The Dependable Systems & Software Engineering (DSSE) Group is headed by Prof Michael Butler. We cover a wide range of activities, with the common theme of the software development process.

The overall objective of the Dependable Systems and Software Engineering Group (DSSE) is to conduct research which leads to increases in the dependability of software based systems through the provision of architectures, construction methods, validation tools and the general advancement of software science. The dependability of software is of critical importance to society as a whole. Failures in software systems are enormously costly not only to developers, but also to the users of such systems as well as the users and providers of services that depend on them. Our work on software engineering is concerned with management of the software development process and predicting and improving the productivity of software development. While much of our work has a strong mathematical underpinning, it is very much driven by practical experience, objectives and validation.

Our research encompasses a wide range of activities covering software engineering practice, software architectures, formal design methods, automated verification, computational models and foundations. On the more practical side, we develop tools that help with software construction and validation. We also construct software applications to experiment with software architectures and construction methods. On the more foundational side, we develop theories and methods for a range of systems including distributed systems, ubiquitous systems, information systems, and control systems. The foundational work feeds into the development of tools and construction methods.

DSSE has strong collaboration with industry which provides us with many exciting challenges and helps ensure the relevance of our research. We also have strong links with other groups in the School of Electronics and Computer Science and with groups in other national and international institutions. The strength of our researchers and collaborations provide a rich and cooperative research environment in which to work.

PhD Research topics in DSSE. For application details, see the ECS Postgraduate Admissions pages.

Who we are (for all group members click here)