PhD studentships on the ERC project Skye: A programming language bridging theory and practice for scientific data curation , University of Edinburgh

Project description

Science is increasingly data-driven. Scientific research funders now routinely mandate open publication of publicly-funded research data. Safely reusing such data currently requires labour-intensive curation. Provenance recording the history and derivation of the data is critical to reaping the benefits and avoiding the pitfalls of data sharing. There are hundreds of curated scientific databases in biomedicine that need fine-grained provenance; one important example is the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology database (GtoPdb), a pharmacological database developed in Edinburgh.
Currently there are no reusable methodologies or practical tools that support provenance for curated databases, forcing each project to start from scratch. Research on provenance for scientific databases is still at an early stage, and prototypes have so far proven challenging to deploy or evaluate in the field. Also, most techniques to date focus on provenance within a single database, but this is only part of the problem: real solutions will have to integrate database provenance with the multiple tiers of web applications, and no-one has begun to address this challenge.
The Skye project will build support for curation into the programming language itself, building on recent research on the Links Web programming language, including advances in language-integrated query, and on provenance and data curation. Links is a strongly-typed language that provides state-of-the-art support for language-integrated query and Web programming. This project will build on Links and other recent language designs for heterogeneous meta-programming to develop a new language, called Skye, that can express modular, reusable curation and provenance techniques. To keep focus on the real needs of scientific databases, Skye will be evaluated in the context of GtoPdb and other scientific database projects. Bridging the gap between curation research and the practices of scientific database curators will catalyse a virtuous cycle that will increase the pace of breakthrough results from data-driven science.
Skye will draw on the best ideas developed in cutting-edge research on language-integrated query, Web programming, and heterogeneous meta-programming. Skye will provide dialects, or first-class client language definitions, along with translations that map programs written in one dialect to another, or (as a special case) that perform source-to-source translation on a single dialect, for optimisation or to add functionality such as provenance- tracking. These translations will be available as libraries that can change the behaviour of already-written applications by rewriting code, so scientific database developers using Skye will be able to reuse these features instead of having to reimplement them from scratch or make wholesale changes to existing applications.
The Skye project will support a group of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers under the leadership of Dr. Cheney to pursue research on programming language design for integrating Web programming and databases, in aid of scientific data management. Topics for research could include:

• Language design: How can we program with first-class client languages (dialects) and translations flexibly and safely?
• Expressing and optimising client languages: How can existing client languages be embedded as dialects and translated to efficient client language code?
• Defining modular curation techniques: How can existing (or new) curation techniques be defined using type-safe translations among dialects?
• Case studies: What are the benefits and costs of using Skye to develop curated scientific databases?

For additional information about the project background, please consult our recent publications on this subject here and here.

PhD studentships

Two 4-year PhD studentships will be supported by the project. One studentship will cover full fees and a stipend of approximately £14,000 per year for a student of any nationality and the other will cover fees and stipend for a student with UK or EU citizenship. Additional funding may be available for exceptional candidates.

Background required

Both PhD studentships will carry out fundamental research relevant to the project. It is anticipated that one student will be recruited in 2016 (preferably with a project focusing on web and database programming language design and implementation) and the other in 2017 (preferably with a project focusing on data curation and applications of Skye).
Accordingly, we are currently seeking applicants with a strong background and research interests in functional programming, typed language design and implementation, metaprogramming, or Web/database programming. Candidates with demonstrated research ability in programming languages, and with at least some familiarity with databases or bioinformatics, would be especially suitable for this project. Outstanding candidates with a database-centric background and some familiarity with programming languages research will also be considered at this stage.

About the position

This PhD studentship provides a total of 4 years funding for full-time research (with no required teaching obligations). This can be structured as a 4-year PhD (for candidates who already have research experience e.g. a suitable Master's project) or as a 1-year Master's by Research followed by 3 years of PhD research, hosted in one of the School's two EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training, in Data Science or Pervasive Parallelism. Prospective applicants are encouraged to discuss these alternatives with the supervisor before applying.

Application information

To apply, please follow the instructions here. Please make sure to indicate interest in this project as part of the application.

Source

Postdoctoral position on graph databases and provenance management, University of Edinburgh

Project:	ADAPT: A Diagnostics Approach for Persistent Threat Detection
Supervisor:	James Cheney
Deadline:	February 12, 2015, 5pm GMT

We have an opening for a Research Associate in Graph Data Management on the project "ADAPT: A Diagnostics Approach to Advanced Persistent Threat Prevention", part of the "Transparent Computing" programme funded by the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Project description

"ADAPT: A Diagnostics Approach to Advanced Persistent Threat Prevention", is part of the "Transparent Computing" programme funded by the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Transparent Computing (TC) is a $60 million research initiative to use provenance to improve security of critical systems in the face of advanced persistent threats (APTs), or attackers who gradually infiltrate a system in order to achieve long-term (and often highly damaging) objectives.

ADAPT is one of several TC-funded research projects working together to instrument mainstream systems to collect provenance, manage and analyse the resulting massive amounts of provenance graph data, and diagnose or identify potential attacks and attackers. ADAPT is a joint project between Galois Inc., Xerox PARC, Oregon State University, and the University of Edinburgh. The University of Edinburgh team is focusing on applying provenance and database expertise to support provenance graph queries and segmentation/feature extraction, needed by normalcy detection, classification, and diagnosis techniques provided by the other ADAPT partners.

About the position

This position is based at The University of Edinburgh. You are expected to take a leading role in investigating graph database techniques applied to provenance management problems in the ADAPT project. In particular, you are expected to play an important role in leading to the successful completion of one or more of the following project tasks:

• Specify and implement techniques for identifying segments or features in provenance graphs
• Analyse and improve the performance of such queries or extraction techniques on large-scale provenance graph data
• If necessary, develop new query language features or optimizations tailored to the provenance graph queries needed by other parts of the project
• Investigate incremental or stream-based techniques for extracting needed data from provenance graphs
• Develop and implement abstractions for hierarchical modelling and causal linking of activities in provenance graphs, as needed by other parts of the project

The position will require system development as part of an international research project, as well as independent ideas-led research. You will be expected to work effectively with other researchers to produce prototypes, production-quality systems, high quality publications and demonstrations, and contribute to dissemination activities for the project, e.g. participating in project meetings and publishing papers in top conferences and journals. Duties will also include intermittent travel to project meetings.

Background required

The successful candidate will have expertise in databases, particularly graph data management, provenance management, query languages and optimisation, or incremental computation. The emphasis of this position is on systems-oriented research and development, so experience with database systems implementation is essential; programming languages preferred for the project include Haskell, Scala, and Python. Familiarity with virtualization technology (Docker), message queues (Apache Kafka), graph databases (Titan/Cassandra; Gremlin), or provenance querying and standards (e.g. W3C PROV) would be especially advantageous.
Applicants must, at a minimum, have a PhD degree (or be close to completion) in Computer Science, with either a track record of high quality publications or industrial experience adequate to the needs of the project. A strong background in graph databases/systems (or the ability to learn new systems quickly) is required. We expect that the project will involve practical systems development informed by conceptual or foundational research, so an ideal candidate will have strong development skills and the ability to engage with theory. Previous research experience on provenance or related topics such as machine learning/classification and information flow security would be desirable.
Please ensure that your application includes:

• a CV listing relevant education, research experience and publications.
• a 1-2 page statement of your research interests and how they relate to this position.

Applications that do not include these documents may not receive full consideration.

Duration and starting date

The postdoctoral position is available for 18 months starting on or as soon as possible after March 1, 2016.

The Transparent Computing programme as a whole will run from July 2015 until June 2019. This postdoctoral position is subject to extension beyond the initial 18 months, contingent on availability of funding.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact James Cheney (jcheney@inf.ed.ac.uk) before applying to discuss the position.

Application process and deadlines

A complete application consists of a CV and a 1-2 page research statement summarizing your background, previous research experience, and how they relate to this position.

Applications must be submitted by 5pm GMT on February 12, 2016, through the University of Edinburgh recruitment site:
https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk
Reference number: 035230
or directly by following this link:
direct link to the application site
Interviews will likely be held (either in person or via Skype) in mid-February.

Source

PhD positions Computer Networks: SDN in data centers, anticipatory systems, participatory systems, Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany

Research Group Computer Networks

This research group works on communication in computer networks and classical telecommunication network scenarios. Main focus of the work is Internet, data centre networks and mobile and wireless communication.

• A PhD student position ("Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter", E13) in the context of the SFB-901 "On-The-Fly Computing"
  

• A PhD student position ("Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter", E13) with teaching obligations
  

• Two positions with 19 hours per week in SFB-901 "On-The-Fly Computing".
  

If interested in these jobs, please contact Prof. Karl by email (holger.karl@uni-paderborn.de); in the subject of the email, please mention JOB-FGCN-2016-I (else, your email will likely be ignored).

PhD student in SFB 901 On the fly computing 

Keywords: data centre networking, software defined networking, participatory systems, scheduling.
The collaborative research centre 901 ("Sonderforschungsbereich") considers the dynamic provisioning of both software and the its executing infrastructure upon request. You can find details on the SFB 901 webpage.

Our research group, more specifically, considers questions in the context of data center networking, the execution of complex applications in data centre (an example could be map/reduce-style jobs), and the participation of these applications in the decision making process. Our goal is to extend today's common data centre architectures by interfaces for applications to announce their needs, according scheduling algorithms that make use of such knowledge, and to build proof of concept realizations of these concepts.

A solid understanding of IT systems aspects (cloud computing like OpenStack, data centre, software defined networks) as well as some algorithm background (mostly, scheduling theory) are helpful here. You should be familiar with Linux system-level programming.

PhD student on anticipatory systems  

Keywords: anticipatory networking, video streaming, wireless communication, network function virtualization, scheduling

The idea of anticipatory systems describes systems that have a limited understanding of the future: their own state, likely user behavior, changes in capacity of wireless links, etc. A typical example is anticipatory video streaming: assuming some rough understanding of future data rates (available e.g. from mobility patterns or the knowledge that the user currently sits in a train), video segments can be intelligently pre-fetched to avoid playout interruptions. This is, however, only a single example scenario.

The goal of this PhD thesis is to dig into the idea of anticipatory networking, how it can be applied to different scenarios - wireless systems are one obvious example, network function virtualization another one - and how a coherent architecture to support anticipation can be designed. This includes questions like how to gather information to base anticipation upon, how to assess limited accuracy in such anticipation models, how a framework for such decisions should look like, and characterizing the benefits of anticipation decisions in various scenarios.

For this thesis, a solid understanding of networking in particular and IT systems design in general is required. Moreover, statistical methods will likely play a significant role; you should hence be familiar at least with basic stochastics. Machine learning might be a relevant technique here and knowledge here might be useful as well.

As this is a position with teaching obligations, you should either have or are willing & able to acquire quickly a decent working knowledge of German.

PhD student, open topic 

Apart from the topics described above, we are always interested in PhD students with own ideas. If you have an interesting idea, by all means, do contact us and let's discuss whether we can support that.

Requirements for PhD positions

To apply for a PhD position in the Computer Networks group, you should meet the following requirements:

• Typically, you have a Master degree from a research-oriented Master's degree program; typically in computer science, computer engineering or related subject (e.g., electrical engineering with a communications focus, applied mathematics). Alternative degrees might be acceptable but need to be discussed in detail.
  

• You should have very good communication skills.
  
  • You should be able to read, write, and speak English fluently in everyday and technical discussions. You should also have very good technical writing skills in English.
    
  • Knowledge of German is appreciated but not initially required; we recommend that you pick up at least a bit of working knowledge of German during the first year (useful for everyday life). For positions with teaching duties, a good proficiency in German is required in a reasonable amount of time.
    

To substantiate these skills, please apply with:

• A curriculum vitae, detailing your prior education and job experience
  

• Your Master's thesis
  

• Any papers you might have written or co-authored so far (not required, but certainly a plus)
  

• A research statement: what are you interested in, what do you want to work on, what is preferred style of work (e.g., analytic, simulation, experimental, ...), why do you think you are a good match with our group? (A statement saying "I want to work in networking" is not enough.)
  

Please only apply electronically by email; do not send paper; only send PDFs (applications with Word attachments will be ignored).

PhD Position in the Field of Paleo-Ice Sheet Modelling, Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW)

The Glaciology Group within the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW) invites applications for a

PhD Position in the Field of Paleo-Ice Sheet Modelling

We are looking for a candidate who is interested in taking part in the research project "Modelling the ice flow in the western Alps during the last glacial cycle" which is a joint initiative between ETH Zurich and the University of Bern (Prof. Christoph Raible and Dr. Juan Jose Gomez-Navarro). The objective is to better understand the chronology of the last glaciation over the Alps via a modelling approach. The core of this doctoral research will be to model the ice flow and the glacial extent in the western Alps during the last glacial cycle. For that purpose, the PhD student will set up and run the Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) on the clusters of the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre. The crucial step in setting up in PISM will be to include high-resolution climate simulation results, which will be conducted at the University of Bern. The combination of the two state-of-the-art models (ice flow and climate) will give a new insight of the ice flow field prevailing in the western Alpine region during some periods of interest like the last glacial maximum (22000 BP) and an earlier period (65000 BP). The final goal of the PhD will be to compare the new model results to the geomorphological evidence left on the Swiss landscape during the last glacial cycle (e.g. moraines, erratic boulders) in collaboration with quaternary geologists of EHT Zurich. The PhD student will be supervised by Dr. Guillaume Jouvet and Prof. Martin Funk.

The ideal candidate has a master degree either in geophysics, earth sciences, physics, applied mathematics, computer science, or a related field, and a keen interest in modelling of geophysical processes. Previous experience in computer modelling and scientific programming languages (C/C++, Python, Matlab) is an asset. Good writing and communication skills as well as the motivation to fruitfully collaborate within an interdisciplinary framework are essential, in particular with our climate modelling partners at the University of Bern.

For further information please contact Dr. Guillaume Jouvet by e-mail jouvet@vaw.baug.ethz.ch (no applications) and visit our website http://www.vaw.ethz.ch/divisions/gz.

Applications with cover letter, cv (with courses taken, grades, web link to the master thesis), copies of diplomas and work certificates (if any) should be sent online with attention to: ETH Zurich, Mrs. Corina Niescher, Human Resources, CH-8092 Zürich. Evaluation of applications will continue until the position is filled.

Apply now

Doctoral studentship in Journalism, media and communication, Gothenburg

The doctoral program in Journalism, Media and Communication is open for students with a background in journalism, media and communication science. The research at JMG mainly focuses on journalism, crisis communication, media use and media structure, public organizations’ communication, and political communication.

The Department invites applications for a PhD position with a focus on public organizations’ communication. Candidates who are interested in public organizations (municipalities, counties and /or national authorities) and communication in any of the following areas are particularly encouraged to apply to the doctoral programme: branding, media relations or advocacy.

Job assignments

The aim of the doctoral studentship is for the doctoral student to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to be able to conduct research autonomously within journalism, media and communication and to contribute to the development of knowledge within the discipline through the production of a scholarly thesis. Another aim is for the doctoral student to develop an ability to later apply the acquired knowledge and skills within post-degree research or other professional work.

The position is limited to 4 years in duration and is carried out on a full-time basis unless there are acceptable reasons to the contrary (minimum 50%). The position may include departmental duties corresponding to up to 20% of a full-time post over the course of study. If such tasks are required, the duration of the appointment will be extended accordingly.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the position, the applicant must meet both general and specific entry requirements. An applicant meets the general entry requirements for third-cycle studies if he/she has obtained (Higher Education Ordinance Ch.7, Sec.39):

1. a degree at the second-cycle level,
2. at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 must be at the second-cycle level, or
3. largely equivalent knowledge in other ways in Sweden or abroad.

Specific entry requirements:

A masters degree in journalism worth 240 higher education credits (240 ECTS credits), or a masters degree in media and communication studies worth 240 higher education credits (240 ECTS credits), or a masters degree within the humanities/social sciences worth at least 240 higher education credits (240 ECTS credits) if the applicants degree project was clearly and primarily linked to the area of journalism and media studies. An applicant who has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad can also be assessed to meet the specific entry requirements.

The applicant must be proficient in English at a level that will enable him or her to fully benefit from scientific literature and courses at the doctoral level and to actively participate in the doctoral seminars.

Assessment

According to the Higher Education Ordinance Ch.7, applicants will be assessed based on their estimated ability to benefit from the study programmes and on the Department?s supervisory resources. To this end, applicants must submit the following documents with their application:

1. papers, degree projects and other relevant works, which will be assessed in terms of ability to formulate, delimit and analyse research tasks and present research results.
2. a project draft stating the applicant?s research interest(s) and planned focus area of his/her doctoral thesis. In addition, the project draft must demonstrate familiarity with previous and current research as well as an ability to formulate scientific problems. Maximum 2000 words.
3. The selection process may include interviews.

Admission to third-cycle studies may also be granted within a framework where the University of Gothenburg does not serve as employer (external position, so-called samverkansdoktorand). The assessment process for these applicants is the same as for other applicants. A special agreement will be developed in these cases.

The Head of Department is in charge of all admission decisions at the third-cycle level. Decision cannot be appealed.

Additional information

Prior to the recruitment procedure, the University of Gothenburg will have determined the recruitment channels and marketing. We therefore firmly request that contact with media sellers, recruitment sites and the like be avoided.

For questions regarding the handling of the application portal or technical problems, please contact rekrytering@gu.se

Deadline : February 01,2016

Apply Online

6-8 Doctoral studentships in Economics, Department of Economics, Gothenburg

The program spans over four years. The first two years are dominated by intensive coursework whereas the last two years are primarily devoted to data collection and thesis work.
As a doctoral student you are expected to focus on your studies but also do departmental work, mostly teaching duties, up to 20 percent. Your position will be prolonged accordingly.

Eligibility

To be eligible for admission the applicant must meet the requirements for basic and special eligibility:

Basic eligibility: the applicant must have a degree awarded at advanced level; or have completed studies for at least 240 higher education credits of which at least 60 higher education credits were awarded at advanced level; or have equivalent qualifications.

Special eligibility: the applicant must have completed at least 90 higher education credits in economics; or have completed at least 30 higher education credits in economics at advanced level; or have equivalent qualifications.

Assessment

Among the applicants who fulfill the requirements, a selection will be made based on the applicant’s submitted material. The candidates are reviewed by the Board of Research and Third-Cycle Education and selection is based on the student's performance at the undergraduate level and - especially - at the advanced level. Very good grades and an excellent thesis are usually required in order to be competitive in the selection process. Excellent knowledge in Mathematics and/or Statistics are other important qualities as well as excellent grades in advanced courses in core subjects as Micro-, Macroeconomics and Econometrics. Recommendations from former teachers are also valued. General suitability is of great importance. Assessment of the general suitability contains valuation of the applicants’ personal capacity to carry out the work well and collaborate with other staff at the Department.Shortlisted applicants will normally be asked to attend an interview.

Additional information

The application shall include

•  CV
•  Copy of exam certificate
•  Register of university courses with grades
•  Copy of thesis or other scientific publications
•  Letter(s) of recommendation
•  A short description of your goals and visions with the doctoral position in the field of interest (1-2 A4-pages, written in English). 
•  

For further information please contact

Ola Olsson, Professor, Head of the doctoral programme
+ 46 (0)31 786 5000
ola.olsson@economics.gu.se

Ann-Christin Räätäri Nyström, Research officer
+46 31 786 5000
ann-christin.raatari.nystrom@economics.gu.se

www.economics.gu.se

Closing date

February 01, 2016

Apply Online

Two PhD Positions in European Research, The Centre for European Research at the University of Gothenburg (CERGU)

The Centre for European Research at the University of Gothenburg (CERGU) is a multi-disciplinary centre supported by the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the School of Business, Economics and Law. CERGU was established in 1995, and the centre’s network-based structure allows our scholars to combine disciplinary depth with broad cross-disciplinary insights on European issues (see www.cergu.gu.se).

CERGU promotes cross-disciplinary research on a broad range of European issues, but there are certain thematic areas in which we currently have a stronger profile. These areas include Cultural Borders and Identity, Migration, Global Europe, Societal Challenges and Actors, and EU Institutions. These themes are described in more detail on the CERGU website. We encourage potential applicants to describe in their application to what extent their proposed project may benefit from, or contribute to, the CERGU environment and our specific thematic areas.

PhD students will have a double affiliation with both CERGU and a department at The School of Business, Economics and Law (http://handels.gu.se/english), The Faculty of Arts (http://hum.gu.se/english) or The Faculty of Social Sciences (http://samfak.gu.se/english), depending on which academic discipline the applicant is qualified to apply to. It is therefore important that the applicant ensures that s/he meets the entry requirements for doctoral studies in the discipline s/he is applying to. Information can be found on the respective department websites. Employment and office space will be located at the department.

Job assignments

These PhD positions comprise 4 years of full-time study and lead to a doctoral degree. General Programme Syllabus for Postgraduate Studies in different subject areas are available on respective departments’ websites. Teaching or other responsibilities can be included in employment up to 20%, in which case the employment will be extended up to the equivalent of a total of 5 years study time. As a PhD student, you will be a part of an international research environment while increasing your knowledge within your research area and writing your doctoral dissertation. This includes opportunity for intellectual exchange and independent dissertation work. You will be expected to develop your own ideas and communicate results both orally and in writing, internally, nationally and internationally. In addition to courses and your own doctoral dissertation research, you will also be expected to participate in activities like seminars, workshops, conferences and social activities both at CERGU and at your home department. The application deadline is February 7, 2016 with a starting date of September 1, 2016 (or as specified if the home department has a different starting date for the autumn semester 2016).

Eligibility

An applicant meets the general entry requirements if s/he has obtained:

•  an advanced degree,
•  successfully completed at least 240 HE credits, of which at least 60 must be at the advanced level, or
•  largely equivalent knowledge and skills acquired in Sweden or abroad.

In order to be admitted as a PhD student in an academic discipline, you must also ensure that any specific entry requirements are met.

Assessment

The selection among qualified applicants shall be based on the ability to complete the programme as provided in the Higher Education Ordinance, Ch. 7. Only s/he who is admitted into a PhD-programme can be employed as a PhD student.

In assessing candidates, particular attention will be paid to how applicants? research is relevant to European research and CERGU?s thematic areas, as well as the applicant?s ability to complete the PhD studies. As a basis for evaluating the qualifications of the applicant, the research plan, accompanying essays and other writing will be considered.
To be employed as a CERGU PhD student, additional qualifications are: demonstrated independence, interpersonal skills and interest in working in a multidisciplinary environment, as well as the ability to easily express oneself in speech and writing in English.

Applications will initially be assessed by CERGU's steering group, which will then produce a list of top candidates for the advertised positions. After consultation with the specific departments/subject areas, and taking into account their assessment, the steering group will decide on the two candidates, and the decision will then be submitted to the relevant departments for formal admittance to doctoral programs in the respective departments.

 

Start date 1 September 2016. Deadline is 7 February 2016. 

Online Application 

PhD Position Announcement 

Questions and Answers

Contact Information for this Position

Director

Linda Berg (linda.berg@pol.gu.se, +46 31 786 4062),

Chairman of the Steering Group

, Bengt Larsson (bengt.larsson@socav.gu.se,

+46 31 786 4775

Research Coordinator

Birgitta Jännebring (birgitta.jannebring@cergu.gu.se, +46 31 786 4286)

Trade Unions

: SACO

Mikael Johansson, telephone +46 31 7860000, OFR/S Stefan Schedin,

+46 31 7861167, SEKO Lennart Olsson, telephone +46 31 7861173.