Tobias Grosser

Associate Professor

University of Cambridge

My interests are compilation, programming language design, and effective performance programming. However, I define these areas broadly. As a result, I ask questions such as:

How can compilers contribute to understanding climate change?
Can machine learning help us to automate compiler design and performance programming?
Can compilers revolutionize how hardware (ASICs, CPUs, ...) is designed?
Can formal verification increase confidence in self-driving cars?
How can performance programming become a smooth and interactive experience for developers?

Before joining Cambridge, I was a Reader at the University of Edinburgh, an Ambizione Fellow at ETH Zurich, and a Google PhD Fellow at École Normale Supérieure Paris. I studied computer science as an undergraduate at the University of Passau in Germany.

Research

Effective Performance Programming by Re-Connecting Developers and Compilers

My research uses strong theoretical reasoning to bring innovations to real-world compilation and programming language problems. My current objective is to rethink performance programming by re-connecting developers and compilers. Today, performance programming is no longer limited to the optimization of low-level code but often includes the use of domain-specific compilers, constraint programming libraries, complex performance models, and automatic (potentially learned) strategies to search for optimal code transformations.

My primary objectives are:

making compilation more modular, predictable, automatic, and trustworthy
bringing open-source compiler innovation to an increasingly broad set of targets from GPUs over FPGAs to custom hardware, and
breaking down the barriers between compilers and programmers by enabling their interaction via the programming language environment.

I dream of a future where performance programming is an intuitive play between the programmer and the compiler. A game that smoothly moves between manual as well as automatic techniques and works across software and hardware.

I am particularly interested in the following areas:

Compilers
Static & dynamic analysis
- Abstract interpretation based program analysis
- Performance and cache models
- Test case generation
Human-compiler interface
Domain-specific compilation
- Deep learning
- Climate science
High-performance computing
- Loop optimization & polyhedral compilation
- Vectorization
Compilation for accelerators: GPU, FPGA
Open-source hardware
- Compiler support for RISC-V
- Software/hardware co-design
SMT and constraint solving
- Mixed integer linear programming
- SAT solving
- Parametric counting using Barvinok’s algorithm
Automatic theorem proving for compiler verification and constraint solving
Effective compilation from functional languages to imperative code
Artificial intelligence for compilers and constraint solvers

Team

Siddharth Bhat

PhD

Luisa Cicolini

Research Assistant

Alex Keizer

PhD

Arjun Pitchanathan

PhD

Emma Urquhart

PhD

Mathieu Fehr

PhD

Leon Frenot

Visiting Student

Bea Healy

PhD

Sasha Lopoukhine

PhD

Hugo Pompougnac

Post-doc visitor

Chris Vasiladiotis

Postdoctoral Researcher

Previous Members

Dalia Shaaban, Intern
2023 - 2024
Moved toETH Zurich (continuing)
Tom Soucies, Intern
2023
Moved toENS Rennes (continuing)
Abhinav Menon, Intern
2023
Moved toIIIT Hyderabad (continuing)
Jatin Agarwala, Intern
2023
Moved toIIIT Hyderabad (continuing)
Theo Degioanni, Intern (M.Sc.)
2022 and 2024
Moved toNVIDIA
Machine Learning Compiler Engineer
Andres Goens, Postdoctoral Researcher
2021 - 2023
Moved toUniversity of Amsterdam
Assistant Professor
Yifan Xu, Intern
2021
Moved toUniversity of Edinburgh
BSc Student (continuing)
David Bourke, MSc
2021
Moved toVyatta NOS group
Performance Engineer
Christian Ulmann, MSc Thesis & BSc Thesis
2020 - 2022
Moved toNextSilicon
Software Engineer
Anurudh Peduri, Intern
2020 - 2022
Moved toRuhr-Universität Bochum
PhD with Michael Walter
Christoph Mueller, Researcher
2020
Moved toMeteoSwiss
Scientific Software Developer
Jakub Lichman, M.Sc. Thesis
2020
Moved toGoogle
Internship with Albert Cohen and Oleksandr Zinenko
Theodoros Theodoridis, Researcher
2019 - 2020
Moved toETH Zurich
Ph.D. student with Zhendong Su
Arjun Pitchanathan, Intern (M.Sc.)
2019 - 2020
Moved toUniversity of Edinburgh
Ph.D. with me
Jean-Michel Gorius, Intern (M.Sc.)
2019
Moved toUniversity of Murcia
Internship with Alexandra Jimborean
Mathieu Fehr, Intern (M.Sc.)
2019
Moved toMIT CSAIL
Internship with Adam Chlipala
Lorenzo Chelini, PhD
2018 - 2020
Moved toIntel Zurich
Postdoctoral Researcher
Anastiasiia Ruzhanskaia, Intern (M.Sc.)
2018
Moved toETH Zurich
Ph.D. student with Timothy Roscoe
Chris Hughes, Researcher

Moved to
Tobias Gysi, PhD Student & Postdoctoral Researcher
2014 - 2020
Moved toGoogle Zurich
Research Engineer

Projects

High-Productivity Compiler Development

We make compiler design accessible, e.g., through our Python-Native compiler framework xDSL.

Compilation for Quantum Computers

We aim to build compiler technology for an open-source quantum compiler ecosystem

Lean-MLIR: Verified Compilation in Lean

We aim to bring formal verification into LLVM/MLIR compiler ecosystem at scale

FPL: A Fast Presburger Library

is a math library for the optimization of loops in deep learning and scientific computing.

Seamless design of Smart Edge Processors

We build a compiler toolchain for low-power domain-specific hardware accelerators for AI

Open-Source Electronic Design Automation

An ecosystem for designing FPGA and ASICs hardware, also covering simulation, and verification

Publications

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

↓ Show All ↓ ↦ Google Scholar

Events

Compiler Social - 12.02.25

Hardware Datapath: For Machine Learning and Beyond

Compiler Social - 04.12.24

MLIR Formal Semantics & Arcilator

Compiler Social - 03.09.24

Quidditch & Mojo

Compiler Social - 19.06.24

Hyperblock Scheduling for Verified High-Level Synthesis

Compiler Social - 07.02.24

The Compilation Game: Unifying AI, Hardware Design, Quantum, Climate Modelling, and Verification

Compiler Social - 22.02.23

Towards MLIR-based single pass SYCL compilation

Join Us!

Are you considering a PhD? I enjoy working with students! Seeing you develop your research vision brings me meaning and joy.

I would be excited to guide you through your scientific adventures. I often have flexible funding to support your vision. Especially if your PhD vision is still blurry, an early chat might help you gain clarity. Choosing to do a PhD can be complex. It may force you to reflect deeply, you may face doubts, or you may need to gain confidence in an area that interests you. Are you worried about your CV? Remember that your curiosity, creativity, personality, and your unique path through life all contribute to your ability to do a PhD. Everyone has specific needs and life circumstances, and I would be glad to discuss how we can tailor your PhD to ensure they are cared for. I am also happy to assist in exploring potential topics or answering practical questions that you may have. As your vision becomes concrete, I can support you with your PhD application.

As a first step, I suggest exploring my research vision, papers, and projects. If a topic excites you (or you have general PhD questions), email me!

I also host postdoctoral researchers and interns. Email me to discuss opportunities.

PhD applications open!

I will be taking a small number of PhD students for the Sep 2025 term (an earlier start may be possible). Thanks to our new Computer Architecture Research Center we have funding for a cohort of PhD students. Use the summer months to get ready for your PhD application. If you are considering to work with me, drop me an email such that we can touch base early and that I can help you with any questions about your PhD. Feel particularly invited, if you feel unsure about doing a PhD.

Last updated: October 2024

Contact

Tobias Grosser

Department of Computer Science and Technology
University of Cambridge
15 JJ Thomson Ave
Cambridge CB3 0FD

tobias.grosser at cst.cam.ac.uk