Ilya Sergey

Associate Professor Ilya Sergey leads the Verified Systems Engineering (VERSE) lab at the School of Computing, National University of Singapore (NUS). He holds a PhD in Computer Science from KU Leuven and an MSc in Mathematics from Saint Petersburg State University. His research focuses on programming languages, software verification, distributed systems, and program synthesis. He is a recipient of the AITO Dahl-Nygaard Junior Prize (2019) and multiple ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Paper Awards. His work includes developing the Scilla smart contract language and the Veil verification framework, emphasizing formal methods for ensuring software correctness.

**Education**:

• PhD in Computer Science, KU Leuven, Belgium (2012)
• MSc in Mathematics and Computer Science, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia (2008)

**Research Interests**:

• Design and Implementation of Programming Languages
• Formal Verification using Separation Logic
• Distributed Systems and Concurrency
• Program Synthesis and Automated Proof Repair

**Recent Articles Trends**: His recent work emphasizes automated verification tools (e.g., Veil), exploit generation via synthesis, and compositional verification of Byzantine protocols. These contributions bridge foundational theory with practical applications in distributed systems and smart contracts.

**Awards**:

• AITO Dahl-Nygaard Junior Prize (2019)
• ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Paper Awards (PLDI'23, PLDI'21, POPL'19)
• Google, Facebook, and Amazon Research Awards

**Advising & Grants**: He actively mentors PhD students in formal methods and verification. His grants include support from Google and industry partnerships. He organizes the ICFP Programming Contest and co-chairs ICFP'25.

**Labs & Teams**: Leads the VERSE lab, part of the PLSE@NUS group, focusing on verified software systems and program synthesis.