Kristiania University College

Kristiania University College offers study programs in management, organization, marketing, communication, computer science, information technology, health sciences, innovation and creative arts. Kristiania University College is Norway's largest independent comprehensive university college with its 18,000 students and a large education offering in Oslo, Bergen and online. Our mission is to strongly contribute to the country's social and economic development through problem-driven and applied knowledge development and dissemination, in close cooperation with society at large.

The School of Economics, Innovation, and Technology delivers research and study programmes at bachelor, master, and PhD level. The emphasis for both research and education is on economics, innovation, digitalization, and information technology. Computer science, software engineering, information systems and the interaction between technology and human beings are other exciting focus areas.

Additionally, the department is expanding its online offers and offers in further and continuing education in cooperation with working life. The department has well-established research groups and research labs at a high international level.

About the position

Kristiania University College is offering a fully funded three-year Ph.D. fellowship in Applied Information Technology. The successful applicant will be included in a team of researchers with ambitious plans to further develop research and pedagogical activities related to Applied Information Technology at the university college.

The position is part of the European Research Council (ERC) funded Consolidator Grant named: "Using Evolutionary Algorithms to Understand and Secure Web/Enterprise Systems" (EAST). The project aims to develop novel automated solutions to address the oracle problem in software security through evolutionary algorithms and other AI-based techniques.

All software developed in the project is open-source, and developed under modern industry-standard processes. The results of the project are meant to be used in practice (e.g., among the industrial partners of the project), and not just prototypes or proof-of-concepts. Look at "https://github.com/EMResearch/EvoMaster" to have an idea of the systems that will be developed and extended in the EAST project. Please read about the project here.

We search for a candidate with a good academic understanding of computer science, software engineering or other relevant, with a deep interest in the intersection of software engineering and human factors.

The PhD position will focus on the empirical validation of the security testing tools developed in EAST. The candidate will design and conduct experiments to assess the practical effectiveness and usability of these tools in real-world scenarios. 

This involves:

• Designing and implementing empirical studies to evaluate how human subjects interact with and benefit from these tools.
• Assessing the usability, efficiency, and practical applicability of the tools through experiments involving software developers and IT professionals.
• Integrating human-computer interaction principles to enhance tool design and functionality.

Required qualifications:

• Master’s degree (120 ECTS or equivalent) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Information Systems or other relevant fields with a grade B or better on the master’s thesis and for the master’s degree in total. The master’s thesis must be a minimum of 30 ECTS or equivalent.
• Relevant 180 ECTS bachelor’s degree
• Proficiency in both written and spoken English.
• Strong capabilities in empirical research involving human subjects.
• Expertise in human-computer interaction, usability, or user-centered design.
• A desire and motivation to work within an international and multidisciplinary team.
• Independence and self-motivation

We seek candidates with a solid background in:

• Evolutionary computation
• Software testing and security
• Search algorithms or search-based software engineering
• Human aspects of software engineering
• Human-computer interaction, especially cognitive and psychological aspects
• User experience (UX) or user-centered design
• Web frontend development
• Web penetration testing

Benefits:

• high salary compared to international standards (532,200 NOK per year)
• equipment at your disposal during employment (e.g., high-end laptop, mobile and mobile subscription)
• NOK 50,000 per year to support travel to conferences and other running costs
• free health insurance, travel insurance, and pension plan
• strong labor laws (e.g., fully paid parental and sick leaves, 25 paid days of vacation and paid sick leave)

The application must hold:

• Motivation letter for the position
• Approved Diplomas and Transcripts (in Scandinavian or English language)
• CV
• At least two references
• Master thesis

Admission to the PhD program is a requirement for taking up a position as a research fellow. The application must be submitted to School of Doctoral Studies within three months of the start date. For more information, see the Regulations relating to conditions of appointment for research fellowships.

The starting salary is 532 200 NOK a year.

The Ph.D. research fellowship period is 3 years, and the starting date is 1. December 2024.

Working place is School of Economics, Innovation, and Technology. The school is located in downtown Oslo, with numerous amenities, recreational spaces, and urban fun right next door.

Kristiania University College welcomes and encourages applications from diverse backgrounds. Women and persons with minority background are particularly encouraged to apply.

Contact person: Jefferson Molléri.

Application deadline: 20th of August.

Only applications received through our application portal will be considered.

We use Semac background checks in our recruitment process.

Kontaktpersoner:

• Jefferson Molléri, Jefferson.Molleri@kristiania.no

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