Provably Correct Systems: Community, connections, and citations

TL;DR

This paper examines the historical influence of the ProCoS projects on formal methods research, focusing on community development, collaborations, and citation impact over time.

Contribution

It analyzes the legacy of the ProCoS initiatives through social science concepts and citation metrics, highlighting community and collaboration dynamics.

Findings

ProCoS projects significantly influenced formal methods research community.

Collaboration networks centered around key researchers like Ernst-Rüdiger Olderog.

Citation analysis reveals the enduring impact of ProCoS-related work.

Abstract

The original European ESPRIT ProCoS I and II projects on Provably Correct Systems} took place around a quarter of a century ago. Since then the legacy of the initiative has spawned many researchers with careers in formal methods. One of the leaders on the ProCoS projects was Ernst-R\"udiger Olderog. This paper charts the influence of the ProCoS projects and the subsequent ProCoS-WG Working Group, using Prof. Dr Olderog as an example. The community of researchers surrounding an initiative such as ProCoS is considered in the context of the social science concept of a Community of Practice (CoP) and the collaborations undertaken through coauthorship of and citations to publications. Consideration of citation metrics is also included.