My primary research focus is on middleware and operating system support for a wide range of distributed systems domains including wireless sensor networks, embedded systems and grids. Much of this work is founded on the OpenCOM software component platform which we have developed at Lancaster. This language and system independent platform relies on run-time composition of components and multi-model reflection to support a distinctive, cohesive and effective methodology for the design, development, deployment and dynamic reconfiguration of systems software such as middleware or operating systems. OpenCOM is definitively described in a recent article in ACM Transactions on Computer Systems. Within this broad sweep I have numerous specific interests such as peer-to-peer computing, network overlays (including frameworks for supporting overlays and protocols for ensuring dependability in overlays), dynamic reconfiguration of distributed systems (at both application and systems levels; e.g. of MANET protocols), resource management in grids, applying aspect-oriented computing principles in distributed systems, real-time scheduling and deterministic execution, and software isolation in sensor node operating systems.

I have pursued the above research agenda in numerous projects. These include (among many others) the EU-funded WISEBED (Wireless Sensor Network Testbeds; FP7-ICT-2007-2:224460); RUNES (Reconfigurable Ubiquitous Networked Embedded Systems; IST-004536) and ARTIST (Roadmapping of Advanced Real-Time Systems; IST-2001-34820) projects, and the EPSRC-funded Divergent Grid (EP/C010345/1), Open Overlays (GR/S68521/01), and NETKIT (GR/S01818/01) projects. I have also received funding from Intel (NETKIT), Microsoft (the Rotor Project), and the NWDA (the North-West Grid Project).

I am active in the middleware and distributed systems research community. For example, I have co-chaired the ACM/IFIP International Middleware Conference, the Middleware Track of the IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME), and the Distributed and High-Performance Multimedia topic of the International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing (Euro-Par). I am also on the steering committee of the long-running Adaptive and Reflective Middleware workshop series, and am a founding Associate Editor of IEEE Distributed Systems Online e-Journal. I have organised several other workshops including a Workshop on Next-generation Aspect-Oriented Middleware at AOSD 08, and a workshop on Context-Awareness and Mobility in Grid Computing at CCGrid 07. I serve on the PCs of numerous conferences and workshops in the area.

Geoff Coulson is a Professor of Distributed Computing with over 40 journal and 100 conference papers to his name. He received his PhD from Lancaster in 1992, and since then has led many successful projects in the distributed systems/ middleware area, including EPSRC-, EU- and industry-funded projects. He has been particularly involved recently in projects involving middleware for sensor networks and embedded systems. He serves on numerous PCs in the middleware/ distributed systems area, has organised several international workshops, and has chaired major conferences (e.g. the ACM/ IFIP/USENIX International Middleware Conference). His research interests include distributed systems, grids, adaptive sensor networks, and systems-oriented software engineering.

Pissias, P., Coulson G., Joolia A., "Supporting Dynamic Reconfiguration in Multithreaded Component-based Systems", to appear, IET Software, 2008.

Coulson, G., Blair, G.S., Grace, P., Joolia, A., Lee, K., Ueyama, J., Sivaharan, T., "A Generic Component Model for Building Systems Software", to appear, ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, February 2008.

Grace, P., Hughes, D.R., Porter, B., Blair, G.S., Coulson, G., Taiani, F., "Experiences with Open Overlays: A Middleware Approach to Network Heterogeneity", to appear Proc. EuroSys 08, 2008.

Hughes, D., Greenwood, P., Blair, G.S., Coulson, G., Grace, P., Pappenberger, F., Smith, P., Beven, K., "An Experiment with Reflective Middleware to Support Grid-based Flood Monitoring", to appear Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, 2008.

Costa, P., Coulson, G., Gold, R., Lad, M., Mascolo, C., Mottola, L., Picco, G.P., Sivaharan, T., Weerasinghe, N., Zachariadis, S., "The RUNES Middleware for Networked Embedded Systems and its Application in a Disaster Management Scenario", Proc. 5th Annual IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Comunications (PERCOM’07), White Plains, New York, 19-23 March 2007.

Parlavantzas, N., Coulson, G., "Designing and Constructing Modifiable Middleware using Component Frameworks", IET Software, Vol 1, No 4, pp 113-126, Aug 2007.

Costa, P., Coulson, G., Mascolo, C., Mottola, L., Picco, G.P., Zachariadis, S., "A Reconfigurable Component-based Middleware for Networked Embedded Systems" , International Journal of Wireless Information Networks, Vol 14, No 2, pp 149-162, June 2007.

Hughes, D., Gibson, S., Walkerdine, J., Coulson, G., "Is Deviant Behaviour the Norm on P2P File-Sharing Networks?", IEEE Distributed Systems Online, Feb 2006.

Porter, B., Taiani, F, Coulson, G., "Generalised Repair for Overlay Networks", Proc. IEEE Symposium on Reliability in Distributed Software (SRDS), 2006.

Hughes, D., Greenwood, P., Blair, G., Coulson, G., Pappenberger, F., Paul Smith, P., Keith Beven, K., "An Intelligent and Adaptable Grid-based Flood Monitoring and Warning System", Proc. UK eScience All Hands Meeting, 2006 (Recipient of the best conference paper award).

Schulze, B., Coulson, G., Nandkumar, R., Henderson, P., "Middleware for Grid Computing: A Possible Future", Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, Wiley InterScience, Vol 19, No 14, pp 1879-1884, Nov 2006.