ChRiGiD
The RiGiD project aims to develop a practical methodology for improving the reliability of data analysis pipelines written in R. Starting from the observation that computer science has failed to produce tools usable by working data scientists, the project combines large-scale empirical study of real-world code with the development of lightweight specification techniques — notably gradual typing — automated testing, and reproducibility support. The goal is not formal correctness but a pragmatic reduction in the incidence of errors across all stages of data analysis, from data acquisition and cleaning to statistical modeling and reporting.
An R&D project supported and funded by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic under the ERC CZ programme (grant LL2325) and conducted at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University.
Understanding how data scientists work and where things go wrong. Through user studies, interviews, and large-scale analysis of real-world R code, we catalog error patterns across all stages of the data analysis process — from data acquisition and cleaning to modeling and reporting.
Developing type systems that catch errors in dynamic languages without getting in the way. We explore gradual typing, set-theoretic types, and type inference techniques that accommodate the idioms data scientists actually use — data frames, implicit conversions, and multiple object systems.
Building the compilers, runtime systems, and development tools that make it all work. This includes JIT compilation for R, automated test generation, reproducibility infrastructure, and data lineage tracking for auditing results.
The project maintains strong international collaboration across Europe, North America, and Asia. Nearly all publications are the result of cross-institutional research efforts.
We co-organize the International Summer School on Programming Languages (PLISS), an influential training event for early-career researchers. In 2027, we will host SPLASH, marking the first time this premier conference will take place in Central Europe.
We also actively host visiting researchers and organize joint research meetings between Charles University and Czech Technical University, strengthening the Czech programming languages research ecosystem.
We are constantly looking for smart and enthusiastic people to work with. You can find more details regarding interesting project ideas here.
Possible openings might be available for Bachelor, Master, and PhD students as well as Post-Doc researchers. If you think you might be interested in joining us, feel free to contact via email at lucie.lerch@matfyz.cuni.cz.
When you send an email state briefly your past experience, publication track record, past supervisors, as well as attach a your CV. Please make sure to include answers for the following questions: What aspect of research is appealing to you? What is your career goal?