Call for Contributions to ERCIM News No. 76 (January 2008)

ERCIM News No. 76 will feature a special theme "Sensor Web" or "Sensor Networks". The Call for this special theme section will be available shortly.

The sections of ERCIM News 75 are :

• Joint ERCIM Actions
• The European Scene
• Special Theme: "Safety-Critical Software"
• R&D and Technology Transfer
• Events
• In Brief

ERCIM News 75 Special Theme: "Safety-Critical Software"

Coordinated by:

• Pedro Merino, University of Málaga
• Erwin Schoitsch, Austrian Research Centers

Software has become a vital and integral part of most systems today. When a system can lead to injury, death, the destruction or loss of vital equipment, or damage to the environment, software safety is paramount. This special theme aims to provide an overview on the discipline of safety-critical software, its production (from user requirements to integration and deployment, validation and verification), its maintenance and enhancement throughout the system life cycle, and applications.

This includes, as high-lightened by the ISO/IEC Functional Safety Standards, system aspects, especially consideration of safety and security aspects during hazard and risk analyses, and operations as well.

This ERCIM News special theme invites short articles on research and applications of "Safety-Critical Software". Topics include:

• requirements, design, specification, code generation and testing based on formal methods as well as on other methods
• model based approaches and architectural concepts, especially suited for hard-real time, safety related or safety critical systems, with predictable behaviour - Verification and validation of complex, distributed, real-time systems and embedded systems
• verification and validation methods that address shortcomings of existing methods with respect to their industrial applicability (e.g., scalability and usability issues, test case generation)
• tools for the development of formal design descriptions
• case studies and experience reports on industrial applications of formal methods, focusing on lessons learned or identification of new research directions
• industrial applications of critical software in general from different domains, including domain-specific aspects and high-lights, e.g. from the sector
  • automotive
    railways
  • aerospace
  • industrial control (manufacturing, process industries)
  • (nuclear) power plants
  • critical infrastructures
  • medical devices, health care systems, human care
  • specialized technical systems with safety-related or critical aspects (agriculture, off-road, building and construction)
• Impact of the adoption of formal methods on the development process and associated costs
• application of formal methods in standardization and industrial forums
• standards and certification aspects, including cost and social aspects
• European research in the area of highly dependable systems and software
• Technology Platforms and their research agendas, joint undertakings etc.

Guidelines for ERCIM News articles

Style: ERCIM News is read by a large variety of people. Keeping this in mind the article should be descriptive (emphasize more the 'what' than the 'how') without too much technical detail together with an illustration, if possible.

Length: Keep the article short, i.e. 700-800 words.

Format: Submissions preferably in ASCII text or MS Word, Pictures/Illustrations must be submitted as separate files (not embedded in a MS Word file)

Structure of the article:
The emphasis in ERCIM News is on 'NEWS'. This should be reflected in both title and lead ('teaser').
Also: NO REVIEW ARTICLES!

• Title
• Author (full name, max. two or three authors)
• Teaser:
  a few words about the project/topic. Printed in bold face, this part is intended to raise interest. (keep it short)
• Details describing:
  what the project/product is
  who is involved
  where it takes place
  why the research is being done
  when it was started/completed the aim of the project
  the techniques employed
  the orientation of the project
  future activities
  other institutes involved in this project
  co-operation with other ERCIM members in this field
• Useful Link(s) (only URIs, no references!)
• Contact address with:
  - full name of the author
  - phone number
  - e-mail address
• Additional items:
  an illustration (photos, graphics), for example of the product, applications mentioned in the article, people working on the project, etc. (avoid as much as possible flow charts and screen dumps).

Publishing in ERCIM News offers several advantages:

• ERCIM News represents an excellent opportunity to present your research to a broad audience, also outside your own research community
  • the printed edition has a circulation of 10,500 copies
  • the online edition has excellent visibility with a Google ranking of PR9
• ERCIM News is widely distributed in the European Commission
• ERCIM offers a free professional proof-reading service
• Authors can reuse their articles; the copyright of the articles remains with the authors.