BSc Project: Description Logics for Permission models

Permission models address the task of managing user permissions with respect to objects and other users. They define the way that we can answer the question: "who is allowed to do what?".

The objective of this project is to investigate the applicability of description logics for the design, implementation and use of permission models.

To evaluate the approach chosen, a prototype for an example of a description logic supported permission model is to be implemented. One possibility is to model permissions for a content management system (e.g. an internet news site), which would involve user permissions for reading, inserting, confirming, rejecting, suspending, and scheduling of documents.

Programming language should be Java. The prototype would have to make use of a relational database management system (MYSQL) and a description logic system (Racer). Description logic reference: Franz Baader, Diego Calvanese, Deborah McGuinness, Daniele Nardi, Peter Patel-Schneider, editors. The Description Logic Handbook. Cambridge University Press, January 2003.