PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Bernd Fischer

Bernd Fischer is a computer scientist whose AI research uses logic-based methods for automated software engineering. At NASA Ames, he coauthored AutoBayes, which generates data-analysis code from statistical models; later, at Southampton, he worked on SMT-based verification for embedded C. He moved to Stellenbosch in 2013 and coauthored CSeq; CSeq and ESBMC won several SV-COMP medals in 2016. The ASE named him a Fellow in 2021, and, as of October 2026, he is a professor at Stellenbosch and chairs the ASE Conferences Steering Committee.

Now at
Stellenbosch University and Automated Software Engineering
Works
167
Citations
2,507
h-index
27

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1998–2006

    NASA Ames and AutoBayes

    From 1998 to 2006, he works as a research scientist with USRA/RIACS at NASA Ames. In 2001, he completes a PhD in computer science at the University of Passau after studying at TU Braunschweig; his thesis concerns deduction-based software component retrieval. In 2003, he coauthors AutoBayes, a program synthesis system that generates optimized C/C++ data-analysis code from statistical models through schema-guided deductive synthesis.

  2. 2009

    Southampton and C verification

    From 2006 to 2013, he serves as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Southampton. In 2009, he coauthors research on SMT-based bounded model checking for embedded ANSI-C software, applying different SMT solvers to the task.

  3. 2011

    An ACM Distinguished Paper Award

    In 2011, he coauthors “Bounded Model Checking for Multi-threaded Software using SMT-Solvers,” which receives an ACM Distinguished Paper Award.

  4. 2013

    Introducing the CSeq tool

    In 2013, he moves to Stellenbosch University and coauthors CSeq, a concurrency preprocessor for sequential C verification tools.

  5. 2016

    SV-COMP medals and GPCE chair

    In 2016, CSeq wins Gold and Silver medals in the concurrency category at SV-COMP, while ESBMC wins Gold in the arrays category and Silver in bitvectors. He serves as General Chair of GPCE 2016.

  6. 2021

    An ASE Fellowship

    The ASE designates him a Fellow of Automated Software Engineering in 2021.

  7. 2025–2026

    Conference research committees

    In 2025, he serves on the ICSE Research Track committee. In 2026, he serves on the SLE Steering Committee, with Stellenbosch University as his affiliation.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and ASE chair

    As of October 2026, he is a professor in Stellenbosch University's Computer Science Division, with research interests in software engineering, formal methods, program analysis, program generation, program verification, and artificial intelligence. He chairs the ASE Conferences Steering Committee.

Career

  1. Since 2013Stellenbosch UniversityProfessor
  2. NowAutomated Software EngineeringChair
  3. 2006–2013University of SouthamptonSenior Lecturer
  4. 2000–2009NASA
  5. 1998–2006Universities Space Research AssociationResearch Scientist

Education

  1. 2001University of PassauPhD
  2. Technische Universität Braunschweig

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

  1. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIIncludes Stellenbosch University. We estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Stellenbosch University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Southampton. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Southampton. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Bernd Fischer yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Systems@Brown | Bernd Fischer atlas.cs.brown.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Bernd Fischer - Stellenbosch University bfischer.pages.cs.sun.ac.za. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. AutoBayes: a system for generating data analysis programs from statistical models | Journal of Functional Programming cambridge.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. SMT-Based Bounded Model Checking for Embedded ANSI-C Software arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Bernd Fischer - Stellenbosch University bfischer.pages.cs.sun.ac.za. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Fellows of Automated Software Engineering ase-conferences.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Bernd Fischer - FORGE 2025 conf.researchr.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Bernd Fischer - SLE 2026 conf.researchr.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Academic staff | Computer Science Rekenaarwetenskap cs.sun.ac.za. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. ASE Conferences Steering Committee ase-conferences.org. Checked 20 October 2026.