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Michael D. ErnstView profile

Professor

• software engineering
• programming languages
• type theory
• +6 more

Michael D. Ernst is a Professor in the Computer Science & Engineering department at the University of Washington's College of Engineering. His research aims to make software more reliable, more secure, and easier (and more fun!) to produce. Previously, he was a tenured professor at MIT and a researcher at Microsoft Research. Ernst's primary technical interests are in software engineering, programming languages, type theory, security, program analysis, bug prediction, testing, and verification. His research combines strong theoretical foundations with realistic experimentation, with an eye to changing the way that software developers work. He focuses particularly on programmer productivity and developing practical tools that can be integrated into developers' workflows. Analysis of his recent publications (2018-2025) reveals a continued focus on verification techniques, program analysis, and testing methodologies. His work spans from theoretical foundations of type systems to practical applications of NLP for test generation and LLMs for test oracle creation. A consistent theme is developing lightweight, modular approaches that can be practically applied in real-world development environments. Scientific Awards: ACM Fellow (2014) John Backus Award (2009) NSF CAREER Award (2002) ACM SIGSOFT Impact Paper Award (2013) 8 ACM Distinguished Paper Awards across multiple conferences ECOOP 2011 Best Paper Award Microsoft Academic Search ranked #2 in software engineering research (2013) Ernst has received significant research funding including the NSF CAREER Award, supporting his work on program analysis and verification techniques. His research combines theoretical rigor with practical impact, often resulting in tools that are adopted by the software engineering community. He actively collaborates with researchers across institutions and has served in leadership roles for major conferences in programming languages and software engineering. His research group develops practical tools that address real challenges in software development, with a focus on making verification and analysis techniques more accessible to working developers. Current projects include applying machine learning techniques to software engineering problems while maintaining strong theoretical foundations.

Michael PradelView profile

Professor

• Software Engineering
• Programming Languages
• Program Analysis
• +9 more

Michael Pradel is a full professor at the University of Stuttgart, specializing in software engineering, programming languages, and machine learning. He will join CISPA as a faculty member from September 2025 while retaining his Stuttgart position. His research focuses on: Neuro-symbolic software analysis Web application analysis Dynamic analysis and test generation Quantum software testing Machine learning for code Recent publications address: LLM-based program repair (RepairAgent, Treefix) WebAssembly analysis (Wasm-R3, LintQ) Python security and analysis (DyLin, DyPyBench) Quantum program analysis (LintQ) Scientific awards: Ernst-Denert Software Engineering Award Emmy Noether grant (1.3M Euro) ERC Starting Grant (1.5M Euro) 3x ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award at FSE ACM Distinguished Member Best Paper/Distinguished Paper Awards at ISSTA, ASE, ASPLOS, MSR Key contributions include: DeepBugs for name-based bug detection Getafix for automated bug fixing LintQ for quantum program analysis DyLin for Python dynamic analysis Neuro-symbolic developer tools

Chang XuView profile

Professor

• Big data software engineering
• Intelligent software testing and analysis
• Adaptive and autonomous software systems
• +3 more

Chang Xu is a Professor and Ph.D. supervisor at Nanjing University, affiliated with the State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, School of Computer Science, and Institute of Computer Software (ICS). He has been a full-time faculty member since 2010, when he joined as an associate professor and was later promoted to full professor in 2015. Education: Ph.D. from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in 2008 (advisor: Prof. S.C. Cheung) M.Eng. from Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCAS) in 2003 B.Eng. from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2000 Research Interests: Professor Xu's research focuses on big data software engineering, intelligent software testing and analysis, and adaptive and autonomous software systems. His recent work centers on constructing and providing runtime support for intelligent software in open environments, with emphasis on inconsistency detection and resolution for environments, and quality assurance for adaptive, concurrent, learning-based, smartphone-based, and spreadsheet-based applications. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications in software engineering, particularly in program analysis, software testing, and self-adaptive systems. Scientific Awards: ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award from ICSE 2025 Best Student Paper Award from EUROSYS 2025 ACM Distinguished Member in 2024 Best Paper Award from SOSP 2023 Best Paper Candidate from ISSRE 2022 Yangtze River Scholar by the Ministry of Education in 2021 Multiple ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Awards from conferences including ASE, ICSE National Science and Technology Progress Award (Second Class) in 2011 Academic Service and Advising: Professor Xu has served on numerous program committees for top software engineering conferences including ICSE, ASE, ESEC/FSE, and ISSTA. He is an editorial board member for several journals including Journal of Computer Science and Technology and Frontiers of Computer Science. He has supervised numerous Ph.D. and MSc students, with research topics spanning program analysis, software testing, self-adaptive systems, and more. His students have gone on to successful careers in both academia and industry. Research Groups: Professor Xu is associated with the SPAR research group at Nanjing University and the CASTLE research group at HKUST, focusing on software analysis, reliability, and testing.

James C. DavisView profile

Assistant Professor

• Empirical software engineering
• Security
• Safety
• +7 more

James C. Davis is an Assistant Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. He leads the Duality Lab, which focuses on the engineering of software-intensive computing systems with particular interest in how these systems fail and how those failures can be mitigated. His research takes a socio-technical approach, considering both human and technical perspectives in system engineering. Dr. Davis received his PhD in Computer Science from Virginia Tech, where he was advised by Dongyoon Lee. His research interests span empirical software engineering, security, safety, testing, and web technologies, with a strong emphasis on practical impact and measurement. He applies a socio-technical philosophy to his work, believing high-quality systems must be engineered considering both human and technical perspectives. His recent research focuses on software supply chain security, regular expression vulnerabilities (particularly ReDoS), pre-trained model security, and failure analysis in software systems. His work often involves empirical studies of real-world software systems and security practices, with a strong emphasis on practical impact and measurable results. Dr. Davis has received significant funding from the National Science Foundation, Google, Cisco, and Rolls Royce for his research. His publications appear in top-tier venues including ICSE, FSE, ASE, and USENIX Security. He has served on program committees for many major software engineering and security conferences. Among his notable achievements are being elevated to IEEE Senior Member in 2022, receiving the Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teacher Award from ECE@Purdue in 2022, and multiple Best Paper and Best Poster awards. He has successfully mentored numerous PhD and Master's students, with several completing their theses on topics related to software security and engineering. Dr. Davis actively recruits graduate and undergraduate research assistants for his Duality Lab, which has produced influential work on software failure analysis, regular expression security, and machine learning supply chain security. His lab is supported by multiple federal and industry grants focused on improving the security and reliability of software systems.

Jonas FritzschView profile

Lecturer

• Software Architecture
• Microservices
• Software Quality Assurance
• +5 more

Jonas Fritzsch is a Lecturer and Research Associate at the University of Stuttgart's Institute of Software Engineering (ISTE), specifically within the Empirical Software Engineering (ESE) department. He holds a postdoctoral position and focuses on advancing software architecture, microservices, and quality assurance methodologies. His research emphasizes modernizing monolithic applications through architectural refactoring and evaluating cloud-native systems' impacts on software quality. His work spans empirical studies on industry practices—such as challenges in microservices evolvability and résumé-driven development—as well as formal verification techniques for safety-critical systems. Dr. Fritzsch leads the Team Fritzsch , contributing to both academic publications and industrial collaboration. Key areas of exploration include: Migrating monolithic architectures to microservices with a focus on quality-driven methodologies Assessing software quality in cloud-native and DevOps environments Empirical investigations into developer behaviors and tool usability His advisory work includes guiding over 20 students in theses and projects, covering topics like LLM-powered paper discovery, refactoring tools, and microservices adoption in cyber-physical systems. Notable contributions include defining résumé-driven development and developing systematic approaches for microservice migration. His research bridges theoretical advancements with practical industry applications, emphasizing empirical validation and tool support.

Jürgen GieslView profile

Professor

• Program Verification
• Automated Deduction
• Termination Analysis
• +12 more

Jürgen Giesl is a Professor at the Teaching and Research Area Computer Science 2 within the Department of Computer Science at RWTH Aachen University , Germany. He leads research in programming languages, formal verification, automated deduction, and term rewriting systems. Research Interests: Automated Termination and Complexity Analysis of Programs Dependency Pairs and Term Rewriting Systems Verification of Probabilistic and Integer Programs Static Analysis and Symbolic Execution Model Checking and Constrained Horn Clauses Development of Automated Tools (AProVE, LoAT) His recent research, reflected in the latest publications, focuses on termination and complexity analysis for probabilistic programs, polynomial loops, and integer programs, using advanced techniques such as dependency pairs, loop acceleration, and semiring semantics. He also contributes to SMT solving and transitive relation learning for infinite-state model checking. Scientific Awards: Best Tool Paper Award at iFM 2017 Silver Medal (Second Best Paper) at SEFM '16 Best Paper Honourable Mention at IJCAR 2024 Best Student Paper Honourable Mention at IJCAR 2024 Advising and Grants: Giesl has supervised numerous PhD and Master’s students, including prominent researchers such as Fabian Frohn, Jens Hensel, Nils Lommen, and Marcel Hark. He leads a large research group focused on automated verification and has contributed extensively to international verification competitions. His work is supported by ongoing research grants and collaborations with leading institutions in formal methods. Labs and Teams: He leads the Programming Languages and Verification research group at RWTH Aachen, which develops and maintains the AProVE and LoAT tools. These tools are central to automated termination and complexity analysis and are regularly submitted to international competitions such as TERMCOMP and VBS.

Sergio MontenegroView profile

Professor

• Aerospace Information Technology
• Dependable Computing
• Distributed Systems
• +6 more

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sergio Montenegro is a Professor of Aerospace Information Technology at Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, where he leads the Chair of Computer Science VIII. His academic journey includes a Bachelor's in Computer Science from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (1978-1982), a Diploma from Technische Universität Berlin (1983-1985), and a Dr.-Ing. from TU Berlin (1989). Prior to joining academia, he held positions as a software developer (1979-1982), research coordinator at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (1985-2007), and Head of Department at DLR (2007-2010). His research focuses on dependable distributed systems for aerospace applications, including satellite networks, real-time operating systems (RODOS), UAV swarm control, fault-tolerant architectures, and space mission software. Key projects span satellite formation flight (TET, AsteroidFinder), solar sail missions, distributed avionics (VIDANA), and medical IoT systems. Recent publications (2018) demonstrate strong emphasis on distributed spacecraft systems, UAV navigation, fault tolerance, and software engineering for space applications. Trends include miniaturized satellite technologies, decentralized control algorithms, real-time OS verification, and Java-based space systems. He leads research in distributed computing networks and UAV laboratories, supervising projects like VaMEx-LaOLA (Mars exploration) and ultra-wideband positioning systems. Though no awards are documented, he has coordinated over 100 projects including ESA and DLR missions.

• High-Performance Computing
• Parallel Programming
• Computer Architecture
• +3 more

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Matthias S. Müller is a Universitätsprofessor and Director of the IT Center at RWTH Aachen University. His research focuses on High-Performance Computing (HPC), parallel programming models, correctness verification, energy-aware computing, and tools for distributed systems. He leads the High-Performance Computing group, contributing to advancements in HPC resource management, runtime systems, and sustainable computing practices. Key areas of expertise include MPI and OpenMP correctness checking, static and dynamic analysis techniques, performance optimization for heterogeneous architectures, and energy footprint modeling. Müller has extensively collaborated on projects like MUST (MPI correctness tool), OMPT tools, and frameworks for analyzing hybrid parallel applications. His work bridges theoretical computer science with practical implementation challenges in large-scale computing environments. Notable contributions include developing methods for data race detection in Remote Memory Access (RMA) programs, latency-aware power management models, and educational frameworks for HPC lab courses. His research often emphasizes tool development, runtime systems, and interdisciplinary applications of HPC across engineering domains. Müller's lab is part of RWTH Aachen's IT Center, which provides infrastructure and expertise for computational research. He actively publishes in top-tier conferences and journals, addressing challenges in parallel programming, energy efficiency, and distributed computing systems.

Elena ZuccaView profile

Associate Professor

• Programming Languages
• Type Systems
• Formal Semantics
• +6 more

Elena Zucca is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering (DIBRIS) at the University of Genoa, Italy. She has a strong research focus on programming languages, particularly in the areas of type systems, formal semantics, and coinduction. Her work bridges theoretical foundations with practical implementations, as evidenced by her publications on topics like Featherweight Java, corecursion, and soundness proofs for programming language features. Her research interests span the theoretical and practical aspects of programming languages. She investigates the formal semantics of programming constructs, particularly focusing on the boundaries between finite and infinite computations. Her work on coinduction and corecursion explores how to safely handle infinite data structures and computations. She has made significant contributions to understanding soundness in programming language features, especially in relation to resource-aware semantics. Her research often combines theoretical foundations with practical implementations, as seen in her work on Featherweight Java extensions and effect systems. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on advanced type systems and semantics. Her work explores the theoretical boundaries of programming language features while maintaining practical relevance. A recurring theme is the relationship between finite and infinite computations, with particular attention to soundness guarantees. Her research has evolved from foundational work on lambda calculus and object-oriented programming toward more specialized topics like graded types, coeffects, and resource-aware semantics. Elena Zucca has been actively involved in the programming languages research community, serving on program committees for major conferences including SPLASH, ECOOP, and POPL. She has mentored students through doctoral courses on Declarative Programming and (Co)Induction. Her research has been supported through participation in various academic programs, including the SEPL research program mentioned in her course materials. She teaches a diverse range of courses at the University of Genoa, from undergraduate to doctoral levels. Her teaching portfolio includes Automata Theory and Computability, Algorithms Analysis and Design, Principles and Paradigms of Programming Languages, and specialized doctoral courses on Declarative Programming and (Co)Induction. Her courses often reflect her research interests, covering theoretical foundations of programming languages, formal methods, and advanced programming paradigms.

Jan PeleskaView profile

Professor

• Formal Methods
• Dependable Systems
• Distributed Systems
• +8 more

Jan Peleska is a Professor at the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Bremen. He is a member of the Bremen Institute of Safe Systems (BISS) and co-editor of the BISS Monographs series. His research focuses on the application of formal methods and model-based testing to safety-critical embedded systems in domains such as avionics, railways, and automotive engineering. Affiliation: University of Bremen, TZI (Center for Computing Technology), BISS (Bremen Institute of Safe Systems) Academic Role: Professor of Computer Science Research Interests Peleska’s work emphasizes formal methods for dependable systems, particularly distributed and reactive real-time systems. Key areas include: Formal methods (safety, reliability, availability, security) Development of fault-tolerant systems Test automation for reactive systems Tools development for formal methods Integration with software development standards His research is applied to industrial projects involving safety-critical embedded systems, such as avionic systems and railway control systems. A comprehensive overview is provided in his Habilitation Thesis: Formal Methods and the Development of Dependable Systems . Publication Trends Peleska’s recent publications (2012–2022) focus on model-based testing (e.g., symbolic finite state machines, CSP refinement), standardisation of autonomous train control, and tools for automated testing. His work addresses challenges in railway interlocking systems, avionic software verification, and hybrid system validation, often combining formal methods with practical industrial applications. Scientific Awards Best Paper Award at FORMS/FORMAT 2014 Best Paper Award at QA+Test 2007 Other Responsibilities Peleska co-manages the Post Graduate Programme Embedded Systems GESy and serves as a shareholder/consultant for Verified Systems International GmbH. He has delivered invited lectures on industrial verification, model-based testing, and formal methods at institutions like the University of Tunghai (2016) and workshops including CyPhyAssure Spring School (2019).

• Static Analysis
• Logic Programming
• Program Verification
• +4 more

Manuel V. Hermenegildo is a Professor at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain. He is a prominent researcher in the field of programming languages and static analysis, with significant contributions to logic programming, program verification, and formal methods. His work focuses on advancing static analysis techniques, compiler optimization, and energy-efficient computing. He has co-authored numerous papers and organized international conferences such as LOPSTR and SAS, demonstrating his leadership in academic and research communities. His research explores topics including abstract interpretation, runtime checking, and parallel logic programming systems. He is a key contributor to the Ciao Prolog system, emphasizing comprehensive tool integration and formal methods. His research interests span static analysis frameworks, program verification, resource usage analysis, and energy efficiency in computing. He has developed methodologies for optimizing program performance while ensuring correctness, with applications in both theoretical and applied domains. His work often bridges the gap between high-level program analysis and low-level hardware constraints, particularly in embedded systems. Recent trends in his publications include advancements in static cost analysis, dynamic inference of invariants, and tools for incremental assertion checking. His collaborations with institutions like the University of Copenhagen and the University of Kent reflect a global network in advancing computational logic and software engineering. He has been actively involved in academic service, including editorial roles for conference proceedings and journals. His contributions highlight a commitment to both foundational research and practical tools for the programming language community.

Gregor SneltingView profile

Professor

• Programming Languages
• Compiler Construction
• Program Analysis
• +7 more

Gregor Snelting is a Professor and head of the Chair of Programming Paradigms at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Faculty of Computer Science, Institute for Programming Languages and Compiler Construction. His research focuses on compiler construction, program analysis, software security, and verification. His primary research interests include programming languages, compiler design, program analysis, software security, information flow control, formal verification, object-oriented and concurrent programming, and software reengineering using concept analysis. His work aims to provide solid theoretical foundations and empirical validation. The research output, particularly the 15 most recent articles, shows a strong emphasis on software security and program analysis, with a focus on information flow control in Java using the JOANA tool. There is also a significant thread on invasive computing and resource-aware parallel programming. The work combines deep theoretical contributions, such as formal semantics and correctness proofs, with practical tool development and empirical validation. Faculty Teaching Award for the course 'Practice in Software Development' Snelting leads a research group that has developed several significant tools, including JOANA for security analysis, the Praktomat system for automated grading of programming assignments, and contributions to the libFirm compiler framework. His group is a key participant in major research initiatives like the DFG Collaborative Research Center InvasIC and the DFG Priority Program RS3. He advises students and supervises theses, fostering research in programming paradigms and software security. The group is involved in several key research projects: JOANA for information flow control in Java, InvasIC for invasive computing and dynamic parallelism, Quis-Custodiet for machine-checked correctness proofs of security analyses, and the development of the libFirm compiler framework.

Jeff HuangView profile

Associate Professor

• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Concurrency
• +1 more

Jeff Huang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, specializing in programming languages and software engineering with a focus on concurrency and runtime verification. His research develops advanced program analysis techniques and tools to enhance software performance and reliability. Programming Languages Software Engineering Concurrency Runtime Verification His work has been recognized with prestigious awards including the ACM SIGSOFT Early Career Researcher Award, NSF CAREER Award, Google Faculty Research Award, and DARPA Young Faculty Award. Notably, his research has earned multiple SIGPLAN Research Highlights and PLDI Distinguished Paper Awards. ACM SIGSOFT Early Career Researcher Award NSF CAREER Award Google Faculty Research Award Mozilla Research Award Facebook Research Award DARPA Young Faculty Award ACM SIGSOFT Outstanding Dissertation Award ACM SIGPLAN PLDI Distinguished Paper Award SIGPLAN Research Highlights Jeff Huang actively contributes to academic communities as a committee member in venues like SPLASH, ICSE, ISSTA, and PLDI. He has authored influential papers on concurrency bug detection, pointer analysis, and language translation tools, spanning both theoretical foundations and practical implementations.

Thomas LembergerView profile

Researcher

• Software Verification
• Formal Methods
• Software Testing
• +9 more

Thomas Lemberger is a researcher in the Department of Computer Science at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), contributing to the Software and Computational Systems Lab. He specializes in software verification, formal methods, and automated testing, with a focus on improving tool efficiency and scalability. His work includes extensions to CPAchecker, such as distributed summary synthesis and cooperative verification approaches, as well as developing user-friendly tools like CoVeriTeam GUI. His research interests involve integrating verification into build systems and IDEs, optimizing verification workflows, and exploring hybrid techniques that combine testing and formal methods. He has actively participated in competitions like SV-COMP and Test-Comp, contributing tools like PRTest and Nacpa. His projects aim to reduce tool restarts, enhance fault localization, and streamline verification processes through parallel portfolio analyses. Thomas mentors students on topics related to verification tool development, test-case generation, and open-source software. His contributions are supported by grants from the DFG (CONVEY, COOP, IDEFIX), emphasizing cooperative verification and scalable analysis. Recent work focuses on enabling developers to use verification tools seamlessly within their existing workflows.

Anca MuschollView profile

Professor

• Foundations of Formal Verification
• Automata Theory
• Logics and Games
• +2 more

Anca Muscholl is a Professor at the University of Bordeaux and holds the Hans Fischer Senior Fellowship at the Technical University of Munich (TUM-IAS). She leads the Formal Methods group at the Bordeaux Laboratory for Computer Science Research (LABRI). Her research focuses on foundational aspects of formal verification, automata theory, logics, concurrent systems, and database foundations. She has held academic positions at the University of Paris 7 and has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the Silver Medal from CNRS (2010) and membership in the Institut Universitaire de France (2007–2012). Education: Master’s from Technical University of Munich (TUM), PhD from University of Stuttgart (1994), and habilitation at the same institution. She has contributed to editorial roles for journals like Information Processing Letters and Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science , and serves on the council of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS). Her work emphasizes automated controller synthesis for distributed systems and formal methods in concurrency. Notable achievements include advancements in distributed synthesis, temporal logic, and verification of reactive systems. She actively participates in organizing major conferences like ICALP and steering committees for theoretical computer science initiatives. Awards: Silver Medal (CNRS 2010), Junior Member of IUF (2007–2012), Best Paper Awards (PODS 2006, ETAPS 2001). Professional Roles: Editor for TheoretiCS , member of EATCS council, and leader of the Formal Methods group at LABRI. Research Themes: Formal verification, automata theory, concurrency, distributed systems, database logics.