5 PhD Positions in Formal Methods, Functional Programming, and
Information and Software/Web Security at the Department of Computer
Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Application deadline: March 31, 2014
The positions are intended to start in autumn 2014, but an earlier
start could also be arranged.
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*Job description*
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Chalmers
University of Technology invites applications for PhD positions in
Formal Methods/Automated Reasoning,
Functional Programming, and Information and Software/Web Security, as
follows:
-----------------------------
* 1 PhD position in Formal Methods:
The PhD student will join the Formal Methods group and contribute to
its
research on improving the quality of complex software systems. The
Formal Methods group of Chalmers is an internationally recognised
research group with a high-profile research track record and an
excellent network of collaborators. The group's research focus is in
the
theoretical and practical aspects of formal software verification,
including automated reasoning, interactive theorem proving, runtime
verification, and test generation. Together with international
collaborators, the group members co-developed widely recognised
verification tools like KeY (www.key-project.org [1]), Vampire
(http://vprover.org [2]), ALIGATOR (mtc.epfl.ch/software-tools/Aligator
[3]), and LARVA.
The research of the advertised PhD position will be in the area of
Software Verification, with a strong focus on the creative use and
development of automated reasoning techniques for software
verification.
In particular, we are interested in designing and combining new methods
in automated first-order theorem proving, satisfiability modulo theory
solvers, symbolic computation, and program analysis for the generation
and verification of complex program properties, such as invariants,
interpolants, pre- and post-conditions.
Background in one or more of the following areas is expected: logic,
formal methods, formal verification.
This position will be supervised by Prof. Laura Kovacs in the frame of
her recently granted junior researcher project by the Swedish Research
Council. Laura Kovacs is the main developer of the ALIGATOR tool and
the
co-developer of the world-leading theorem prover Vampire for
applications of program analysis and verification.
-----------------------------
* 1 PhD Position in Functional Programming
The PhD student will join the Chalmers Functional Programming (FP)
Group, one of the leading groups in the field. The Chalmers FP Group
has
a strong interest in Embedded Domain Specific Languages, beginning with
their work on Lava for hardware design. The focus of the advertised
position is on returning to the problem of how to use Functional
Programming to support hardware design and deterministic parallel
programming.
We are particularly interested in the implementation of cryptographic
algorithms. Our favoured platform is the open source Parallella board
from Adapteva (http://www.adapteva.com/parallella-board/ [4]), which
combines Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), two ARM cores and 16 or
64 cores connected in a grid. This small board promises high
performance, low power computing, but the question of how best to
program it is an interesting one. The new PhD student will work on the
use of Functional Programming to enable programming of such highly
parallel heterogeneous systems.
The ideal candidate for the position in Functional Programming will
have
a strong background in functional programming and at least one of
hardware design and parallel programming.
The PhD student will be supervised by Prof. Mary Sheeran, who has long
pioneered the combination of hardware design and functional
programming,
particularly working with her former students Koen Claessen and Satnam
Singh. The work will be closely connected to the SSF funded project on
Productivity and Performance through Resource Aware Functional
Programming (http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~ms/SSF10Final.pdf [5]).
-----------------------------
* 1 PhD Position in Information Security
The PhD student will join the Chalmers Information Security group,
working in the area of information and communication security with a
focus on authentication problems in constrained settings. This is
particularly important for applications involving mobile phones,
wireless communication and RFID systems, which suffer from restrictions
in terms of power resources, network connectivity, computational
capabilities, as well as potential privacy issues. The overall aim of
the announced PhD position will be to develop nearly optimal algorithms
for achieving security and privacy while minimising resource use.
More concretely, part of the research will involve the analysis and
development of authentication protocols in specific settings. This will
include investigating resistance of both existing and novel protocols
against different types of attacks, theoretically and experimentally.
In
addition to investigating established settings, such as RFID
authentication, the research will also explore more general
authentication problems, such as those that arise in the context of
trust in social networks, smartphone applications and collaborative
data
processing. This will be done by grounding the work in a generalised
decision-making framework. The project should result in the development
of theory and authentication mechanisms for noisy, constrained settings
that strike an optimal balance between reliable authentication,
privacy-preservation and resource consumption.
Experience in one or more of cryptography, probability and statistics,
decision and game theory are beneficial. Mathematical maturity is
essential.
The PhD student will be supervised by Prof. Katerina Mitrokotsa and
will
have the chance to collaborate with well-known researchers in the area
of information security. Some previous research related to this
research
project can be found here: http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~aikmitr/ [6] .
Katerina Mitrokotsa's research is currently funded by the European
Commission and the Chalmers ICT Areas of advance.
---------------------------------
* 2 PhD Positions in Software/Web Security
The PhD students will join a world-leading team of researchers on
software security. Software is often the root cause of vulnerabilities
in modern computing systems such as the web. By focusing on securing
the
software, we target principled security mechanisms that provide robust
protection against large classes of attacks. The focus of the
advertised
positions is on the following directions of work:
- To design rich security policies for confidentiality, integrity and
availability, as demanded by practical applications (such as web and
mobile applications).
- To develop practical enforcement mechanisms for these policies in
expressive programming languages (such as web and mobile languages).
These enforcement mechanisms may combine static (for example, static
program analysis-based) and dynamic (for example, run-time execution
monitoring-based) techniques.
- To support the above with case studies in web-application security.
In
pursuing these goals, there are possibilities for collaboration with
our
high-profile academic and industrial partners. We run a number of
ambitious projects with top international partners in academia and
industry, including the European project WebSand on web application
security: https://www.websand.eu/ [7]
These positions will be supervised by Prof. Andrei Sabelfeld, recipient
of a number of recent awards, including SSF Advancement of Research
Leaders award (2008), Chalmers Research Supervisor of the Year (2010),
and ERC Starter/Consolidator (2012). Promotional video about the team's
research on securing web applications: http://vimeo.com/82206652 [8]
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*Details about Employment*
PhD student positions are limited to five years and normally include 20
per cent departmental work, mostly teaching duties. Salary for the
position is as specified in Chalmers' general agreement for PhD student
positions. Currently the starting salary is 26,250SEK a month before
tax. The positions are intended to start in fall 2014.
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*Suitable Background*
Applicants should have a Master's Degree or corresponding degree in
Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or in a related discipline. As
for all PhD studies, a genuine interest and curiosity in the subject
matter and excellent analytical and communication skills, both oral and
written, are needed.
You may apply even if you have not completed your degree, but expect to
do so before the position starts. Knowledge of Swedish is not a
prerequisite for applying since English is our working language for
research, and we publish internationally. Both Swedish and English are
used in undergraduate courses. Half of our researchers and PhD students
at the department come from more than 30 different countries.
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*How to apply*
The application should be written in English and include the following
items:
1. An application of a maximum of one A4 page summarising your track
record and providing your research statement
2. Attested copies of education certificates, including grade reports
and other documents
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Letters of recommendation and name of reference persons
5. Evidence of written work: research papers and theses
It is important to include parts of your own work such as theses and
articles that you have authored or co-authored. Please notice also that
it is highly recommended that you include letters of recommendation; we
typically get a large number of applications, and it is not feasible
for
us to request individual letters.
The application should be submitted electronically by March 31, 2014,
at:
- for the position in Formal Methods:
http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1911
[9]
- for the position in Functional Programming:
http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1912
[10]
- for the position in Information Security:
http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/Pages/default.aspx?rmpage=job&rmjob=1816
[11]
- for the positions in Software/Web Security:
http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1913
[12]
The selection of the specific research topic will take into account
both
the interests of the new PhD student and the research agenda of the
respective group.
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*Contact persons for further information:*
Laura Kovacs <laura.kovacs@chalmers.se [13]>, Formal Methods:
http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~laurako/ [14]
Katerina Mitrokotsa <aikaterini.mitrokotsa@chalmers.se [15]>,
Information Security: http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~aikmitr/ [16]
Andrei Sabelfeld <andrei@chalmers.se [17]>, Software/Web Security:
http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~andrei/ [18]
Mary Sheeran <mary.sheeran@chalmers.se [19]>, Functional Programming:
http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~ms/ [20]
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*The Department*
The Department has about 70 faculty members and enrols about 90 PhD
students from more than 30 countries. The research spans the whole
spectrum, from theoretical foundations to applied systems development.
There is extensive national and international collaboration with
academia and industry all around the world. For more information, see
http://www.chalmers.se/cse/EN/ [21] .
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Gothenburg, Sweden*
Gothenburg is often referred to as the "heart of Scandinavia". The
videos below give an impression what it's like to live and study in
Gothenburg.
Live in Gothenburg: http://youtu.be/sbwVIQeGcdY [22]
Study in Gothenburg: http://youtu.be/0WrlGlSyS1c [23]
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Links:
------
[1] http://www.key-project.org
[2] http://vprover.org
[3] http://mtc.epfl.ch/software-tools/Aligator
[4] http://www.adapteva.com/parallella-board/
[5] http://www.cse.chalmers.se/%7Ems/SSF10Final.pdf
[6] http://www.cse.chalmers.se/%7Eaikmitr/
[7] https://www.websand.eu/
[8] http://vimeo.com/82206652
[9]
http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1911
[10]
http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1912
[11]
http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/Pages/default.aspx?rmpage=job&rmjob=1816
[12]
http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1913
[13] mailto:laura.kovacs@chalmers.se
[14] http://www.cse.chalmers.se/%7Elaurako/
[15] mailto:aikaterini.mitrokotsa@chalmers.se
[16] http://www.cse.chalmers.se/%7Eaikmitr/
[17] mailto:andrei@chalmers.se
[18] http://www.cse.chalmers.se/%7Eandrei/
[19] mailto:mary.sheeran@chalmers.se
[20] http://www.cse.chalmers.se/%7Ems/
[21] http://www.chalmers.se/cse/EN/
[22] http://youtu.be/sbwVIQeGcdY
[23] http://youtu.be/0WrlGlSyS1c
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