Simula honoured with IEEE TCSE Synergy Award for excellence in Software Engineering

The award is granted to an organisation that serves as a model in the software engineering community for effective partnerships between industry and academia. Past Synergy Award winners include McSCert, Peking University’s Software Engineering Institute, IBM’s Centre for Advanced Studies, Microsoft Research, and the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon.  

Simula's 20-year contribution to Software Engineering

For over 20 years, Simula Research Laboratory has been at the forefront of software engineering research, fostering evidence-based practices, empirical studies, collaboration across multiple sectors and demonstrating a commitment to advancing industry standards, amplifying impact, and enhancing technology transfer. Simula’s Software Engineering (SE) group is internationally recognised for its pioneering work in software reliability, validation, management of software development and AI-driven software quality assurance. Its research has shaped the development of autonomous systems, cyber-physical technologies, quantum software engineering and improved software development processes, with publications in top-tier journals and conferences. The software engineering group was ranked as the world's top institution in systems and software engineering by the Journal of Systems and Software as early as in 2004-2008, and has continued to deliver industry-relevant research of high quality. 

Collaborations across Academia and Industry

Simula’s various collaborations are spread across academia, industry, and the public sector. Academic partners include Brunel University London, Inria, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Oslo Metropolitan University, and University of Oslo. Industry partnerships such as ABB Robotics and Cisco Systems Norway have led to advancements in manufacturing applications, while other collaborations with the Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo Municipality, and the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority have transformed software systems in public services and healthcare. Through initiatives like EDOS (Effective Digitalisation of the Public Sector) and CERTUS, Simula has played a pivotal role in software validation, public sector digitalisation, and large-scale European Union projects, including AI4EU, Europe’s flagship AI platform.

“Simula is receiving this award in recognition of its 20-year record of advancing both industry practice and academic research through world-class software engineering,” said the TCSE Distinguished Synergy Award Committee Members, the TCSE Award Co-Chairs, and the TCSE Chair.  

“Within Software Engineering at Simula, we are dedicated to bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world applications. This award reflects an ongoing commitment to developing robust, high-quality software that meets the highest standards,” says Shaukat Ali, Chief Research Scientist at Simula. “Through strong partnerships and innovative methodologies, we continue to drive progress in software verification and validation, ensuring reliability and trust in critical systems.”  

Professor Are Magnus Bruaset, Director of the Software & AI Division at Simula, emphasised the academic and collaborative significance of the award, “This recognition from IEEE TCSE highlights the depth and impact of Simula’s contributions to software engineering. It reflects years of rigorous research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and sustained knowledge transfer between academia and industry. Advancing software quality, reliability, and certification remains a core priority for Software Engineering at Simula. We look forward to continuing our efforts to address fundamental challenges in the field, especially in the era of AI - referring to both the software engineering challenges of AI-based systems and the use of AI-driven software development.”  

The TCSE awards will be presented at the 47th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2025) in April in Ottawa, Canada.