Work programme and methods

We plan to stage the research work in clusters of separated tasks, though some of them will be executed concurrently, as shown in Figure 1. A first cluster will include tasks such as:

1. surveying and comparing state of the art techniques;
2. establishing some basic results (theorems and related proofs) needed for the design of our verification system.

 
Figure 1: A gantt chart of the work programme. Straight lines indicate certain activity; dashed lines indicate possible activity.

This will take approximately 10 months. However, task 2 could be performed in parallel with the generic design of the system, so that the construction of the theory could be driven, in a sense, by the needs of the design and viceversa. A second cluster of tasks, to be covered in the remaining 14 months, will be dedicated to

1. design refinement;
2. construction of prototype;
3. testing.

The last two tasks will not be performed as a sequence: a feedback cycle between them will be necessary, which could appeal to the results of the design stage.

Moreover, we plan to write a series of scientific papers, aimed at both international conferences and journals, in order to disseminate the results of our research.