The Centre employs 20 full-time research staff and four administrative staff. In addition, six CSEE academics and 16 research students are associated with its research programme. The SVRC aims to improve assurance of integrity for software-dependent systems. Major aspects are verification and validation.
Verification produces assurance that the system as built meets the stated requirements.
Validation is the broader issue of assuring that the resulting system will be fit for its intended purpose. A particular interest is to improve verification by following the example of more mature branches of engineering, using scientific theories to specify and to predict key properties of the system under development. Such theories formalise relevant properties of the components used in the design, and of the environment in which the system operates. They also provide as strong basis for test design. The SVRC pursues its aims via interrelated programmes of strategic research, professional training and industrial consultancy.