Welcome to SE@UHD
This website provides an overview of the research and teaching activities of the Software Engineering Group at Heidelberg University.
Software is ubiquitous. Ongoing failures of crucial software systems and news about late, overexpensive, or failed software projects illustrate the unabated potential to improve (the adoption of) software development processes and tools. More and more people and organizations develop software - unfortunately often not according to established software engineering standards. Software engineering can be defined as the “systematic application of scientific and technological knowledge, methods, and experience to the design, implementation, testing, maintenance, operation, and documentation of software, with a particular focus on automation” (adapted from ISO/IEC 2382:2015). Instead of systematically applying insights from research and practice, decision-makers in organizations often rather rely on their personal experience or statements made by self-proclaimed “thought leaders.” Software engineering practice is therefore far away from being evidence-based. However, blaming actors in companies and open source projects alone for this situation would be too short-sighted.
A major issue is that software engineering research has not seen itself as an empirical discipline for a long time. This is why the Software Engineering Group at Heidelberg University, led by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Baltes, primarily focuses on empirical software engineering. We empirically study phenomena in software engineering practice to derive actionable insights and requirements for better tool support. With the resulting knowledge, we develop tool prototypes and recommendations to address the identified issues. Those suggested solutions are then again empirically validated and adapted if required. Most research projects we work on further have an interdisciplinary angle - but are of course rooted in software engineering problems.
If you are interested in writing a bachelor or master thesis in our group, please see this page.