Over the last decades, the complexity of systems we study and design (such as Cyber-Physical Systems) has grown exponentially. To manage this complexity, industry and academia now explicitly model different aspects of the structure and behaviour of systems, at the most appropriate level(s) of abstraction, using the most appropriate modelling formalism(s).

Dedicated modelling formalisms, also known as Domain Specific Languages, are used increasingly to maximally constrain the modeller to the problem at hand, reducing the cognitive gap and enabling optimal, domain specific, model manipulations such as application synthesis. In particular for product families, using generative (transformation) techniques, numerous success stories are reported in industry.

Model Based Systems Engineering in general, and Domain Specific Modeling in particular have proven useful in a wide range of application domains: Interactive Systems, Real-Time Systems, Web 2.0 design, Business Architecture, Modern Computer Games, Industrial Automation, Hardware and Software Co-design, Mechatronics, Business Process Modeling, Requirements Engineering, and Process Design, etc.

Hand in hand with these industrial successes, academia have been developing foundations, systematic approaches, techniques, tools, frameworks and processes to turn Model Based Systems Engineering into a true engineering discipline. This builds on existing work in language semantics, simulation, model checking, and model-based testing.

Given the plethora of scattered developments (theories, techniques and tools) in this exciting field, practitioners as well as students and researchers lack an integrated vision of the model based systems engineering domain. This includes insight into the limitations of domain-specific modeling such as limited support for version control, language evolution and debugging. This in contrast with the ample support for these features in general purpose (programming) languages.

It is exactly the integrated vision on the problems addressed and solutions offered by Domain Specific Modelling (and Modelling Language Engineering) that this Summer School aims to provide.

This sixth International Summer School on Domain Specific Modeling - Theory and Practice is aimed at researchers, teachers, practitioners, and students (typically PhD. level) who intend to study or work with Domain Specific Modeling. The purpose is to learn about foundations as well as best practices in a friendly and stimulating environment. There will be ample opportunities to discuss with other participants and with the lecturers. These lecturers are experienced and active professionals, leaders in their field, whose academic and industrial background covers the broad range of topics of the School.

DSM-TP 2015 is hosted by the Modelling, Simulation and Design Lab (MSDL) at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. The Summer School is organized in close collaboration with the Departamento de Informática, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal who organized the first four editions of this Summer School.

The event will take place during five days. During the first four days, theory lectures introducing theoretical/foundational topics will be alternated with tutorials where techniques and tools will be explained hands-on. A small common Case Study from the Railway Domain will be used across all tutorials to make the coherence between the different topics (language design, model transformation, semantics, model checking, ...) clear. During the last day of the School, both the academic and industrial point of view on the most recent advances in the field will be presented. This will highlight current research as well as discuss challenges and open issues (with many hints for future PhD topics).

• Causes of Complexity
• The need for Domain Specific Modelling and Languages
• Domain Modelling
• Variability, Product Families
• Modelling Language Engineering (aka Meta-Modelling)
• Visual Modelling Languages
• Model Transformation
• Querying, Multi-view modelling, trace-ability
• Specifying Modelling Language Semantics, common Semantic Domains
• Specifying and Checking (Domain-Specific) Model Properties
• Evaluating the Quality of Domain Specific Languages
• (Meta-)Model Composition
• Industrial Uses of Domain-Specific Modelling and Model-Based Systems Engineering

• Language Design: metaDepth, Clafer, AToMPM, IncQuery, ...
• Model Transformations: AToMPM/MoTif, ATL, Epsilon tools such as EGL, ...

The summer school is organized as part of the Antwerp Summer University programme.

You can read more about studying at the University of Antwerp here.