GRK 1907:  RoSI: Role-based Software-Infrastructures for Continuous-Context-Sensitive Systems

• Subject Area: Computer Science
• Term: from 2013 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 221322883

Modern software has to cope with ever-changing contexts that are caused by complementing new functionalities or by error correction, by support of new technical platforms, or by changing business rules. This complex problem is the outset of the research of RoSI. Members of this research training group investigate the implementation of roles as a universal and consistent concept for solving this problem. The concept of role-modeling has been introduced at different times and in different fields in order to model context-sensitive information or rather specified changes between contexts. The research training group RoSI focuses on this cluster of problems from the very specific perspective of a continuous application of the concept of roles for changing or rather context-sensitive software. Up to now, roles have usually been used in an isolated way for context-modeling in programming languages, in database-modeling, or to specify access control mechanisms. Never have they been used consistently over all levels of abstraction within the software development process, i.e. during concept-, language-, application-, or software-system-modeling. This challenge is the core mission of the research training group RoSI. Providing evidence of consistent role-modeling and its practical feasibility was and is the major objective of this research training group. Consistency means here that roles are used for context-modeling on all levels of the modeling-process. This includes concept-modeling (in meta-languages), language-modeling, and modeling on the application and software system level. Another research task that is linked to this is a further scientific exploration of modeling the role-concept in order to be able to model changes of context on various levels of abstraction. In this respect, consistency also implies that identified role-concepts can be connected systematically to each other in order to enable model transformations and synchronizations. Such kind of consistency offers substantial advantages during system construction as changes of context on different levels of abstraction are linked to each other and will be developed and maintained synchronously. Thus, foundations for new and innovative software-architectures are laid that meet the requirements of future dynamic and heterogenous software systems. Scientific excellence is the aim of this program. At the same time the individual mentoring and qualification program is of great importance. Therefore, on the one hand the concept of advisor tandems and thesis advisory boards are introduced to provide perfect conditions of supervision. On the other hand motivating, extracurricular aspects are integrated: Seminars on „soft-skills“ complement the scientific qualification and an international program for visiting scientists opens up an international perspective.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Dresden
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Lehner
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Uwe Aßmann; Professor Dr.-Ing. Franz Baader; Professorin Dr. Christel Baier; Professor Dr.-Ing. Jeronimo Castrillon-Mazo; Professor Dr. Frank J. Furrer, since 4/2018; Professor Dr. Ivo Sbalzarini; Professor Dr. Alexander Schill; Professorin Dr. Susanne Strahringer; Professor Dr. Thorsten Strufe