Dependable Hardware / Software Systems

Electronic components with „embedded“ computers and software make the core of most „intelligent“ systems of today. Therefore the reliability of such systems critically depends on the quality of integrated systems in hardware and software.

Traditionally, research and education that is relevant for electronic system dependability in general has been done under different labels and in different scientific communities with relative little interaction, such as software technology, distributed systems and fault tolerant computing.
Top-level engineers of today may carry an overall responsibility for the design and development of electronic sub-systems. Therefore they need an education that gives them an overlook over the state-of-the-art in all relevant areas of technology.
Traditionally, doctoral studies in universities cover only a very narrow sub-set of these areas. Then doctoral students, after final graduation, do not have the necessary “overlook” capability which is essential for leading positions in industry. Therefore a program of studies, which combines a focused research in a specific area of system design and test plus an additional education for a general overlook results in candidates that have a higher value for European industries. In turn, the attractiveness of post-graduate studies, which is relatively low in computer science and computer engineering, will eventually grow.
As the basic technologies for dependable system design cover a wide area, which is hardly covered by a single university alone, the collaboration of several universities towards the development of attractive PhD programs in “dependable systems” gives an added value.

ZUSYS therefore connects

1. Brandenburg University of Technology (Germany)
2. Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia)
3. Poznan University of Technology (Poland)
4. Technical University of Liberec (Czech Republic).

These partners jointly support and carry a program of advanced education at the PhD level, which becomes part of the local PhD programs of studies at these universities. Other universities and research institutes participate actively  as “associated members” by providing tutorial lectures and by participation of their doctoral students.