Stilling:
PhD Research Fellowship in Programming Language Theory and Formal Methods
Deadline 05.08.2018
Job description
A position as PhD Research Fellow in programming language theory and formal methods is available at the Department of Informatics, University of Oslo. The fellowship will be for a period of 3 year with no compulsory work. Starting date is flexible, but no later than January 2019.
The position is funded by the ADAPt project, a Young Research Talent’s project from the Research Council of Norway. The PhD project will be conduced in the SIRIUS Center (sirius-labs.no), a dynamic and international research environment with relevant industry connections for Research-Driven Innovation (SFI) at the University of Oslo, and in the Formal Methods research group. The main focus of this PhD project will be to develop novel static analysis techniques and formal methods for big data applications. The main objective of this project is to devise static techniques to improve data locality in parallel data processing and make use of the statically inferred information for application-specific data management strategies to improve the performance of highly parallelized applications running on scalable architectures and accessing large amounts of data.
More about the position
The planned PhD research includes the formal description of data access as abstract behavioral types, which describe how computational tasks interact with memory and to investigate the usage of these behavioral types for memory allocation and for job scheduling, to improve locality of data access in scalable architectures such NUMA-machines.
To explore and investigate these ideas, the project will combine formal methods for parallel systems and foundational research in programming language theory, aiming to develop new techniques for improving data locality and to demonstrate the relevance of these techniques by means of experimental proof of concept. The proposed approach has the potential to open completely new directions for efficiently managing data processing on parallel architectures. The outcomes of this PhD project will enable practical data management strategies for data allocation and job scheduling to be designed and compared in a systematic way.
The PhD fellow will collaborate with project participants at Imperial College London, CWI – Amsterdam and Oxford University, with possibility of research stays at these institutions. The PhD fellow will also collaborate with Sirius industrial partners such Numascale. These collaborations will give the student the experience of participating in an international research environment.
SIRIUS is a Center for Research-Driven Innovation (SFI) in University of Oslo involving both academic research teams (UiO, NTNU and Oxford University) as well as industrial partners (e.g.,
Statoil, Schlumberger, DNV GL, Numascale, Computas, Evry, IBM). The Formal Methods group researches on systematic techniques to predict the behavior of software/system executions based on the analysis of models. The ADAPt project aims to contribute to the Center with systematic techniques for scalable data access using type systems.
For more information about the project, visit the following link.
Qualification requirements
The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials, with a minimum grade B (ECTS grading scale) or equivalent during their master studies.
Applicants must hold a Master's degree or equivalent in a relevant field of computer science or informatics such as formal methods, programming language theory (such as type systems), or high performance computing. A solid background in theoretical computer science is required. Good knowledge on algorithms, formal methods, programing language theory and parallel software development skills and experiences will be considered an advantage when candidates are ranked.
- the average grade point for courses included in the Master’s degree must be B or better in the Norwegian educational system
- the Master’s thesis must have the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system
- the average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must be C or better in the Norwegian educational system
Applicants should submit a statement of research interests indicating why this PhD topic fits their interest/background. This statement of research interest should not exceed one page.
All Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate high English language skills. International applicants must document these skills prior to admission to the PhD programme by passing one of the following tests with these or better grades:
- TOEFL – Test of English as Foreign Language, internet based test (IBT). Minimum total score: 80
- IELTS – International English Language Testing Service. Minimum overall band score: 6.5
- Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) and Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) from the University of Cambridge
- PTE Academic – Pearson Test of English Academic. Minimum overall score: 62
- Please see here for exemptions to the English requirements.
The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree.
The fellowship requires admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position. For more information see:
Application and admission to the PhD programme in natural sciences
We offer
- Salary NOK 449 400 – 505 800 per year depending on qualifications and seniority as PhD Research Fellow, (position code 1017)
- Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities
How to apply
The application must include:
- Application letter, including a statement of research interests indicating why this PhD position fits the interest/Background of the applicant.
- CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work - scientific publications)
- Copies of educational certificates, transcript of records of Bachelors and Masters degree, and letters of recommendation
- Documentation of English proficiency
- List of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
- Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)
The application must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system.
Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University's grading system. Please note that all documents should be in English (or a Scandinavian language).
Applicants may be called in for an interview.
Formal regulations
No one can be appointed for more than one PhD Research Fellowship period at the University of Oslo.
Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.
According to the Norwegian Freedom and Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.
The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.
The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.
Contact information
- Senior Researcher Silvia Lizeth Tapia Tarifa, +47 22840852, sltarifa@ifi.uio.no
For technical questions about the recruitment system, please contact HR Officer Helene Jansen, + 4722857196, h.b.jansen@mn.uio.no