Tijs Slaats

Tijs Slaats is an Associate Professor in the Software, Data, People & Society section at the Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on Business Process Management with particular emphasis on declarative and hybrid process notations to provide flexible workflow support for knowledge workers, funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research.

His educational background includes:

• M.Sc. in Information Technology from IT University of Copenhagen
• Ph.D. in Computer Science from IT University of Copenhagen (supervised by Thomas Hildebrandt)

Dr. Slaats specializes in declarative process modeling, particularly Dynamic Condition Response (DCR) graphs which enable flexible workflow systems. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications in cross-organizational settings. Recent research extends into blockchain technologies, smart contracts, and applications in sensitive domains like asylum processing and refugee law. He combines formal methods with empirical evaluation to ensure both correctness and usability of workflow systems.

His publication pattern shows increasing application of process mining techniques to blockchain technologies and socially impactful domains, while maintaining core research in Business Process Management. Notable trends include integration of DCR graphs with smart contracts, privacy-preserving techniques for asylum data, and object-centric approaches to process discovery.

Research funding includes:

• Hybrid Business Process Management Technologies project (Danish Council for Independent Research)
• Technologies for Flexible Cross-organizational Case Management Systems (FLExCMS) industrial Ph.D. project

Alongside his academic work, Dr. Slaats maintains strong industry connections through Exformatics A/S where he developed the DCR Graphs workflow solution (www.dcrgraphs.net), and previously worked as a software engineer in the Dutch e-commerce sector. His dual expertise in academia and industry ensures his research addresses real-world workflow challenges while maintaining theoretical rigor.