PhD Studentship in Model-Based Systems Engineering Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment / School of Engineering, Design and Manufacturing Systems Birmingham City University - Centre for Knowledge Based Engineering

Qualification type:	PhD
Location:	Birmingham
Funding amount:	£13,863 per year
Hours:	Full Time

 

Placed on:	22nd September 2014
Closes:	31st October 2014

The Centre for Knowledge Based Engineering at Birmingham City University are pleased to invite applications for a three-year PhD studentship in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). The research will be undertaken at the Centre for Knowledge Based Engineering within the School of Engineering, Design and Manufacturing Systems, and supervised by Dr Pathmeswaran Raju and Prof Craig Chapman. The successful applicant will join a fast-growing research group, which works with industrial partners such as Rolls-Royce.

Background: MBSE is the formalised application of modelling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout development and later life cycle phases. A model is an approximation, representation, or idealisation of selected aspects of the structure, behaviour, operation, or other characteristics of a real-world process, concept, or system.

Project: Current systems engineering languages and tools are restricted in certain aspects of their expressiveness and do not provide the ability to model knowledge and specify semantics. Some attempts have been made integrating systems with knowledge such as developing UML profile for modelling knowledge. On the other hand, knowledge modelling with semantic languages such as ontologies provides logical formalism, and reasoning abilities, which are generally not possible in systems engineering languages. The research will investigate the underlying methods and tools for developing system models (e.g. SysML) and knowledge models (e.g. OWL) and proposes new approaches and techniques for integrating systems with knowledge.

Person specification: Applicants will be enthusiastic and self-motivated persons who meet the academic requirements for enrolment on a PhD degree at Birmingham City University. Applicants should have a 1st or 2.1 class Bachelors or Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Physics or related discipline. A keen interest in system modelling, knowledge representation or knowledge modelling will be appreciated.

Funding: The studentship will cover tuition fees, and a tax-free bursary of £13,863 per year will be provided for three-year duration. Overseas students are eligible to apply.

Application: Please send your CV including contact details of two professional referees with a cover letter to Sue Witton at Sue.Witton@bcu.ac.uk with the subject line of “PhD Studentship in Model-Based Systems Engineering”. Informal enquiries prior to making an application may be addressed to Dr Pathmeswaran Raju at Path.Raju@bcu.ac.uk.

Closing date: 31^st October 2014, however, early application is strongly encouraged.

PhD Learning Analytics (Delft, NL)

The Web Information Systems group at the Delft University of
Technology, Netherlands is looking for a PhD researcher, whose
research focuses on the modeling and analysis of learners and their
learning processes in the context of MOOCs (Massive Open Online
Courses).


The research to be conducted will largely be data-driven, using and
improving technologies developed within various areas of computer
science including information retrieval, data analytics and user
modeling. It will be inspired by the big data challenges that MOOCs
offer.


We invite applications from candidates who:


- Have a solid background in computer science or a related discipline;
- Have been trained in areas such as information retrieval, big data
processing, data mining, computational linguistics, web data
management, data visualization or semantic web technologies;
- Are able to rapidly prototype Web applications with a modern technology stack;
- Are interested in contributing to open-source software projects such
as the Open edX platform;
- Have a passion for online education, the ability to collaborate in
inter-disciplinary research, and the academic skills to be part of a
research team aiming to make a high impact.


Not necessary but useful are also:


- Experience with large-scale data processing technologies such as
Hadoop or Storm;
- Prior teaching experience (both online and in the traditional
classroom setting).


The contract duration is 4 years for PhD student. TU Delft offers an
attractive benefits package, including a flexible work week, free
high-speed Internet access from home, and the option of assembling a
customised compensation and benefits package (the 'IKA'). Salary and
benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for
Dutch Universities.


For more information about this position, please contact:
Dr. Claudia Hauff, phone: +31 15 27 84570, e-mail: C.Hauff@tudelft.nl


To apply, please e-mail a detailed CV along with a letter of application to:
Tamara Brusik, e-mail: T.Brusik@tudelft.nl


The closing date for applications for this position is October 15, 2014.

4 PhD Student Positions in Security at Eindhoven University of Technology

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science of Eindhoven University of Technology has four vacancies for 4 year full-time PhD research positions within the Security (SEC) group.


The Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is a classical technical University, with a strong research and teaching record. The TU/e is a leading international university specializing in engineering science & technology, contributing through excellent teaching and research to progress in the technical sciences, to the development of technological innovations and as a result to the growth of welfare and wellbeing, both within its own region (technology and innovation hotspot Eindhoven) and beyond it. TU/e was founded in 1956 to give a vital boost to the economy in the South East of the Netherlands. This is still one of the primary objectives. In the international CWTS ranking TU/e ranked first of 350 best performing universities worldwide in regard to scientific output in cooperation with industry.
The Security group (SEC) of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the TU/e performs research in two areas vital to the security of decentralized and embedded systems: security-policy specification & enforcement, and security of embedded systems. It leads and/or participates in a large number of projects (see http://www.win.tue.nl/sec/research.html) in these areas cooperating closely with several other groups within the department of mathematics and computer science and the department of electrical engineering, as well as with other academic and industrial partners.
Projects. The currently available positions are in the following projects:


PROJECT ESPRESSO (Contact person: Boris Skoric, B.Skoric@tue.nl)
http://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phdstudent-10-fte-espresso-project-195020.html
The topic of the project is biometric authentication with the best possible privacy protection. The aim is to develop a Secure Sketch (a special type of error correction) that is efficient enough to be implemented on a smartcard. We are looking for someone with strong analytic skills and coding skills.


PROJECT M2M Grid (Contact person: Nicola Zannone, N.Zannone@tue.nl)

http://jobs.tue.nl/nl/vacature/phd-student-10-fte-m2mgrid-195028.html
The M2MGrid project is focused on creating enablers for a dynamic cyber-physical information business ecosystem connecting physical world with business processes of companies in real-time. The focus of TU/e in M2MGrid is on access control for collaborative systems.
We are looking for someone with strong formal method background and programming skills.


PROJECT IDEA ICS (Contact person: Jerry den Hartog, J.d.Hartog@tue.nl)
http://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancy/phd-student-10-fte-idea-ics-project-197100.html
The IDEA ICS aims at detection of and response to targeted, network-based attacks (like StuxNet) on Industrial Control and SCADA systems by combining bottom-up learning and top-down specification based approaches. A background in networking and/or access control is a pre.


PROJECT XFCD data extraction & security (Contact person: Jerry.denHartog@tue.nl)
Vacancy link pending; for now you can send your applications directly to the contact person.
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) solutions integrate in-vehicle data (XFCD) and other data sources to enable smart traffic management, driver information and new types of applications. In this project we address related privacy and security concerns ranging from in-vehicle application platform to large scale cloud systems.




Tasks. Your tasks as a PhD researcher are:
- Carry out research within the project, in cooperation with the other parties involved;
- Report on the results in papers and conference contributions;
- Finishing a PhD thesis within four years;
- A small contribution to the teaching activities of the Security group may be asked.


Requirements. We are looking for candidates that meet the following requirements:
- A Master degree in Computer Science, theoretical physics, mathematics, electrical engineering or a similar curriculum;
- An interest in computer security and privacy;
- Ability to work in a team, cooperate with the industrial and academic partners
- fluent in spoken and written English.
- Strong analytical skills and software development skills;


Appointment and salary.  We offer:
- A full time temporary appointment for a period of 4 years, with an intermediate evaluation after 9 months;
- A gross salary of â,¬ 2083 per month in the first year increasing to  â,¬ 2664 in the fourth year;
- Support for your personal development and career planning including courses, summer schools, conference visits etc.;
- A broad package of fringe benefits (e.g. excellent technical infrastructure, child daycare and excellent sports facilities).


Application. The application should consist of the following parts:
- a cover letter explaining your motivation and qualifications for the position;
- a detailed Curriculum Vitae (including, if applicable, a list of publications);
- contact information of two references;
- copies of diplomas (including list of courses and grades);
- proof of English language skills (if applicable).




Information.
For more information about the project, please contact the contact person mentioned above.
For information about the employment conditions, please contact mr. C. Kuiters, HR advisor, e-mail: pzwin@tue.nl 

20 ICT PhD Positions in Finland

20 grants available for full-time doctoral studies (deadline: Sep. 30, 2014)

The Helsinki Doctoral Education Network in Information and Communications Technology (HICT) is a collaborative doctoral education network hosted jointly by Aalto University and the University of Helsinki, the two leading universities within this area in Finland. The network involves at present 54 professors and over 200 doctoral students, and the participating units graduate altogether more than 40 new doctors each year. The activities of HICT are structured along six research area specific tracks:

• Algorithms and machine learning
• Creative technologies
• Life science informatics
• Networks, networked systems and services
• Software and service engineering and systems
• User centered information technology

The quality of research and education in both HICT universities is world-class, but the education is still practically free as there are no tuition fees in the Finnish university system. Helsinki has been ranked as the World’s Most Livable City (Monocle, 2011), and is the capital city of Finland, which is in the top 10 of the most highly educated nations in the world (OECD, 2013), and has been selected as the world’s best country to live in (Newsweek, 2010).

The participating units of HICT have currently 20 fully funded positions available for exceptionally qualified doctoral students. The purpose of the call is to evaluate the candidates so that the participating units can then offer the funding to the most successful applicants. The grants cover full-time employment in one of the participating units for the remaining duration of the doctoral studies, and the maximum extent of full-time doctoral studies is four years.

General information

Who is eligible to apply?

• (i) Current doctoral students of HICT supervisors (see list at http://www.hict.fi/Tracks).
• (ii) Potential new doctoral students who are willing to start their doctoral studies under one of the supervisors participating in the call (see the list below) by the beginning of the funding period.
• In both cases, in order to be successful in the call, the applicant needs to be an exceptional student. Although the number of grants is relatively high, we expect to receive hundreds of good applications, and the process is extremely competitive.
• While all applicants who have submitted an application by the deadline will be appropriately considered, Aalto University and the University of Helsinki reserve the right to consider also other candidates for the announced positions. They may decide to make offers to exceptional candidates already before the end of the call.
• In the Finnish university system, a person must have a Master’s degree in order to enroll for doctoral studies. In case you wish to pursue graduate studies with a B.Sc. background, please apply first to one of the participating units’ Master’s programs (Aalto SCI, Aalto ELEC, U. Helsinki). Highly qualified new M.Sc. students may apply for a position as aspirant members of the HICT network via a separate process (to be established later), and for these honors students it will then be straightforward to continue studies as a doctoral student after the mandatory M.Sc. phase.

When does the funding period start?

• The exact starting date can be negotiated between the student and the supervisor, but most supervisors expect new students to start by the beginning of the next academic year (January 2015). The student must have completed his/her M.Sc. degree before HICT funding commences.
• New students also need to go through the standard doctoral student enrollment process of the hosting university/school before the start of the funding period. The supervisors will help in this process, once the best candidates have been identified and linked to a supervisor.

How long is the funding period?

• The maximum length of the funding period is four years (for starting doctoral students).

How much is the grant?

• The exact amount of monthly salary depends on the stage of the doctoral studies and varies between 2,000 and 3,000 euros/month. The level of the salary is sufficient for a funded student to focus on his/her doctoral studies full-time, without need to resort to other sources of income.

What are the duties and benefits of a doctoral student?

• Funded doctoral students are typically hired as full-time employees for the duration of their doctoral studies. The contract includes the normal occupational health benefits of the employing university, and Finland has a comprehensive social security system.
• The annual total workload of research and teaching staff at Finnish universities is 1600 hours. In addition to doctoral studies, persons hired are expected to participate in the supervision of students and teaching following the standard practices of the recruiting unit.

Where are the doctoral studies to take place?

• Physically the main work location is at the department of the supervisor: in case of the Aalto departments, these are located in the Otaniemi Campus, while the Department of Computer Science of University of Helsinki is located at the Kumpula Science Campus. The joint research institute HIIT that coordinates the activities of HICT operates on both campuses.
• Both campuses are easily reachable from Helsinki city center by public transportation.
• The distance between Otaniemi and Kumpula is only some 15 kilometers, and the participating departments collaborate frequently in research and education (in doctoral education through the HICT network). It is administratively very easy to incorporate courses from the other university as part of a doctoral degree in the other university. HICT will also organize joint seminars, lecture series, workshops and other events for its students.

If I come to study in Helsinki, do I need to learn Finnish?

• No: the working environment of doctoral students is highly international, and the working language is English. You can normally also cope in English outside work as most Finns have a very good command of English.

For further details and application procedure, please see the following links;

http://www.hict.fi/

http://www.hict.fi/node/3

Doctoral scholarships in Hong Kong

Dear Colleagues,

Applications are invited for the Hong Kong Postgraduate Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) studentships to commence study in September 2015.  HKPFS is a special scheme run by the HK University Grants Council designed to attract the best students for doctoral study in Hong Kong.  The scheme is extremely generous in terms of remuneration and benefits and it is open to all applicants irrespective of nationality.  You can find out more about the scheme at: https://cerg1.ugc.edu.hk/hkpfs/index.html.

Over the last few years, the School of Communication at Hong Kong Baptist University has been increasingly successful in helping students obtain these very competitive awards. We should like to ask you to encourage any of your students who are interested in pursuing doctoral studies to apply to us.  The School is a large one with a wide range of research interests.  We are interested in potential students who wish to research in the following areas:

Film Studies (documentary studies, television studies and Asian cinemas are particularly strong specialisms)

Journalism (comparative media systems, media education and literacy,  and Chinese media are particularly strong specialisms)

Communication Studies (advertising and public relations, organisational and health communication are particularly strong specialisms)

Students with other interests within these general areas are strongly encouraged to contact the School to discuss whether we possess the expertise to supervise them should they decide to apply.

Our doctoral programme is very international in orientation and composition.  We have students from Europe, the US, Africa, South Asia and East Asia and we are keen to maintain such a cosmopolitan student body.  A student interested in applying can find further details of the School at: http://www.comm.hkbu.edu.hk/.  The general conditions for admission to the university’s Graduate School are at: http://gs.hkbu.edu.hk/.

Hong Kong is an excellent place to study for a doctoral degree.  The university is very well supported by the UGC and research is one of the main priorities.  Universities enjoy a very high level of academic freedom. (Incidentally, despite its name, Hong Kong Baptist University is a secular public university that welcomes students of all religions and none.)  Hong Kong bills itself as “Asia’s World City” and has a diverse population.  Faculty and students are active participants in the city’s vigorous civic life.

There is a two-step application process.  Potential students must first register their interest with the UGC at the URL above and obtain a registration number.  They then apply to HKBU through the Graduate School using that registration number as a reference.  Applications are exclusively electronic. The deadline for applications for a September 2015 start is 12.00 Hong Kong time (GMT+8) on 1^st December 2014.

Should any of your students be interested in learning more about these opportunities, they can feel free to contact me directly atsparksc@hkbu.edu.hk.

Best wishes

Joint PhD Position at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler and University of Brescia on AI techniques for Process Mining

Subject: Joint PhD Position at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler and University of Brescia on AI techniques for Process Mining 

Position: 1 PhD position
Duration: 3 years
Close Date: 12 September 2014 at 13.00 Italian Time
Web site: http://www.unibs.it/node/9060

One PhD position is open at the Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia (Italy) on Artificial intelligence and reasoning techniques for process mining in information systems. The research will be carried out jointly between the Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia and the SHELL team, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Trento Italy, where most of the research activities will be conducted. 


About Us

FBK-ICT (www.fbk.eu) conducts research in information technology. Research units and interdisciplinary research projects, such as SHELL (shell.fbk.eu), aim at  addressing important research challenges by exploiting and joining the different scientific competences that are at the base of the internationally well-known scientific excellence of FBK-ICT.

The Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia conducts research in several areas of information and communication technologies, including computer science and engineering. In this area different groups work on various basic and applied research projects with strong scientific competences especially in the fields of artificial intelligence, information systems, robotics, and human-computer interaction.

For further infos please contact:

Prof. Alfonso Emilio Gerevini, gerevini@ing.unibs.it
Department of Information Engineering
University of Brescia

Dr. Chiara Ghidini, ghidini@fbk.eu
SHELL project
Fondazione Bruno Kessler


Topic Description

TITLE: Artificial intelligence and reasoning techniques for process mining in information systems
REFERENCE PERSONS: Chiara Ghidini, Alfonso Gerevini 
ABSTRACT: Process mining is a recent and rapidly emerging research field with many applications, aiming at discovering, monitoring and improving real processes by extracting knowledge from event logs readily available in today's (information) systems. Despite the several enormous steps carried on in the last years, still a number of open challenges waits to be addressed in this field, as for example, the run-time operational support for processes (i.e., the on-line detection and prediction of problems, and  the run-time provision of recommendations towards their resolution), or the management of complex event logs with different characteristics (e.g., too many, too few or too abstract data).  
The aim of this thesis is investigating how to exploit, adapt and combine techniques and approaches borrowed from different research fields, ranging from logic to artificial intelligence, from model checking to statistics, to advance the existing services for process analysis and process model (re-)design from monitoring data.  To this purpose, several are the challenges to be faced in the work as, for example, (i) the capability to represent and reason about secondary aspects for business processes such as data, time, resources, purpose of data; (ii) the capability to align execution information with models, when they exist, or to mine (logic-based) models from traces, when they do not exist; (iii) the capability to monitor run-time execution and to predict its outcome.  The work will put together theoretical and methodological aspects, including for example the problem conceptualization and representation, as well as implementation and optimization
 ones, aimed at the devel!
 opment of process analysis services and tools.

SKILLS REQUIRED: good knowledge of artificial intelligence and/or knowledge representation techniques

PhD position, Live data center migration across multiple data centers, University of Göttingen

The Institute of Computer Science at the University of Göttingen is looking to fill a full (100%, 39.8 hours per week)

Research Assistant (Doctoral/PhD Student) 

position within the Computer Networks group as soon as possible. The contract is a fixed-term contract with a duration of three years. Payment will be made according to the regulations of the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union (FP7) within the scope of the Marie-Curie Actions for Initial Training Networks (MC-ITN).

Project Description
The PhD student will work on the project „Live data center migration across multiple data centers“ within the EU consortium „CleanSky ITN“, which aims to develop innovative ideas for the migration of applications and services within the eco system of cloud computing. In the cloud evolution process, VM migration may occur in geographically distributed data centers, which are connected via WAN links, and probably have different underlying topologies. Migration across multiple data centers will need to take account of the heterogeneity of cloud architectures and requirements, significant geographic separation and relatively low bandwidth and high latency of WAN links. Based on these considerations, new techniques for VM migration will be developed to facilitate and enable resource pooling across data centers. These techniques will be utilized to also support sources of renewable energy resources for data centers. To achieve these goals, a unique combination of acedemic and industry organisations collaborates in CleanSky ITN. For further information, interested applicants may consult the project webpage (http://www.cleansky-itn.eu/).

Applicants Profile
- Excellent scientific degree in Computer Science (Master, Diploma)
- Good knowledge of computer networks and distributed systems
- results in reknowned scientific journals
- Excellent analytical skills
- Good programming skills and knowledge of evaluation methodology
- Working experience in the field of cloud computing is an advantage
- Both written and spoken fluency of the English language

Marie-Curie Mobility Requirement
- At the time of recruitment, the applicant must not have lived in Germany for more than 12 out of the past 36 months. If fulfilling this requirement is not possible, it is recommended to apply for a position at one of the partner institutions of CleanSky ITN.

It is explicitly possible to pursue a doctoral degree within the position. The doctorate will be earned in the scope of a regulated PhD programme. Applicants should inform themselves about the programme: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/111933.html

Applicants shall submit the usual documents exclusively electronic manner before September 30th 2014. Applications have thus to be submitted via the project webpage, which also contains further information regarding the application process. (http://www.cleansky-itn.org/open-positions/).

Questions regarding the application procedure may be directed at Prof. Dr. Xiaoming Fu (Telephone: +49 551 39-172023) or Mr. David Koll (E-Mail: recruitment@cleansky-itn.eu).

The University strives to increase the proportion of women in areas where women are underrepresented and explicitly encourages qualified female candidates to apply. Handicapped persons with appropriate qualifications will be given preference.

__._,_.___

PhD positions - Service-oriented Architectures for Software System Integration with Medical Application - Humboldt Universitaet, TU Berlin, and Hasso-Plattner-Institut Potsdam

We have several open and fully funded PhD positions in the graduate school "SOAMED - Service-oriented Architectures for Software System Integration with Medical Application". Positions start from 1.10.2014 earliest. SOAMED currently has more than 20 PhD students supervised by 12 professors from three universities (Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, Hasso-Plattner-Institut Potsdam) and Europe's largest university clinic, the Charite. All are situated in the Berlin area in Germany. 


SOAMED pursues research in modeling, implementing, integrating, and analyzing distributed service-oriented systems. A focus for our current call is research in large-scale data analytics processes for biomedical data (scientific workflows, cloud computing, resource scheduling, privacy in data analytics, large-scale ontology matching etc.). We expect each applicant to submit with his/her application a short PhD proposal in any of these areas; more examples can be found at the link below. Applications should be submitted as soon as possible.


Please note that we *do not* require knowledge of German for starting a PhD, though most of our information is in German. 


For more information, please visit


https://www.informatik.hu-berlin.de/forschung/gebiete/soamed/SOAMED%20II/WiMi

International Fellowships/Scholarships for PhD Stdudents in Germany

015/2016 International Fellowships/Scholarships for PhD Stdudents at Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences, Germany

Program Description
BAGSS invites applications from highly qualified graduates from the fields of Sociology, Psychology, Educational Science, Political Science, Economics, Demography, and Statistics. Candidates must hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in one of the aforementioned subjects or be very close to completion. (The degree must be completed by the time of admission to BAGSS. The next admission date is April 1, 2015.)

The Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (BAGSS) in Germany currently invites applications for 12 doctoral fellowships (positions or scholarships with a duration of up to three years). To apply the positions, candidates must hold a Master’s degree from the fields of Sociology, Psychology, Educational Science, Political Science, Economics, Demography, and Statistics. The application deadline for the winter term 2014/15 expired on March 31.

Eligibility and Requirements
Applicants need to provide a research proposal for their doctoral dissertation project which fits thematically to at least one of the four academic pillars of BAGSS.

Applicants must have an excellent command of English. If English is not your native tongue, you need to supply proof of proficiency.

BAGSS is firmly committed to the goal of diversity and equal opportunities. It emphatically encourages applications by women. The University of Bamberg is a certified family-friendly university which offers comprehensive advice on reconciling family and work life

BAGSS invites applications from exceptionally qualified graduates in Sociology, Psychology, Educational Science, Political Science, Economics, Demography and Statistics or closely related fields. For more information about BAGSS, eligibility and

Application Procedures
Please visit our homepage: www.uni-bamberg.de/bagss/application

All documents, except for the letters of recommendation, need to be submitted as a single PDF (max. 30 MB) with the documents arranged in exactly the above order (1. cover letter, 2. CV, 3. one-page abstract, 4. research proposal, 5. academic degree certificates and university grade transcripts, 6. statement on knowledge of research methods, 7. (if applicable) evidence that external funding has been granted). A free software for creating PDFs and merging them into a single document is available externer Link folgt here. Please use your surname to name your application file (SURNAME.pdf; make sure to avoid special characters).

Letters of recommendation: please ask your referees to send a scan of their signed letters directly to us (admissions.bagss(at)uni-bamberg.de). Referees should use an official/institutional address when submitting their letters. It is your responsibility to make sure that references reach us on time.

Submission Deadline
The winter term 2014/15 expired on March 31. A new application period for the summer term 2015 will start on July 1, 2014.

Website and Application link
http://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/bagss/Ankuendigungen/Call_for_Applications_Apr2015.pdf