Home > Conferences and Workshops > Theory of Probabilistic Systems


The theory of probabilistic systems has expanded significantly in the last 15 years. There is now a good understanding of probabilistic bisimulation, model checking, metrics, dualities, approximation, real-time systems and a number of other topics. This workshop aims to bring together some of the principal contributors to the subject and discuss their latest work and future directions. There will be a clusters of talks on: (1) verification of probabilistic systems, (2) approximation (3) duality and (4) metrics. I hope to interest some of the participants in the importance of coalgebraic thinking! Through this workshop we hope to bring together some of the people responsible for these developments and share ideas and viewpoints. Space at the Bellairs Institute is limited and we regret that we cannot invite everyone who has contributed significantly to this subject.

The workshop organizer is Prakash Panangaden. Here is a group photo of the participants.

The practice at these workshops has been to allow the speaker ample time to get to technical details and for there to be lots of opportunities for extensive discussions. The schedule is here.

The workshop runs from 2nd April 2012 to 5th April 2012 and will take place at the Bellairs Research Institute in Barbados.

Directions and things to know: The airport is on the east-south point of the island and Bellairs is on the west side (about a 40 minute taxi drive). Here is a map of Barbados and here is one of the institute grounds.
Tell the taxi drivers to take you to Bellairs Research Centre in Holetown.

Holetown is small and Bellairs is on the main (only) street about 500m North of the main shopping mall. The taxi ride should cost about $35 U.S. Barbados is safe and one shouldn't worry about travelling alone. US currency is freely accepted at 2 Barbadian dollars per US dollar. Other currencies (Pound sterling, Canadian dollars) are not accepted; you will have to change them at banks or at the airport.  People had trouble using their bank cards from Europe, but Canadian and US cards seem to work fine.

Good things to bring are suntan lotion or dark skin, mosquito repellent, swimwear, papers/books/stationary and light clothing (it will be hot). Note that some of the better restaurants in the area do require long pants in the evenings (swim attire is not accepted).

There is wireless hookup for laptops so you can bring your own laptop but the connection is intermittent. There is a small fee for using the computers or using the wireless with a laptop to connect to the internet.

The cost of a room is between 35 and 100 US $ per day per person depending on the type of room. The room bookings are made by the organizer, please do not contact the Bellairs staff yourself. The cook prepares dinner for $25 U.S. per person per meal and breakfast for $7 per person per meal.