University of Leicester

Department of Computer Science



Structural Operational Semantics 2005

A Satellite Workshop of ICALP 2005

July 10, 2005, Lisbon, Portugal




Scientific Programme

On-line registration

Program Committee

Luca Aceto (BRICS, Aalborg, DK)
Wan Fokkink (Amsterdam, NL)
Rob van Glabbeek (NICTA, AU)
Matthew Hennessy (Sussex, UK)
Ralf Laemmel (CWI, NL)
Peter Mosses (Swansea, UK, co-chair)
David Sands (Chalmers, SE)
Alex Simpson (Edinburgh, UK)
Simone Tini (Insubria, I)
Irek Ulidowski (Leicester, UK, co-chair)
Erik de Vink (Eindhoven, NL)

Invited speakers

Jan Friso Groote
Jose Meseguer

Contact email

sos2005 AT mcs.le.ac.uk

Workshop organisers

Peter D. Mosses
Department of Computer Science
University of Wales Swansea
Singleton Park
Swansea, SA2 8PP
United Kingdom

Irek Ulidowski
Department of Computer Science
University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester, LE1 7RH
United Kingdom

Aim: Structural operational semantics (SOS) provides a framework for giving operational semantics to programming and specification languages. A growing number of programming languages from commercial and academic spheres have been given usable semantic descriptions by means of structural operational semantics. Because of its intuitive appeal and flexibility, structural operational semantics has found considerable application in the study of the semantics of concurrent processes. Moreover, it is becoming a viable alternative to denotational semantics in the static analysis of programs, and in proving compiler correctness.

Recently, structural operational semantics has been successfully applied as a formal tool to establish results that hold for classes of process description languages. This has allowed for the generalization of well-known results in the field of process algebra, and for the development of a meta-theory for process calculi based on the realization that many of the results in this field only depend upon general semantic properties of language constructs.

This workshop aims at being a forum for researchers, students and practitioners interested in new developments, and directions for future investigation, in the field of structural operational semantics. One of the specific goals of the workshop is to establish synergies between the concurrency and programming language communities working on the theory and practice of SOS. Moreover, it aims at widening the knowledge of SOS among postgraduate students and young researchers from the U.K. and abroad.

Specific topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

  • programming languages
  • process algebras
  • higher-order formalisms
  • rule formats for operational specifications
  • meaning of operational specifications
  • comparisons between denotational, axiomatic and SOS
  • compositionality of modal logics with respect to operational specifications
  • congruence with respect to behavioural equivalences
  • conservative extensions
  • derivation of proof rules from operational specifications
  • software tools that automate, or are based on, SOS.
Papers reporting on applications of SOS to software engineering and other areas of computer science are welcome.

History: The first SOS Workshop took place on 30th of August 2004 in London as one of the satellite workshops of CONCUR 2004. Over 30 participants attended the workshop.

Paper submission: We solicit unpublished papers reporting on original research on the general theme of SOS. Prospective authors are invited to submit their work in two stages. Firstly, the title and abstract of the paper, together with the details of the author(s), should be sent to the workshop's email address by Friday, 13 May 2005. Secondly, a pdf file with their full paper, whose length normally should not exceed 15 pages, should be sent by email to the workshop's email address by Monday, 23 May 2005. The email message with the full paper should also include, in plain text, contact information for the author(s), the title and abstract of the submission. Authors will be notified of acceptance by Monday, 13 June 2005. Submissions from the PC members are allowed.

Proceedings: Preliminary proceedings containing the abstracts of the talks will be available at the meeting. The final proceedings of the workshop will appear as a volume in the ENTCS series.

If the quality and quantity of the papers accepted for the workshop warrant it, submissions will be invited for a special issue of an archival journal devoted to full versions of selected papers.

Important Dates:

  • Submission of abstract: Friday, 13 May 2005
  • Submission of full paper: Monday, 23 May 2005
  • Notification: Monday, 13 June 2005
  • Final version: Friday, 24 June 2005
  • Workshop: Sunday, 10 July 2005.

Irek Ulidowski, Department of Computer Science, University of Leicester.