As president of the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) Austria, Europe's newest science and technology academy in Klosterneuburg, Tom Henzinger's focus will shift from researching ways to improve the reliability of software and hardware systems to developing a world-class institute, faculty and staff. See CV

Henzinger, a renowned computer scientist who is best known for his work in real-time and embedded systems, formally assumes his new post on 1 September. IST Austria's buildings and campus are still under construction, and its newness was one of the reasons he was drawn to the position. “That is what attracted me,” Henzinger says. “One can shape everything.”

Also appealing was the chance to return to his homeland. Henzinger hasn't lived in Austria since the 1980s, when he left to pursue a PhD at Stanford University in California.

Currently a computer and communication sciences professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Henzinger has focused on developing ways to uncover bugs and errors in computer programs. He worked on this at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also co-developed a computer language that eliminates many sources of timing errors — crucial in aeroplane navigation systems, for example. If a personal computer crashes, it is an annoyance, “but if a system gets hung up in a critical moment in flight control, it could be a disaster”, Henzinger says.

Although Henzinger is fascinated by the precise world of computers, he has been expanding his purview, researching applications of computer models to biology and other sciences. That multidisciplinary perspective helped make IST Austria's decision, he says. “Interdisciplinarity is a necessity in science today. At IST Austria, we will have material scientists next to biologists next to computer scientists,” Henzinger says. “Computer science today is not just about number crunching but is a science of design.”

Edward Lee, from the University of California, Berkeley, says that his former colleague is ideally suited to lead IST Austria: “His thinking is unconventional — he doesn't do mainstream stuff in mainstream ways. Everything he's done has branched in a new direction and had a major impact.”

In his new role, Henzinger will recruit faculty members instead of being one, and he won't just fill seats. “We want to create a top-ranked research institute that will compare with the top institutes in Europe and the United States,” he says. “We will not compromise.”