Motivation
Software is the invisible infrastructure of the digital age. Every breakthrough in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, photonics, and cybersecurity relies on advances in software engineering, yet the field is too often treated as a supportive digital component rather than as a strategic, enabling discipline. In policy frameworks, including major European programmes, software appears primarily as a building block within other technologies, while the scientific discipline of software engineering remains largely absent.
This misalignment has concrete consequences. When software research is framed mainly as “implementation capacity” instead of foundational research, long-term investment shifts toward short-term engineering. Meanwhile, the core scientific challenges remain underinvestigated. This affects Europe’s ability to build and maintain dependable, trustworthy and sustainable digital infrastructure on which our society depends.
The risk, however, is not only technical but strategic. Europe’s digital sovereignty increasingly depends on control over software and the ability to evolve it independently of external platforms and ecosystems.
Scope
The ERCIM Working Group on Software Research aims to strengthen collaboration among European software research associations, ERCIM research institutes, universities, and companies. Its broader objective is to reclaim the identity of software research as a scientific discipline and as a key enabling technology for the digital age.
Strategic agenda
Formulate a shared research and innovation agenda for software. This agenda will identify long-term scientific challenges, cross-cutting themes, and infrastructure needs, and will be aligned with European and national funding priorities.
Visibility
Increase the visibility of software research within European and national funding programmes.
Policy reference point
Provide a consistent point of reference for policymakers and funding agencies.
Collaboration
Promote the inclusion of dedicated software research topics in future funding instruments and support cross-national collaboration, enabling the preparation of joint research proposals that advance the software discipline across Europe.
This Working Group is a joint initiative with the existing Informatics Europe Working Group on Software Research. This ensures that software research is represented coherently across Europe’s two major informatics organisations.
Thematic focus
Institutions and members
The Working Group connects ERCIM institutes, national software research associations, universities, companies, and related European initiatives.
Interested ERCIM institutes
CWI, The Netherlands
Tijs van der Storm (chair), Jurgen Vinju
LIST, Luxembourg
Thomas Tamisier, Jordi Cabot Sagrera
UCY, Cyprus
Elias Athanasopoulos
CNR, Italy
Maurice ter Beek, Alessio Ferrari, Eda Marchetti
Fraunhofer ICT Group, Germany
Peter Liggesmeyer, Eric Bodden
SBA, Austria
Edgar Weippl
INRIA, France
Benoit Combemale, Yves Bertot, Roberto Di Cosmo
ITIS / University of Málaga, Spain
Ernesto Pimentel, Enrique Alba, Javier Troya, Lidia Fuentes, Mónica Pinto, Cristian Martin, Francisco Servant, José Miguel Horcas, Inmaculada Ayala, Daniel J. Muñoz
RISE, Sweden
Björn Forsberg
Related non-ERCIM organisations
Initial interest has also been collected from VERSEN, GDR-GPL, SISTEDES, GRIN, GII, FB-SWT, LERO, CHOOSE, MDENet, SAST, Software Center, and DIREC.
News and events
SRIA writing session (3-4 June 2026 Lille)
The Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda writing session will be organised in connection with GDR SciLog 2026, the first Congrès des Sciences du Logiciel, held in Lille, France, the 3rd and 4th of June 2026.
Resources and references
- VERSEN Manifesto, 2020.
- Europe needs strong software research, VERSEN EU manifesto, 2022.
- The Importance of Software in Europe, ERCIM Task Group position paper, 2025.
- The Critical Omission of Software Technology in the EIC Work Programme 2025, Informatics Europe.
- Call to Prioritise Software Research in Europe, European Working Group on Software Research, 2025.
- Reclaiming Software Engineering as the Enabling Technology for the Digital Age, Vos, T. E. J., van der Storm, T., Serebrenik, A., Briand, L., Di Cosmo, R., Bruel, J.-M., & Combemale, B. In IEEE/ACM 48th International Conference on Software Engineering: Future of Software Engineering (blz. 83-86)
Contact
Chair: Tijs van der Storm, CWI
For questions about the Working Group, participation, or planned activities, please contact the chair or one of the participating institutes.