The Institute for Programming research and Algorithmics (IPA) is a national inter-university research school.
Its principal goal is to educate researchers in the field of programming research and algorithmics; this research field comprises: the study and development of formalisms, methods, and techniques to design, analyse, and construct software systems and components.
Research within IPA concentrates on Algorithmics and Complexity, Formal Methods and Software Engineering and Technology. Within these larger fields IPA focusses on areas in which it expects important developments will happen in the near future, the so-called focus areas.