GoKawiilCanonical backs Bristol PhD to automate C-to-Rust code conversion
Canonical is funding a three-year PhD project at the University of Bristol's Programming Languages Research Group aimed at automatically converting large C codebases into Rust. UK Research and Innovation is providing matching funds, and the project will be led by student Alex Wood under Professor Meng Wang, with Dr. Cristina David and Canonical's Jon Seager as co-supervisors.
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Manually rewriting legacy C software in memory-safe Rust is slow and expensive, so a reliable automated translator could accelerate industry-wide efforts to eliminate memory-safety bugs that cause many security vulnerabilities. Canonical's backing signals growing corporate interest in Rust migration tooling as governments and vendors push for safer systems programming.
- Canonical is co-funding a Bristol PhD on automated C-to-Rust translation
- UK Research and Innovation is matching Canonical's funding
- Goal is producing safe, behaviorally correct, maintainable Rust from large C codebases
Programming Rust" by Jim Blandy (O'Reilly) — If Canonical's push to turn C codebases into safe Rust has you curious, this O'Reilly guide is a thorough deep dive into Rust's ownership, borrowing, and systems-level features. It's especially handy for C and C++ developers who want to understand what makes translated Rust code memory-safe in the first place.
See Programming Rust" by Jim Blandy (O'Reilly) on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: developers.slashdot.org — Posted, 2026-08-23
Published there as: “Canonical is Funding a PhD to Automate C to Rust Translation”
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