Verification and Language Theory

Limitations to a programming language can be helpful in producing more readable and maintainable software.

In addition, the semantic domain associated with such a limited fragment may admit more efficient algorithms for verification and analysis. A proper understanding of such algorithms starts with a characterisation of this limited semantic domain.

Thus, to describe and reason about the possible behaviour of a program, we need methods to formalise the description the domain.VERLAN proposes to study the semantic domains of fragments of programming languages through the lens of formal language theory.

I will study and inter-relate three mathematical frameworks to classify formal languages (varieties, covarieties, and logics).

I will derive new algorithms for three fundamental problems in program verification: refactoring, equivalence checking, and learning, optimized for the class of formal languages.The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is the prime location for this fellowship because of the expert knowledge already present there, such as my supervisor Dr.

Nick Bezhanishvili, as well as my second supervisor, Prof. Yde Venema.

My own research experience in program verification and formal languages aligns very well with the goals of this proposal.

I will also collaborate with several researchers outside the ILLC, through planned research visits to institutions in France, Germany, and Canada.This proposal also includes a number of plans designed to enhance my career prospects as a researcher as well as my integration with the ILLC.

These plans have been fine-tuned so as to spread the workload across the full two years of the fellowship, and include extensive progress monitoring.

They include professional training for soft skills, grant writing, and teaching certification, as well as a strategy for outreach, and several activities aimed at dissemination of the research.