The processes studied by the MRG have included theorem proving via proof methods, proof patching, analogy, symmetry, abstraction, diagrams and reflection; the learning of new proof methods, the formalisation of informally stated problems, the formation of concepts and conjectures and the interaction of automated systems with human users.
The applications of the MRG's work have been to: proof by mathematical induction and co-induction; analysis, including non-standard analysis; mechanics problems; the building of ecological models; the synthesis, verification, transformation and editing of both hardware and software, including logic, functional and iterative programs and process algebras; the configuration of hardware; game playing; and cognitive modelling.
Since the mid 1980s, it has produced over 300 publications, trained 17 research fellows and 41 PhD students, two of whom have won the BCS/CPHC Distinguished Dissertations Award. It has been supported by over 40 research grants, including an EPSRC rolling funding grant (1982-2002), and it has been awarded EPSRC platform grants.