Job description

A PhD Research Fellowship in Informatics is available at the Department of Informatics.

The fellowship period is 3 years. Candidates may be offered one additional year by the Department of Informatics; the 4 years position then entails a compulsory work load of 25% that consists of teaching and supervision duties.

No one can be appointed for more than one PhD Research Fellowship period at the University of Oslo.Starting date no later than 01.10.2019.

More about the position

Currently, most mobile apps draw on the power of cloud computing centers using a traditional client-server model, where programs and data are statically placed either in the apps running on, e.g., smartphones, or at a data center. This PhD proposal explores moving computing resources between a cloud data center and edge devices (such as smartphones) possibly introducing intermediate servers close to the edge (so that edge devices have access to low-latency resources), while far enough away from the edge (so that the intermediate servers can have significant compute and storage resources). The underlying paradigm, called Near Far Computing Paradigm, enables the movement of computation and data between the edge, intermediate servers, and the cloud data center, and it is a fundamental enabler for programming applications in modern edge and cloud environments.

This PhD thesis proposal considers a particular use case as a demo of the Near Far Computing Paradigm: a mobile app that detects the mode of transport used by its owner; this app is based on a machine learning algorithm that runs in a server on the cloud data center. However, such an app depends on the network latency and the cloud data center, thus being impossible to guarantee real time responses to the user. In fact, if we want the app to detect the mode of transportation quickly, without having to wait for some server on the cloud to run a machine learning algorithm and/or depend on network latency/bandwidth, there must be a way to bring the cloud closer to the user’s smartphone. (e.g., in some solutions, after a training phase in the cloud, smartphones are used as stand-alone devices providing low confidence detection levels).

This “closeness to the user” can be done by setting a local opportunistic network on the edge (so that several smartphones can cooperate to detect the mode of transport being used in almost real-time) or by using some intermediate server (between the cloud data center and the user); thus, network latency is not perceived by the user and the app would provide responses in real time.

Such a mobile app can be of interest to urban planners/architects/municipalities/etc. as they are very much interested on understanding the value of time perceived by users in order to better organize our cities. Clearly, the same reasoning applies to other apps (e.g., gaming).

The candidate will be supervised by a group of supervisors in the Programming and Software Engineering Group who have broad competence in informatics:

• Paulo Ferreira, Professor, Department of Informatics, UiO
• Eric Jul, Professor, Department of Informatics, UiO

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.

• Master’s degree or equivalent in informatics or a related field
• Foreign completed degree (M.Sc.-level) corresponding to a minimum of four years in the Norwegian educational system
• Prior knowledge and/or practice with system level programming, cloud/edge/fog computing and programming, Android, is considered an advantage
• Documented strong programming skills
• Candidates without a Master’s degree have until 30 June, 2019 to complete the final exam

Grade requirements:

The norm is as follows:

• the average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must be C or better in the Norwegian educational system
• 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
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English

http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/application/application.html

We offer

• salary NOK 449 900 – 505 800 per annum depending on qualifications in a position 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

• cover letter statement of motivation and research interests
• cv (summarizing education, positions and academic work - scientific publications)
• copies of the original Bachelor and Master’s degree diploma, transcripts of records
• letters of recommendation
• documentation of English proficiency for International applicants
• 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 with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link “Apply for this job”. 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).

Short-listed applicants will be called in for an interview.

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

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:

http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/

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 has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

• Professor Paulo Ferreira, e-mail: paulofe@ifi.uio.no or
  
• Professor Eric Jul, ericbj@ifi.uio.no

For technical questions regarding the recruitment system, please contact HR Adviser Torunn Standal Guttormsen, +47 22 85 42 72, t.s.guttormsen@mn.uio.no

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