Seminar Trends in Computer-Aided Verification

Seminar in Theoretical CS, Winter 2026/27

News

  • 03.06.2026: we are online

Dates & Deadlines

October 13, 2026, 14:00Kick-off meeting (room 4201b, 2nd floor, building E1, Faculty of CS)
October 15, 2026Topic preferences due
November 16, 2026Detailed outline due
December 7, 2026Seminar report due
January 11, 2027Presentation slides due
January 18-21, 2027Presentations (room 4201b, 2nd floor, building E1, CS Department)

Note that the full versions of your report and your slides should be your final submission and the camera-ready versions should differ only with regard to minor remarks, comments, and corrections by your supervisor. Please feel free, however, to talk to your supervisor about submitting preliminary versions before the due dates.

Introduction

  • Slides of introduction

Overview

The term Computer-Aided Verification refers to theory and practice of computer-supported formal analysis methods for both hardware and software systems. Likewise, it is the name of an annual academic conference on that topic. The modeling and verification of such systems is an important issue. In particular, safety-critical systems are ones in which errors can be disastrous: loss of life, major financial losses, etc. Techniques to safeguard against such scenarios are essential for such systems. Testing can identify problems, especially if done in a rigorous fashion, but is generally not sufficient to guarantee a satisfactory level of quality.   Formal methods, on the other hand, offer techniques ranging from the description of requirements in a formal notation to allow for rigorous reasoning about them, to techniques for automatic verification of software. Due to the complexity of these approaches and the systems they are applied to, automated computer support is indispensable.  

The goal of this seminar is to give an overview of the related research activities of the MOVES group. It covers several areas of computer science to which computed-aided verification techniques are central, and which represent the research fields of the respective supervisors. Each area features a number of topics which are described in a scientific journal or conference article. These research articles are the basis on which students have to prepare their report and presentation. The following list gives an overview of the areas that will be covered.

Topic Areas

A. Probabilistic Programming

  1. Differential Privacy via Probabilistic Verification
  2. Lower Bounds for Probabilistic Programs
  3. Understanding SMT Solver Behaviour

B. Verification of Neural Networks

  1. Reusing Knowledge in Neural Network Verification
  2. Equivalence Verification of Neural Networks

C. Analysing Quantum Software

  1. Detecting Quantum Bugs using LintQ
  2. Solving Probabilistic Verification Problems of Neural Networks

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge in the following areas is expected:

  • Formal languages and automata theory
  • Mathematical logic

Previous knowledge in neural networks, stochastic systems and quantum programming (depending on the choice of the topic) is helpful but not mandatory.

Registration

Registration to the seminar is handled via the SuPra system.

Additional Resources

Contact

Thomas Noll