The European research network on types for programming and verification

Types are pervasive in programming and information technology. A type defines a formal interface between software components, allowing the automatic verification of their connections, and greatly enhancing the robustness and reliability of computations and communications. In rich dependent type theories, the full functional specification of a program can be expressed as a type. Type systems have rapidly evolved over the past years, becoming more sophisticated, capturing new aspects of the behaviour of programs and the dynamics of their execution.

This COST Action will give a strong impetus to research on type theory and its many applications in computer science, by promoting (1) the synergy between theoretical computer scientists, logicians and mathematicians to develop new foundations for type theory, for example as based on the recent development of "homotopy type theory'', (2) the joint development of type theoretic tools as proof assistants and integrated programming environments, (3) the study of dependent types for programming and its deployment in software development, (4) the study of dependent types for verification and its deployment in software analysis and verification. The action will also tie together these different areas and promote cross-fertilisation.

Europe has a strong type theory community, ranging from foundational research to applications in programming languages, verification and theorem proving, which is in urgent need of better networking. A COST Action that crosses the borders will support the collaboration between groups and complementary expertise, and mobilise a critical mass of existing type theory research.