Research Interests
By developing methods based on a tight interactions between computer algebra and automated reasoning, Laura Kovács promotes research on:
- algebraic analysis of systems, in particular for invariant synthesis, termination analysis and probabilistic reasoning;
- deductive verification, in particular focusing on safety and security verification;
- SMT solving, in particular addressing on-demand theory reasoning;
- first-order theorem proving, in particular targeting quantified reasoning with theory extensions.
Bio
Laura Kovács received her Ph.D. degree in Computer Science with highest distinction from the Research Institute for Symbolic Computation (RISC-Linz), Johannes Kepler University in 2007 and her Habilitation degree in Computer Science at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) in 2012.
Her research establishes synergies between computer algebra and automated deduction in support of automated reasoning about software systems. Her work
- enhances automated deduction with computer algebra insights;
- extends computer algebra methods by automated deduction approaches;
- designs hybrid approaches complementing computer algebra and automated deduction;
- develops software artefacts combining computer algebra and automated deduction.
Laura Kovács worked on the following research projects, among others: ForSmart: Effective Formal Methods for Smart-Contract Certification, Co-Principal Investigator and Applicant, Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), Grant ICT (Prof. Maria Christakis, TU Wien, PI), 9/2023-8/2027, Abenteuer Informatik für Volksschulen, Principal Investigator and Applicant, LEA – Let’s Empower Austria Grant, 4/2023-3/2024, and SpyCoDe: Semantic and Cryptographic Foundations of Security and Privacy by Compositional Design – Principal Investigator and Applicant, FWF Special Research Program SFB (with speaker Prof. Matteo Maffei), 2022-2026.
She received numerous awards like the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant (2020), ERC Proof of Concept (2018) and ERC Starting Grant (2014).