Solid grounding in logical reasoning and problem-solving skills
What is the most surprising thing to date you’ve learned from your research? What surprises me most is the level upon which we, as a society, are already dependant on software that isn’t sufficiently robust, even in areas as critical as transportation and medical devices. Software safety and reliability emerges from the core of computation and formal software development, where we use mathematical and formal models to derive software. In this fast-moving world with new languages, tools and techniques continuously evolving, it is easy to forget that this solid grounding in logical reasoning and problem-solving skills is fundamental for a career in Computer Science, both in research and in the software industry. What’s unique about Maynooth University, in your opinion? Maynooth University is unique in the community of people and disciplines that it brings together.
This is achieved through a range of international programmes, diverse entry routes into degree programmes, links with local schools and links with local industry. For example, our postgraduate programmes in Computer Science offer integrated programmes with other European universities, as well as opportunities to complete internships in international research laboratories and local software industries.
30 – Maynooth University
What is the impact of Maynooth University in the context of national and international research, in your opinion? Our research focuses on the fundamental aspects of Mathematics, Computation and Communications and on applying theoretical advances to real world problems. This research impacts on a local and international scale through collaborations with international research laboratories, as well as with multinational and local companies. Continued peer reviewed publication and funding through bodies such as SFI, IRC, EI and the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation facilitates this research and highlights its impact.
What’s your greatest ambition for your own research and that of your postgraduate students? My ambition is to vastly increase the dependability of software by changing the way in which we build software systems, to ensure their correctness and safety. Through my research, alongside my team of postgraduate and postdoctorate researchers, we build on the underlying theory of Computer Science, providing techniques to verify dependability of the software systems which permeate every aspect of modern life.
