PhD Research Fellow in Computer Science: Software Architecture for Smart Ocean Monitoring
Deadline: 15.05.2021
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
With about 16,000 students, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest higher education institutions in Norway. A broad range of academic programmes are offered at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels, spread out on five campuses Førde, Sogndal, Bergen, Stord og Haugesund.
Our ambition is to build stronger and more solid academic and research environments that will interact nationally and internationally. The aim is to become a recognized actor on the international higher education arena. Increased international cooperation and engagement in externally funded projects will work towards this goal.
The Faculty of Engineering and Science has approximately 300 employees and approximately 3,200 students. The faculty has a broad educational offer at both bachelor's and master's level in engineering and science, as well as PhD education in computer technology.
The Mohn Center for Innovation and Regional Development researches innovation and offers master's education in innovation and entrepreneurship. The diving education offers a one-year vocational school education.
The main part of the faculty's activities are in Haugesund, Bergen, Sogndal and Førde, but we also offer decentralized education in Florø, Kristiansund and Stord.
The faculty's activities are internationally based and take place in close collaboration with regional companies, clusters, health trusts and the public sector, including other institutions in the university and college sector. This applies to research, development, innovation and not least education with student projects at all levels.
The Department of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Mathematical Sciences at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences has a vacancy for a three-year research fellow position in software architectures for smart monitoring of the ocean.
About the position
The PhD research fellow will be part of the PhD programme in Computer Science: Software Engineering, Sensor Networks and Engineering Computing. The research programme in Computer Science currently includes 20 professors and associate professors, more than 30 PhD and post-doctoral fellows, and a large number of master’s students. The PhD project is associated with the recently established SmartOcean centre for research-based innovation funded by the Norwegian Research Council and several industry partners.
Workplace is Campus Bergen.
About the PhD project/ research environment:
About the PhD project
The overall vision of the SmartOcean centre is to create a flexible, robust, energy efficient, and cost-effective smart sensor network platform for marine measurement and data handling. An important part of this vision is to develop a multi-tiered architectural software system framework enabling innovation and cost-effective development of robust software applications and data services. The base of the framework will be internet-of-things, cloud computing services, and the emerging web-of-things paradigm. The goal of the PhD project will be the initial design, prototyping, and validation of an architectural framework in collaboration with industry and research partner institutes in the ocean domain. Aspects of the PhD work may also involve evaluation of existing research-based architectural frameworks (e.g. SysML, DANSE, COMPASS, and AMADEOS) for engineering and validation of system-of-system-based architectures within the context of a smart ocean.
Research environment
The computer science research environment at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences has a strong focus on use-inspired and applied research, and on ICT as an enabling technology. The research environment has cooperation with many national and international research groups, and with national and regional industry partners. The research programme includes the research themes of software engineering, engineering computing, sensor networks and measurement technology, grid computing and physics data analysis, machine learning, and interactive and collaborative systems. The prospective PhD candidate will work in close cooperation with staff, current PhD candidates and master students in the research group on software engineering, and the partners of the SmartOcean centre.
PhD research fellow receives an annual work expense funding which can be used for conference participation, research visits, and equipment. The place of employment is Campus Bergen, however, the candidate is expected to spend 3-6 months in a different academic environment during the research period.
Qualifications:
The PhD research fellow must hold a master’s degree in computer science/informatics/software engineering.
Candidates who are in the final stage of completing a master’s degree (but who has not yet been awarded a master’s degree) may also qualify for the position. In this case, a draft of the master thesis and a transcript showing grades of currently completed course work must be submitted with the application. If the candidate is called for an interview, then the final version of the master thesis and a complete transcript of grades on the master’s degree must be provided at the time of the interview.
A solid background in computer science/informatics/software engineering and mathematics combined with experience in one or more of the areas of cloud computing services, software architecture and systems-of-systems, distributed systems and networking, and empirical software engineering will be considered an advantage when candidates are ranked.
In addition to the required educational and scientific background, the following criteria will be evaluated: competence and grades on completed course work (at least C on average in the ECTS grading system), quality of the master’s thesis (excellent grade, the equivalent of grade B or better on the ECTS grading system), publications (if any), research and teaching experience, practical software engineering skills and experience. A possible outline of a research plan for a potential PhD project will also be taken into account.
The candidate must be diligent and display the ability to work independently, supplemented with regular guidance, and is expected to carry out high-quality research and to publish the results in international workshops, conferences, and journals.
Candidates already holding a PhD within this field are not eligible for this position.
The PhD research fellow must enrol in the PhD programme in Computer Science: Software Engineering, Sensor Networks and Engineering Computing at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and must meet the formal admission requirements for admission into the PhD programme. The employment period may be reduced if the successful applicant has held previous employment as a research fellow.
The PhD candidate will be assigned one academic supervisor at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and a co-supervisor. An application for enrolment should first be submitted after an appointment is made, and the supervisor(s) will help with this procedure. The candidate must be enrolled as a PhD student within three months from the start of the employment.
Application procedure:
Applications will be evaluated by an expert panel of three members.
Applicants are asked to submit their application and CV online. Please use the link “Apply for this job” (“Søk stillingen”). The following documentation should be uploaded as an attachment to the online application:
Master Thesis
Copies of selected academic publications (no more than 15)
A CV with a complete list of academic publications Diplomas and certificates
Applicants should indicate which publications or parts of publications should be given special consideration in the evaluation. If the documents submitted are not in a Scandinavian language or in English, the applicants must submit certified translations of these. The transcripts must specify the topics, the course works, and the grades at the bachelor`s and master`s degree levels.
Applicant whose education is from another country than Norway, need to also attach a certified translation of the diploma and transcript of grades to English or a Scandinavian language, if the original is not in any of these languages. It is required that the applicant enclose a review from NOKUT whether the education (bachelor and master’s degree) is of a scope and level that corresponds to the level of a Norwegian master’s degree.
Please see www.nokut.no/en for more information about NOKUT’s general recognition. This may take some time and we recommend you to apply as soon as you know you will apply for this position. If no answer within the application deadline, please enclose documentation from NOKUT that they have received your application.
Applicants should note that the evaluation will be based on the documentation submitted electronically via Jobbnorge within the submission deadline. The applicants are responsible for ensuring that all the documentation is submitted before the closing date. It is of utmost importance that all publications to be considered in the evaluation are uploaded as an attachment with the application, since these are sent electronically to the expert panel.
Applications cannot be sent by e-mail or to individuals at the college.
Salary:
Good occupational pension, insurance and loan schemes from The Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
Exciting academic environment with the possibility of competence enhancement and development
Opportunities for training within the working hours
Initial salaries will be offered at grade 54 (code 1017) in the Civil Service pay grade table scale.
There is a compulsory 2 % deduction to the pension fund (see http://www.spk.no for more information). The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at any time.
General information:
The appointment will be made in accordance with the regulations for State employees Law in Norway ("Lov om statens ansatte)". Organizational changes and changes in the duties and responsibilities associated with the position must be expected.
State employment shall reflect the multiplicity of the population at large to the highest possible degree. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Bergen has therefore adopted a personnel policy objective to ensure that we achieve a balanced age and gender composition and the recruitment of persons of various ethnic backgrounds.
Information about the applicant may be made public even though the applicant has requested not to be named in the list of applicants. The applicant will be notified if his/her request is not respected.
Short-listed applicants will be called in for an interview.
