[The following was generated by ChatGPT, when it was given my CV.]
A/Prof. Dr. Peter Höfner (Hoefner)
Associate Director Education, School of Computing, Australian National University
About
Dr. Peter Höfner is an Associate Professor at the Australian National University (ANU) and a researcher in software trustworthiness, concurrency, and formal verification. His research focuses on ensuring the highest levels of software reliability, security, and correctness through mathematically rigorous methods. With extensive experience in both academia and industry collaborations, his work has significantly influenced the development of secure and verifiable software systems.
Research & Contributions
Dr. Höfner is internationally recognised for his innovative approaches to formal verification, particularly in protocol modeling, secure systems, and concurrency. His research provides foundational insights into how software and communication protocols can be made provably correct and resilient to failures or cyber threats.
Key areas of expertise include:
- Formal Methods & Software Verification – Developing mathematical proofs to ensure software correctness.
- Concurrency & Distributed Systems – Addressing the complexities of modern computing environments.
- Protocol Security & High-Assurance Systems – Analyzing and improving protocols used in critical systems.
Dr. Höfner has played a central role in major research initiatives, securing over $1.5 million in competitive funding as Chief Investigator and contributing to DARPA’s $4.5 million HACMS program, which focused on securing unmanned aerial vehicles. His work on protocol verification has led to groundbreaking findings, including exposing previously undetected vulnerabilities in widely used network protocols such as AODV (Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing). For his contributions, he was awarded DARPA’s Game Changer Award (2023), recognizing his impact on high-assurance cyber systems.
Leadership & Education
As Associate Director of Education at ANU’s School of Computing, Dr. Höfner oversees:
- 80+ courses across undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
- 3,700+ students per semester.
- A team of 40+ academic staff and 180+ Casual Sessional Academics (CSAs) each semester.
- Multi-million-dollar education programs, including curriculum redesign and accreditation efforts.
His leadership has strengthened ANU’s computing programs, improving course quality, student engagement, and operational efficiency. Under his guidance, ANU’s computing programs successfully underwent reaccreditation by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) in 2024.
Dr. Höfner is a passionate educator known for his interactive and research-led teaching style, incorporating real-time problem-solving and student involvement. His efforts have resulted in 100% student satisfaction (2024), with students praising his ability to make complex topics engaging and accessible.
Professional Roles & Recognition
Dr. Höfner is an active contributor to the global research community, holding several prestigious leadership roles:
- Vice Chair, IFIP Technical Committee 2 (TC2) – Steering global research in software theory and practice.
- Chair, IFIP Working Group 2.1 “Algorithmic Languages and Calculi” – Leading research on formal languages.
- Steering Committee Member for Relational and Algebraic Methods in Computer Science (RAMiCS) and Formal Analysis of Real Systems (MARS).
- Editor, Journal of Logical and Algebraic Methods in Programming (JLAMP).
His research impact extends beyond academia, influencing industry practices and government-funded research projects in cybersecurity, defense, and trustworthy computing.
Selected Publications & Research Impact
Dr. Höfner has authored numerous high-impact publications in top-tier journals and conferences, spanning topics such as formal verification, software correctness, and security protocols. His research has been widely cited and has led to significant improvements in the design and verification of critical software systems.
Notable contributions include:
- Formalizing and verifying the AODV routing protocol, exposing critical security flaws.
- Developing AWN (Algebra for Wireless Networks), a formal modeling language for secure communication protocols.
- Advancing formal methods for concurrent and multicore systems, ensuring safe and efficient execution.