Travel: NSF Student Participation Grant for the 2024-2026 International Conferences on Computer-Aided Verification

The area of computer-aided verification and formal methods is thriving and growing in computer science, due to the rigorous approach it provides in tackling the complexity of modern computing systems. The Computer Aided Verification (CAV) conference is one of the premier conferences in computer science, dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practice of computer-aided formal analysis methods for hardware and software systems.

The goal of the Verification Mentoring Workshop (VMW), co-located with CAV, is to attract early-stage graduate students to pursue research careers in the area of computer-aided verification. The aim of this travel grant is to provide support for students to attend the Verification Mentoring Workshop (VMW) and the International Conference on Computer Aided Verification (CAV) in the years 2024, 2025 and 2026 (to be held in Montreal, Zagreb and Lisbon, respectively), thereby encouraging students to pursue research careers in this important area.

By attending the VMW workshop, the participants receive advice from established researchers in the intersection of other traditional areas in computer science such as theory and logic, systems, programming languages, and compilers. Students who have insufficient exposure to the broad range of research problems and career options receive guidance that is often difficult to get from their academic advisors only.

Additionally, students receive guidance on how to become more successful paper writers and paper reviewers and learn about possible job-related roles and responsibilities. This grant will provide travel scholarships to support more than US-based 45 students to attend the VMW and CAV to be held in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The scholarships will cover conference registration, accommodations, and other travel expenses.

VMW is intended to focus explicitly on mentoring and career advice, along with an opportunity for participants to attend a top conference. Funded students will benefit greatly from the opportunity to engage in the critical technical, professional, and social exchanges that both the conference and the mentoring workshop foster.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.