Welcome, Professor Florian Zuleger

What have been the most important stages in your academic career?

My academic career began at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where I studied mathematics and computer science. I then moved to the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), where I earned my Ph.D. in computer science and later served as an assistant professor, associate professor and professor at the Institute of Logic and Computation. My research internship at Microsoft Research in Redmond (USA) and my research fellowship at the Institut de Recherche en Informatique Fondamentale (IRIF) in Paris were particularly formative experiences that broadened my perspective on different research cultures and international collaboration. At TU Wien, I was eventually able to establish my own research group and, together with numerous international partners, contribute to the mathematical foundations of computer science, program analysis and software verification. I am all the more pleased to now return to the TUM as a professor of Fundamentals of Programming.

What are your main areas of research?

My research is in the field of theoretical computer science and focuses on the mathematical foundations of modern programming languages. I am interested in the question of how programs can be described mathematically in such a way that computers can automatically infer their properties. To this end, I develop new mathematical models, logics and algorithms that deepen our understanding of modern programming languages and form the basis for new methods of program analysis and software verification. In my view, combining these formal methods with artificial intelligence techniques is a particularly exciting topic for the future. I am convinced that these two fields complement each other and, together, open up new possibilities for the development of secure, reliable and high-performance software.

What are you most looking forward to in your new position at the TUM? 

I am particularly looking forward to establishing an internationally recognized research group at the TUM and working with outstanding early-career researchers on the foundations of future software technologies. With its excellent research and interdisciplinary environment, the TUM offers the ideal conditions for forging new connections between computer science, mathematics and artificial intelligence. At the same time, I look forward to showing students just how fascinating the formal foundations of computer science are and how mathematical ideas form the basis of modern software development, compiler technologies and reliable systems.

What was your biggest “aha” moment in your scientific career?

Realizing that theory and practice are not opposites. Behind nearly every practical problem lies a fascinating theoretical question – and conversely, theoretical foundations often provide the most systematic solutions to practical challenges.

What is at the top of your personal bucket list?     

Finding the best Obazda in Munich – I’d love any helpful tips! I often missed it while I was in Vienna, so at some point I started making it myself for potluck dinners.