Michailia Verou, whose contributions to CSS have shaped modern web development practices, maintains an open repository of her PhD research at phd.verou.me. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, her work documents the intersection of academic research and practical web standards implementation.

Verou's research focuses on extending CSS capabilities while preserving its core principles of simplicity and authorability. Her investigations into:

  • CSS Variables (Custom Properties): Pioneering work that evolved into a fundamental web platform feature
  • Patterns for Extensibility: Frameworks allowing new CSS features without compromising existing syntax
  • Houdini Task Force Contributions: Bridging low-level browser rendering and developer needs

demonstrate how academic rigor directly fuels the tools developers use daily. Her advocacy for "CSS as a programmable language" challenges traditional boundaries between declarative styling and computational logic.

As a W3C Invited Expert and former MIT CSAIL researcher, Verou embodies the critical pipeline between theoretical computer science and production-grade web technologies. Her PhD repository serves as a living archive for developers seeking deeper context behind CSS specifications—and a testament to how open academic work accelerates industry progress.

The lasting impact of such research surfaces whenever developers use var(--theme-color), leverage Houdini APIs, or implement design systems with layered abstraction. Verou's journey underscores why foundational web technology research remains indispensable in an era dominated by high-level frameworks.