Thomas Bock

Thomas Bock is a Post-doctoral researcher at the Software and Societal Systems Department (S3D) within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Saarland University, Germany in 2024, with a dissertation focusing on organizational patterns in open-source software projects.

Dr. Bock's educational background includes a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Saarland University (2024) and a Master's degree in Informatics and Mathematics from the University of Passau (2016). His academic journey reflects a strong foundation in both theoretical computer science and empirical research methods.

His research program centers on empirical software engineering, with particular emphasis on understanding coordination and communication dynamics in open-source software ecosystems. Dr. Bock investigates organizational structures, developer networks, and role evolution in large-scale software projects, employing sophisticated analytical methods including tensor decomposition for modeling group dynamics. He also explores the intersection of software engineering and scientific computing, examining how software is developed and used in scientific contexts, especially with the rise of machine learning and AI systems. His work bridges technical and social dimensions of software development, offering insights into both the engineering practices and human factors that shape successful software projects.

Dr. Bock's publication trajectory reveals a consistent focus on empirical analysis of open-source development processes, with increasing sophistication in methodological approaches. His recent work on aggressiveness perception in the Linux Kernel Mailing List demonstrates his ability to tackle complex social phenomena in software engineering contexts, revealing significant challenges in human agreement about communication behaviors. This research exemplifies his broader interest in the social aspects of software engineering and the application of rigorous empirical methods to understand developer interactions.

• Program Committee Member, IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE), Research Papers track (2025)
• Program Committee Member, International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR), Technical Papers track (2026)
• Reviewer for Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE), Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM), ACM Transactions on Software Engineering (TSE), and other leading software engineering venues

Dr. Bock has extensive teaching experience, having served as chief organizer of the Software Engineering Lab (a 7-week block course for approximately 200 students) at Saarland University from 2019-2022, and as a reviewer through 2023. His teaching portfolio also includes seminars on Software Analytics, Software Engineering Research in the Neuroage, and supervision of software engineering projects at both Saarland University and the University of Passau. His educational contributions span multiple institutions and demonstrate his commitment to training the next generation of software engineers through both large-scale courses and specialized seminars.