'mean'
             jitter: positive value to make the "expected_improvement" acquisition more explorative.
         """
+        self.__check_gpy_import_error()
+
         self._validate_acquisition(acquisition)
 
         super().__init__(
@@ -90,6 +106,16 @@ def __init__(  # noqa: PLR0913
         self._gpmodel: GaussianProcessRegressor | None = None
         self._fmin: np.double | float | None = None
 
+    @classmethod
+    def __check_gpy_import_error(cls) -> None:
+        """Check if an import error happened while attempting to import the 'GPy' package."""
+        _check_import_error_else_raise_exception(
+            _GPY_IMPORT_ERROR,
+            cls.__name__,
+            _GPY_PACKAGE_NAME,
+            _GP_SAMPLER_EXTRA_NAME,
+        )
+
     @staticmethod
     def _validate_acquisition(acquisition: str) -> None:
         """Check that the required acquisition is among the supported ones.
diff --git a/black_it/samplers/xgboost.py b/black_it/samplers/xgboost.py
index ffb70aa2..808949ac 100644
--- a/black_it/samplers/xgboost.py
+++ b/black_it/samplers/xgboost.py
@@ -21,8 +21,12 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, cast
 
 import numpy as np
-import xgboost as xgb
 
+from black_it._load_dependency import (
+    _XGBOOST_PACKAGE_NAME,
+    _XGBOOST_SAMPLER_EXTRA_NAME,
+    _check_import_error_else_raise_exception,
+)
 from black_it.samplers.surrogate import MLSurrogateSampler
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -32,6 +36,14 @@
 MIN_FLOAT32 = np.finfo(np.float32).min
 EPS_FLOAT32 = np.finfo(np.float32).eps
 
+_XGBOOST_IMPORT_ERROR: ImportError | None
+try:
+    import xgboost as xgb
+except ImportError as e:
+    _XGBOOST_IMPORT_ERROR = e
+else:
+    _XGBOOST_IMPORT_ERROR = None
+
 
 class XGBoostSampler(MLSurrogateSampler):
     """This class implements xgboost sampling."""
@@ -67,6 +79,7 @@ def __init__(  # noqa: PLR0913
         References:
             Lamperti, Roventini, and Sani, "Agent-based model calibration using machine learning surrogates"
         """
+        self.__check_xgboost_import_error()
         super().__init__(
             batch_size,
             random_state,
@@ -81,6 +94,16 @@ def __init__(  # noqa: PLR0913
         self._n_estimators = n_estimators
         self._xg_regressor: xgb.XGBRegressor | None = None
 
+    @classmethod
+    def __check_xgboost_import_error(cls) -> None:
+        """Check if an import error happened while attempting to import the 'xgboost' package."""
+        _check_import_error_else_raise_exception(
+            _XGBOOST_IMPORT_ERROR,
+            cls.__name__,
+            _XGBOOST_PACKAGE_NAME,
+            _XGBOOST_SAMPLER_EXTRA_NAME,
+        )
+
     @property
     def colsample_bytree(self) -> float:
         """Get the colsample_bytree parameter."""
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b1ba9220..ca3f413b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ tox = "^4.4.12"
 twine = "^4.0.2"
 vulture = "^2.9.1"
 
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+gp-sampler = ["GPy~=1.10.0"]
+xgboost-sampler = ["xgboost~=1.7.2"]
+all = ["GPy~=1.10.0", "xgboost~=1.7.2"]
+
 [build-system]
 requires = ["poetry-core>=1.0.0"]
 build-backend = "poetry.core.masonry.api"
diff --git a/tests/test_calibrator.py b/tests/test_calibrator.py
index e812bb53..620977a2 100644
--- a/tests/test_calibrator.py
+++ b/tests/test_calibrator.py
@@ -39,7 +39,12 @@
 from black_it.utils.seedable import BaseSeedable
 from examples.models.simple_models import NormalMV
 
+from .utils.base import no_gpy_installed, no_python311_for_gpy, no_xgboost_installed
 
+
+@no_python311_for_gpy
+@no_gpy_installed
+@no_xgboost_installed
 class TestCalibrate:
     """Test the Calibrator.calibrate method."""
 
diff --git a/tests/test_samplers/test_gaussian_process.py b/tests/test_samplers/test_gaussian_process.py
index 3f2a8d3a..65f4d7f4 100644
--- a/tests/test_samplers/test_gaussian_process.py
+++ b/tests/test_samplers/test_gaussian_process.py
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
 
 from black_it.samplers.gaussian_process import GaussianProcessSampler, _AcquisitionTypes
 from black_it.search_space import SearchSpace
+from tests.utils.base import no_gpy_installed, no_python311_for_gpy
+
+pytestmark = [no_python311_for_gpy, no_gpy_installed]
 
 
 class TestGaussianProcess2D:
diff --git a/tests/test_samplers/test_xgboost.py b/tests/test_samplers/test_xgboost.py
index 5a7a3c4c..a05bf33c 100644
--- a/tests/test_samplers/test_xgboost.py
+++ b/tests/test_samplers/test_xgboost.py
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 from black_it.samplers.xgboost import XGBoostSampler
 from black_it.search_space import SearchSpace
 from examples.models.economics.brock_hommes import BH4
+from tests.utils.base import no_xgboost_installed
+
+pytestmark = no_xgboost_installed
+
 
 # This is a temporary workaround to make tests to run also on Windows and Mac.
 #   See: https://github.com/bancaditalia/black-it/issues/49
@@ -34,6 +38,7 @@
 else:
     expected_params = np.array([[0.24, 0.26], [0.37, 0.21], [0.43, 0.14], [0.11, 0.04]])
 
+
 MAX_FLOAT32 = np.finfo(np.float32).max
 MIN_FLOAT32 = np.finfo(np.float32).min
 EPS_FLOAT32 = np.finfo(np.float32).eps
diff --git a/tests/utils/base.py b/tests/utils/base.py
index 48dd9686..0dde1fac 100644
--- a/tests/utils/base.py
+++ b/tests/utils/base.py
@@ -18,17 +18,24 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import dataclasses
+import importlib
 import shutil
 import signal
 import subprocess  # nosec B404
 import sys
 from functools import wraps
-from typing import Callable
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Callable
 
 import pytest
 
+from black_it._load_dependency import _GPY_PACKAGE_NAME, _XGBOOST_PACKAGE_NAME
 from tests.conftest import DEFAULT_SUBPROCESS_TIMEOUT
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import types
+
+    from _pytest.mark.structures import MarkDecorator
+
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass(frozen=True)
 class PopenResult:
@@ -179,3 +186,33 @@ def wrapper(  # type: ignore[no-untyped-def] # noqa: ANN202
     sys.platform == "win32",
     reason="This test cannot be ran on Windows",
 )
+
+
+def try_import_else_none(module_name: str) -> types.ModuleType | None:
+    """Try to import a module; if it fails, return None."""
+    try:
+        return importlib.import_module(module_name)
+    except ImportError:
+        return None
+
+
+def try_import_else_skip(
+    package_name: str,
+    **skipif_kwargs,  # noqa: ANN003
+) -> MarkDecorator:
+    """Try to import the package; else skip the test(s)."""
+    return pytest.mark.skipif(
+        try_import_else_none(package_name) is None,
+        reason=f"Cannot run the test because the package '{package_name}' is not installed",
+        **skipif_kwargs,
+    )
+
+
+no_python311_for_gpy = pytest.mark.skipif(
+    (3, 11) <= sys.version_info < (3, 12),
+    reason="GPy not supported on Python 3.11, see: https://github.com/bancaditalia/black-it/issues/36",
+)
+
+
+no_gpy_installed = try_import_else_skip(_GPY_PACKAGE_NAME)
+no_xgboost_installed = try_import_else_skip(_XGBOOST_PACKAGE_NAME)
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 7af7965f..01252057 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ basepython = python3
 [testenv]
 setenv =
     PYTHONPATH = {toxinidir}
+extras =
+    all
+    gp-sampler
+    xgboost-sampler
 deps =
     pytest==7.4.2
     pytest-cov==4.1.0