Theses
The following is a brief summary of the topic areas in which we offer project work and theses. We offer (almost) always current, specific topics for theses within the listed areas. You will also find a selection of specific project and thesis topics at the bottom of this page. If you are interested in one of the topics or topic areas or if you are interested in a position as a student assistant ("HiWi") in these areas, please make an appointment with one of our employees by email.
Topic Areas
If none of the topic areas listed below appeal to you, please speak to one of our employees about other topics. The same applies if you have your own ideas for topics.
Case Studies
We want to conduct as many case studies as possible to evaluate and advance our approaches. Interesting case at the moment include:
- The Java Collection Framework
- Functional properties of e-voting systems
- Verification of (abstract) algorithms, e.g., graph traversal
- THe verification of published "verification challenges"
Contact person: Mattias Ulbrich
Involved research projects: KeY project
Verification Approaches
In verification, the question of which memory areas may be modified by a program is of central importance. We are looking for a Master's student to work on a project or thesis on different approaches and compare their possibilities (expressiveness, applicability, etc.).
Contact person: Mattias Ulbrich
Involved research projects: KeY project
Fairness of Social-Choice Mechanisms
Social choice mechanisms are algorithms for solving collective decision-making problems,
such as political elections or the fair distribution of resources (e.g., data traffic on the internet).
For these matters, legal texts make requirements such as "Every vote is equal" or "My data should
not be disadvantaged."
But how can it be proven that the voting or routing procedures really fulfill these requirements?
Is it possible that the requirements cannot be met by any method? We are looking for motivated
Bachelor's and Master's students to formalize corresponding requirements and develop approaches for
formally verifying their impossibility or correctness with respect to algorithms, as well as to analyze
concrete case studies.
We recommend an illustrative video by the
University of Amsterdam to motivate the topic
in the context of voting rules.
Contact person: Michael Kirsten
Verification for Industrial Plants
In the age of Industry 4.0, industrial plants are becoming increasingly complex. Nevertheless, they must guarantee safety and security
aspects. This is where we use formal verification to guarantee these properties. We research regression verification to ensure
properties across the evolution of software, and we also investigate security attacks on production systems.
For both aspects, we are looking for motivated Bachelor's or Master's students to work on the relevant topics.
Contact person: Alexander Weigl
Involved research projects: IMPROVE APS, KASTEL
Thesis Suggestions
In addition to the above topic areas, the theses and projects listed below are also available.
If none of the topics listed below appeal to you, please feel free to contact us with your ideas
(preferably – but not exclusively – within the scope of the topic areas above or the research interests
of the respective employees).