Brigitte Pientka

Brigitte Pientka is a Professor at McGill University's School of Computer Science, where she leads the Computation and Logic group. She earned her PhD from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003 and previously studied at the University of Edinburgh and Technical University of Darmstadt.

• Education
  • PhD in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (2003)
  • University of Edinburgh
  • Technical University of Darmstadt

Research Interests
Her work focuses on the theoretical and practical foundations for building reliable software systems, combining logic, type theory, and verification with system-building. Key areas include:

• Type Theory and Dependent Types
• Logical Frameworks and Mechanized Metatheory
• Session-Typed Concurrency and Linear Logic
• Metaprogramming and Contextual Type Systems
• Theorem Proving and Formal Verification
• Functional Programming and Language-Based Security

Professional Roles
She has served as:

• PC Chair for ICFP'24 and CPP'24
• General Chair for POPL'20
• Executive Editor of Logical Methods in Computer Science
• Steering Committee Member for LICS, POPL, and ESOP

Scientific Awards
Dr. Pientka has received:

• Test of Time Award at PPDP'18
• Humboldt Fellowship for research at MPI-SWS, Germany

Labs & Teams
She actively develops the Beluga programming language, a tool for mechanizing meta-theory proofs and type-driven program manipulation.