industry

Collaborating with the Software Languages Lab.

Companies and organisations are always welcome to reach out to any of SOFT’s professors, at any stage, for instance for:

  • an informal first conversation to explore whether there is a good fit;
  • help with a feasibility study, often supported by VLAIO (Flanders) or Innoviris (Brussels), to assess an idea before committing to full-scale development;
  • a joint R&D project or contract research; or
  • tailor-made training for your team.

It is best to contact the professor whose research team best matches your question directly: see the people page. If you are not sure who to contact, write to info@soft.vub.ac.be and we will put you in touch with the right person.

Industrial research consortia

Several of SOFT’s professors are also involved in industry-oriented consortia of the VUB Industrial Research Fund (IOF).

Software Innovation Cluster (SIC)

The Software Innovation Cluster is an IOF GEAR programme led by Wolfgang De Meuter, Coen De Roover, and Jens Nicolay, bringing together researchers from their teams. It bridges the gap between research and practice by developing programming languages, frameworks, and tools for:

  • secure software: the processes and tools behind DevSecOps, such as secure coding practices, automated security testing, Infrastructure as Code, and software supply chain management;
  • smart software: engineering practices for AI-intensive systems, such as deploying models in existing software and configuring MLOps pipelines, and, conversely, applying AI to software engineering, for instance for defect prediction and software repository analytics;
  • sustainable software: evaluating and reducing the energy consumption of software systems, for instance by re-architecting IoT backends into event-driven, reactive, and streaming architectures.

The cluster offers bilateral and collaborative research projects at the Flemish (VLAIO), Brussels (Innoviris), and European (Horizon Europe) level; consulting, such as proofs of concept, short-term assignments, and advisory roles as a neutral third party; training for specialised technical teams; and workshops and seminars.

Brubotics

Brubotics is a consortium of nine VUB research labs on sustainable, human-centred robotics, coordinated by Bram Vanderborght. Antonio Paolillo contributes SOFT’s expertise in real-time, embedded, and system software.