Trip Report: ASE 2026, Munich

Oct 21, 2026
A group of conference participants smiling for a photo during a coffee break. A coffee-break (shaky) snapshot at ASE 2026.

Trip report: ASE 2026, Munich. Four papers, conference conversations, and plenty of shared meals!

Our trip to Munich was an opportunity to share work on software verification, testing, repair, and infrastructure quality. Following our announcement of four papers at ASE and its co-located events, the presentations put that research in front of the conference community. Here are some highlights from the sessions and from the time we spent together outside them.

Two Dafny demos at ASE

On 15 October, Álvaro Silva presented ProofPulse: Interactive Proof Coverage Analysis for Dafny, and Sofia Vieira Pinto presented DSpec2Test: Specification-Driven Test Generation in Dafny in the ASE Tool Demonstrations Track.

The tools offer complementary ways to examine Dafny programs. ProofPulse analyses proof coverage to help identify weak specifications and redundant invariants, while DSpec2Test generates tests directly from formal specifications. Both demo papers received the Available, Functional, and Reusable Artifact Evaluation Badges.

Álvaro presenting the ProofPulse title slide at ASE.
Álvaro introduces ProofPulse at ASE on 15 October.
Álvaro presenting the closing slide of the ProofPulse demonstration.
A second moment from the ProofPulse presentation.
Sofia presenting the DSpec2Test title slide at ASE.
Sofia presents specification-driven test generation with DSpec2Test.

Repair and infrastructure quality at the workshops

On 12 October, Isabel Amaral presented DafnyFix: Single-Transformation Automated Repair in Dafny at APR 2026. The work explores how small, targeted program transformations can repair faulty Dafny implementations when verification fails.

At CONFLANG, Carlos Felgueiras presented Déjà Vu? Redundant Dependencies in Terraform. This study examines explicitly declared dependencies that Terraform already captures through expression references, and their consequences for infrastructure dependency graphs.

Together with the ASE demos, these workshop papers show the range of approaches our lab brings to software reliability: understanding what specifications establish, deriving tests from them, repairing implementation faults, and investigating the quality of infrastructure code.

Isabel introducing DafnyFix at the APR workshop.
Isabel introduces DafnyFix at APR 2026.
Isabel discussing failing verification during the DafnyFix presentation.
Explaining the verification failures that motivate automated repair.
Carlos presenting Déjà Vu and redundant dependencies in Terraform.
Carlos presents the Terraform dependency study at CONFLANG on 12 October.

Conversations around the table

The trip was also about the people around the research. Coffee breaks, lunches, and dinners gave us time together between sessions, while the conference banquet on 14 October brought another opportunity to share a table. The photos capture some of those moments, from the banquet to smaller meals across the week. We were also delighted to have SR Lab friends and family join us for some of our social activities in Munich.

Conference participants gathered around a table at the ASE banquet.
Around the table at the conference banquet on 14 October.
A group enjoying dinner together in Munich.
Dinner together after the workshop sessions on 12 October.
A group gathered for dinner in a restaurant with a colourful ceiling.
An evening meal on 15 October, after the ASE demos.
Sharing a meal in a Munich restaurant.
Another meal together during the Munich trip.
Lunch outdoors in Munich.
An outdoor lunch on 16 October.

From arrival to a last look at Munich

The travel photos tell another part of the story: arriving with our luggage, finding our way around, and taking time to see Munich beyond the conference rooms.

Travellers with suitcases at the airport information point in Munich.
Arrival in Munich: luggage and a first stop at the airport information point.
Three travellers posing with their luggage at Munich Airport.
A group photo at the start of the trip.

Our last-day photos capture a different view of the city: a winding staircase, a group selfie above the rooftops, and a wide view of the city centre in the sunshine. They make a fitting closing chapter to a week of presentations and time with colleagues.

A group selfie beside windows overlooking Munich's rooftops.
A last-day view over the rooftops of Munich.
A panoramic view of a busy square and ornate buildings in central Munich.
A final look at central Munich in the sunshine.
A group selfie on a narrow spiral staircase.
Exploring Munich on the last day, with a selfie on the winding staircase.

Congratulations to all the authors and presenters, and thanks to everyone who shared the week with us!

We returned from Munich energised to keep pushing the boundaries of our research, with many new ideas and promising opportunities for collaboration with researchers we met at the conference.