Software shapes every aspect of our modern lives. The cost and quality of software crucially relies on the availability of powerful tools. These tools need to provide programmers with abstractions that elevate their productivity, that simplify code maintenance, that ensure code correctness, and that lead to dependable and sustainable software. All these aspects pose major scientific challenges and, at the same time, constitute an enterprise with huge societal relevance. Our mission is to conduct world-leading research on software systems, covering formal methods, compilation/code-generation technology, empirical analysis and tool construction. We aim to bridge the gap between theory and applications, and seek impact through publications, tools, applications, and people.
We have expertise covering a broad range of topics concerning analysis of computer-based systems, mathematical foundations, and software construction, increasingly involving the use of AI. We collaborate with stakeholders from industry and other application areas, trying to understand how our research can contribute to solving real-world problems. Our group is partner of ESI, participates in the Dutch Institute for Programming research and Algorithmics (IPA), the Dutch National Education Lab AI (NOLAI) and the European Lab for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), and supports the Dutch National Association for Software Engineering (VERSEN). TOP Software Technology is a spin-off company founded by members of our group.