diff --git a/.github/workflows/awesomebot.yml b/.github/workflows/awesomebot.yml
index 095dbe73..a9f25174 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/awesomebot.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/awesomebot.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ jobs:
      - name: Set up Java
        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
        with:
-          java-version: '20'
+          java-version: '21'
           distribution: 'temurin'
           cache: 'maven'
 
@@ -39,4 +39,3 @@ jobs:
         awesome_bot_exit_code="$?"
         echo "awesome_bot_exit_code=$awesome_bot_exit_code" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
         exit "$awesome_bot_exit_code"
-        
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_artifact.yml b/.github/workflows/build_artifact.yml
index cdcc1202..a4d26d0f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_artifact.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_artifact.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 env:
-  java_version: 8
+  java_version: '21'
   java_distribution: 'temurin'
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/checkstyle.yml b/.github/workflows/checkstyle.yml
index 3fa02278..d574f1e8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/checkstyle.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/checkstyle.yml
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Java
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
-          java-version: '11'
-          distribution: 'adopt'
+          java-version: '21'
+          distribution: 'temurin'
           cache: 'maven'
 
       - name: Run Checkstyle
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 33d23df2..84b6662f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
-      - name: Set up Java 8
+      - name: Set up Java
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
-          java-version: '8'
-          distribution: 'adopt'
+          java-version: '21'
+          distribution: 'temurin'
           cache: 'maven'
 
       - name: Configure Git
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update_documentation.yml b/.github/workflows/update_documentation.yml
index f8f7dd18..f6af2c57 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update_documentation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update_documentation.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Java
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
-          java-version: '20'
+          java-version: '21'
           distribution: 'temurin'
           cache: 'maven'
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ed10d27a..a7914e58 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ ABCDE Experiment_*.html
 .idea/modules
 *.iml
 *.ipr
+*.versionsBackup
 
 # CMake
 cmake-build-*/
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 9c6d0649..e49263f6 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
     <groupId>cambio.simulator</groupId>
@@ -11,29 +12,29 @@
     <url>https://github.com/Cambio-Project/MiSim</url>
 
     <properties>
-        <maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
-        <maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
+        <maven.compiler.release>21</maven.compiler.release>
 
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
         <gson.version>2.9.1</gson.version>
         <javatuples.version>1.2</javatuples.version>
         <reflections.version>0.10.2</reflections.version>
-        <commons-io.version>2.11.0</commons-io.version>
-        <commons-cli.version>1.5.0</commons-cli.version>
-        <commons-lang3.version>3.12.0</commons-lang3.version>
+        <commons-io.version>2.15.0</commons-io.version>
+        <commons-cli.version>1.6.0</commons-cli.version>
+        <commons-lang3.version>3.14.0</commons-lang3.version>
         <commons-math3.version>3.6.1</commons-math3.version>
-        <commons-text.version>1.10.0</commons-text.version>
+        <commons-text.version>1.11.0</commons-text.version>
         <desmoj.version>2.5.1e</desmoj.version>
-        <annotations.version>23.0.0</annotations.version>
+        <annotations.version>24.1.0</annotations.version>
 
-        <junit.version>5.9.1</junit.version>
-        <mockito.version>4.8.0</mockito.version>
+        <junit.version>5.10.1</junit.version>
+        <mockito.version>5.7.0</mockito.version>
     </properties>
 
     <scm>
         <developerConnection>scm:git:https://github.com/Cambio-Project/MiSim</developerConnection>
         <tag>HEAD</tag>
     </scm>
+
     <distributionManagement>
         <repository>
             <id>github</id>
@@ -50,6 +51,19 @@
         </repository>
     </repositories>
 
+    <dependencyManagement>
+        <dependencies>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.mockito</groupId>
+                <artifactId>mockito-bom</artifactId>
+                <version>5.7.0</version>
+                <type>pom</type>
+                <scope>import</scope>
+            </dependency>
+        </dependencies>
+    </dependencyManagement>
+
+
     <dependencies>
 
         <!-- util -->
@@ -107,37 +121,24 @@
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
 
-        <!-- checkstyle plugin requires an outdated version of junit-vintage, this dependency overwrites that -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.junit.vintage</groupId>
-            <artifactId>junit-vintage-engine</artifactId>
-            <version>${junit.version}</version>
-            <scope>test</scope>
-        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
             <artifactId>junit-jupiter-api</artifactId>
             <version>${junit.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.mockito</groupId>
             <artifactId>mockito-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${mockito.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.mockito</groupId>
             <artifactId>mockito-junit-jupiter</artifactId>
-            <version>${mockito.version}</version>
-            <scope>test</scope>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.mockito</groupId>
-            <artifactId>mockito-inline</artifactId>
-            <version>${mockito.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+
         <dependency> <!-- this may needs to be moved to default scope if needed elsewhere than the tests -->
             <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-text</artifactId>
@@ -150,15 +151,48 @@
     <build>
         <finalName>${project.artifactId}</finalName>
         <plugins>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>3.4.1</version>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>enforce</id>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>enforce</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <rules>
+                                <requireJavaVersion>
+                                    <version>${maven.compiler.release}</version>
+                                </requireJavaVersion>
+                                <requireMavenVersion>
+                                    <version>3.8.0</version>
+                                </requireMavenVersion>
+                            </rules>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
+
+
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.3.0</version>
+                <version>3.3.1</version>
                 <dependencies>
                     <dependency>
                         <groupId>com.puppycrawl.tools</groupId>
                         <artifactId>checkstyle</artifactId>
-                        <version>9.3</version> <!-- TODO: update to >10 when moving to java >8 -->
+                        <version>10.12.5</version>
+                        <scope>compile</scope>
+                    </dependency>
+                    <!-- checkstyle plugin requires an outdated version of junit-vintage, this dependency overwrites that -->
+                    <dependency>
+                        <groupId>org.junit.vintage</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>junit-vintage-engine</artifactId>
+                        <version>${junit.version}</version>
+                        <scope>compile</scope>
                     </dependency>
                 </dependencies>
                 <configuration>
@@ -184,13 +218,13 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0.0-M7</version>
+                <version>3.2.2</version>
             </plugin>
 
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.4.1</version>
+                <version>3.6.2</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <id>attach-javadocs</id>
@@ -209,9 +243,10 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.10.1</version>
-                <configuration> <!-- Prevent NoSuchFileException during verify when having a dummy package-info.java -->
+                <version>3.11.0</version>
+                <configuration>
                     <compilerArgs>
+                        <!-- Prevent NoSuchFileException during verify when having a dummy package-info.java -->
                         <arg>-Xpkginfo:always</arg>
                     </compilerArgs>
                 </configuration>
@@ -220,10 +255,11 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.3.0</version>
+                <version>3.5.1</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <transformers>
-                        <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.ManifestResourceTransformer">
+                        <transformer
+                                implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.ManifestResourceTransformer">
                             <mainClass>cambio.simulator.Main</mainClass>
                         </transformer>
                     </transformers>
@@ -252,13 +288,13 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                 <artifactId>versions-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.12.0</version>
+                <version>2.16.2</version>
             </plugin>
 
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0.0-M6</version>
+                <version>3.0.1</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <tagNameFormat>v@{project.version}</tagNameFormat>
                 </configuration>
diff --git a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/AbstractDependencyDescriptionTest.java b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/AbstractDependencyDescriptionTest.java
index 4f55b175..ca53fc7a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/AbstractDependencyDescriptionTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/AbstractDependencyDescriptionTest.java
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@
 
 import cambio.simulator.models.MiSimModel;
 import cambio.simulator.test.TestBase;
-import org.junit.Before;
 
 import cambio.simulator.entities.microservice.Microservice;
 import cambio.simulator.entities.microservice.Operation;
 import desmoj.core.simulator.Experiment;
 import desmoj.core.simulator.Model;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 
 /**
  * A base class that provides basic mocks for setting up unit tests on
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractDependencyDescriptionTest extends TestBase {
     protected Operation startOperation;
     protected Request request;
 
-    @Before
+    @BeforeEach
     public void setup() {
         this.random = mock(Random.class);
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/AlternativeDependencyDescriptionTest.java b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/AlternativeDependencyDescriptionTest.java
index 227493a9..2e5df85c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/AlternativeDependencyDescriptionTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/AlternativeDependencyDescriptionTest.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package cambio.simulator.entities.networking;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doReturn;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import org.junit.Test;
 
 import cambio.simulator.entities.microservice.Microservice;
 import cambio.simulator.entities.microservice.Operation;
 import desmoj.core.dist.ContDistConstant;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 /**
  * Runs unit tests for {@link AlternativeDependencyDescription}.
diff --git a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/LoopDependencyDescriptionTest.java b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/LoopDependencyDescriptionTest.java
index eeea44c3..50d1703a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/LoopDependencyDescriptionTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/entities/networking/LoopDependencyDescriptionTest.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package cambio.simulator.entities.networking;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doReturn;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import cambio.simulator.entities.microservice.Microservice;
 import cambio.simulator.entities.microservice.Operation;
@@ -55,12 +56,14 @@ public void testNoChildren() {
         assertEquals(0, result.size());
     }
 
-    @Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
+    @Test
     public void testZeroIterations() {
-        final LoopDependencyDescription dependency = new LoopDependencyDescription(model, 1, 1, 0);
-        setupLoopDependencyWithOneChild(dependency, 1);
-        when(random.nextDouble()).thenReturn(0.5);
-        dependency.generateDependenciesForExecutions(request, random);
+        Assertions.assertThrowsExactly(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> {
+            final LoopDependencyDescription dependency = new LoopDependencyDescription(model, 1, 1, 0);
+            setupLoopDependencyWithOneChild(dependency, 1);
+            when(random.nextDouble()).thenReturn(0.5);
+            dependency.generateDependenciesForExecutions(request, random);
+        });
     }
 
     @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/resources/CPUProcessSchedulerTest.java b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/resources/CPUProcessSchedulerTest.java
index ced5b738..abd95b25 100644
--- a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/resources/CPUProcessSchedulerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/resources/CPUProcessSchedulerTest.java
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Timeout;
 
-class CPUProcessSchedulerTest<T extends CPUProcessScheduler> {
+abstract class CPUProcessSchedulerTest<T extends CPUProcessScheduler> {
 
     private CPUProcessScheduler scheduler;
 
@@ -34,8 +34,6 @@ class CPUProcessSchedulerTest<T extends CPUProcessScheduler> {
     void setUp()
         throws NoSuchMethodException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException, InstantiationException {
 
-        Assumptions.assumeTrue(this.getClass() != CPUProcessSchedulerTest.class); //skips tests in this superclass
-
         TestExperiment testExperiment = new TestExperiment();
         TestModel mod = new TestModel(null, "TestModel", false, false, () -> {
         }, () -> {
@@ -186,4 +184,4 @@ protected void testProcessOrder(ArrayList<Pair<CPUProcess, Integer>> arrivalList
             assertEquals(arrivalList.get(expectedResult[i] - 1).getValue0(), current.getValue0());
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/test/consistency/ReproducibilityTests.java b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/test/consistency/ReproducibilityTests.java
index b8a0d867..b40a14ed 100644
--- a/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/test/consistency/ReproducibilityTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/cambio/simulator/test/consistency/ReproducibilityTests.java
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ void testReproducibility(File scenario, File architecture, boolean keepOutput, b
 
         try {
             TestUtils.compareFileContentsOfDirectories(rawOutput1, rawOutput2);
-        } catch (AssertionFailedError | junit.framework.AssertionFailedError e) {
+        } catch (AssertionFailedError e) {
             Path trace1;
             Path trace2;