The third annual Facebook Testing and Verification (TAV) Symposium took place on Wednesday, November 20, and Thursday, November 21, at the Facebook London office. The TAV Symposium continues to build a community that provides an open environment for discussion, meaningful collaboration, and exchange between researchers and practitioners in the testing and verification space.

Facebook Research Scientists Mark Harman and Peter O’Hearn, co-chairs of the TAV Symposium, kicked off the first day with a welcome presentation, in which they commented on the progress of the TAV research community.

“I’m really delighted by the quality of the talks and discussion, and how the symposium is playing a role in helping to draw together testing and verification and also industrial and academic communities,” says Harman. “We are so fortunate to be working together, building this community of shared interests at such an exciting and pivotal point in the history of testing and verification.”

“It’s remarkable to see the amount of concrete progress and resulting industrial impact of testing and verification research, and now we are observing those developments’ feedback to research by generating new scientific problems,” says O’Hearn. “I hope that by this virtuous two-way feedback cycle, we can continue to see the field accelerate.”

Continuing the structure of the 2018 TAV Symposium, the winners of the 2019 TAV research awards were also invited to a special one-day workshop where they could present their winning proposals and attend the symposium on the days that followed.

The two-day symposium agenda featured a diverse set of global renowned experts from different perspectives in academia and industry, including Turing Award winner Tony Hoare and speakers from Facebook, the University of Oxford, the University of Edinburgh, Saarland University, Apple, the University of Cambridge, the University of British Columbia, the University of Luxembourg, and Galois. For the full schedule, visit the TAV Symposium registration page. Those unable to attend the symposium can view the livestream on the TAV Symposium Facebook page.

“The symposium always has a balanced representation from both industry and academic researchers,” says Ajitha Rajan, of the University of Edinburgh. “You meet people doing a range of different testing and verification activities. This presents exciting opportunities for collaboration, new ideas, and insights into novel and effective techniques.”

The first day of the symposium ended with an evening boat cruise social down the River Thames, where attendees came together to chat and admire the local scenery.

To learn more about how the TAV Symposium first got started, watch the first video call for proposals with Harman and O’Hearn. To view all our current research award opportunities, visit our Research Awards page and be sure to subscribe to our email list for future updates.

To stay updated on future TAV events and programs, join our Facebook group and follow us on Facebook @academics.