Bertrand Meyer's technology+ blog

The Chair of Software Engineering, my group at the Schaffhausen Institute of Technology in Switzerland (SIT), has open positions for both PhD students and postdocs. We are looking for candidates with a passion for reliable software and a mix of theoretical knowledge and practical experience in software engineering. Candidates should have degrees in computer science or related fields: a doctorate for postdoc positions, a master’s degree for PhD positions. Postdoc candidates should have a substantial publication record. Experience is expected in one or more of the following fields:

• Software verification (axiomatic, model-checking, abstract interpretation etc.).
• Advanced techniques of software testing.
• Formal methods, semantics of programming languages.
• Concurrent programming.
• Design by Contract, Eiffel, techniques of correctness-by-construction.

Some of the work involves the AutoProof framework, under development at SIT (earlier at ETH), although other topics are also available, particularly in static analysis.

Compensation is attractive. Candidates must have the credentials to work in Switzerland (typically, citizenship or residence in Switzerland or the EU). Although we work in part remotely like everyone else these days, the positions are residential.

Interested candidates should send a CV and relevant documents or links (and any questions) to bm@sit.org.

My group, the Chair of Software Engineering, at the newly created Schaffhausen Institute of Technology has open positions for both PhD students and postdocs. We are looking for candidates with a passion for reliable software and a mix of theoretical knowledge and practical experience in software engineering. Candidates should have degrees in computer science or related fields: a doctorate for postdoc positions, a master’s degree for PhD positions. Postdoc candidates should have a substantial publication record. Experience in one or more of the following fields is a plus:

• Software verification (axiomatic, model-checking, abstract interpretation etc.).
• Advanced techniques of software testing.
• Formal methods, semantics of programming languages, type theory.
• Design by Contract, Eiffel, techniques of correctness-by-construction.
• Cybersecurity.

 Compensation at both levels is attractive. The PhD program is conducted in cooperation with partner universities. 

 Interested candidates should send a CV and relevant documents or links to bm@sit.org. They are also welcome to contact me for details.

As part of the continuation of the ERC Advanced Investigator Grant project “Concurrency Made Easy” (started at ETH Zurich, see the project pages at cme.ethz.ch), I have positions at Politecnico di Milano for:

• Postdocs (having a doctoral degree)
• Research associates (officially: “Assegno di Ricerca”, with the requirement of having a master degree), which can lead to a PhD position.

The deadline for applications is October 11. Please contact me directly if interested. What I expect:

• The requisite degrees as stated above.
• Innovative and enterprising spirit, passion for quality work in software engineering.
• Either or both of excellent programming abilities and strong CS theoretical background.
• Knowledge of as many of possible of: object-oriented programming, concurrency/parallelism, software verification/formal methods, Eiffel.
• Familiarity with the basics of the project as described in the project pages at the URL above.

As part of our “Concurrency Made Easy” ERC Advanced Investigator Grant project (2012-2017), we are offering PhD positions at the Chair of Software Engineering of ETH Zurich. The goal of the project is to build a sophisticated programming and verification architecture to make concurrent and distributed programming simple and reliable, based on the ideas of Eiffel and particularly the SCOOP concurrency model. Concurrency in its various forms (particularly multithreading) as well as distributed computing are required for most of today’s serious programs, but programming concurrent applications remains a challenge. The CME project is determined to break this complexity barrier.  Inevitably, achieving simplicity for users (in this case, application programmers) requires, under the hood, a sophisticated infrastructure, both conceptual (theoretical models) and practical (the implementation). We are building that infrastructure.

ETH offers an outstanding research and education environment and competitive salaries for “assistants” (PhD students), who are generally expected in addition to their research to participate in teaching, in particular introductory programming, and other activities of the Chair.  The candidates we seek have: a master’s degree in computer science or related field from a recognized institution (as required by ETH); a strong software engineering background, both practical and theoretical, and more generally a strong computer science and mathematical culture; a good knowledge of verification techniques (e.g. Hoare-style, model-checking, abstract interpretation); some background in concurrency or distribution; and a passion for high-quality software development. Prior publications, and experience with Eiffel, are pluses. In line with ETH policy, particular attention will be given to female candidates.

Before applying, you should become familiar with our work; see in particular the research pages at se.ethz.ch including the full description of the CME project at cme.ethz.ch.

Candidates should send (in PDF or text ) to se-open-positions@lists.inf.ethz.ch a CV and a short cover letter describing their view of the CME project and ideas about their possible contribution.

We have positions open at both the PhD and Postdoc levels at the Chair of Software Engineering at ETH Zurich, the Chair of Software Engineering. As noted in an earlier article, I recently
received an Advanced Investigator Grant from the European Research Council (5 years, 2.5 million euros) on the theme “Concurrency Made Easy”; see [1] for the project description. We are also recruiting for our effort of building an advanced verification environment around Eiffel (EVE, Eiffel Verification Environment), under the slogan “Verification As a Matter of Course”; see e.g. the slides at [2], although the details are no longer up to date.

Requirements:

• Excellent background in verification.
• For the concurrency project, excellent background in concurrency.
• Good publications on relevant topics (particularly for the postdoc positions).
• Excellent mastery of object-oriented programming, including Eiffel concepts & Design by Contract.
• Mix of theoretical and practical (software development) talents.
• Passion for research and determination to advance the state of software engineering.

Please send a CV to this address; also include a position statement describing (briefly, half a page to two pages) on what topics you would like to work and what you think you can contribute. Obviously you should take some time to become familiar with our work , starting from the research pages at [3].

References

[1] Concurrency Made Easy project description, here.

[2] Slides of a talk at SAC, here.

[3] Home page of ETH Chair of Software Engineering, here.

In the past couple of weeks, three colleagues separately sent me announcements of PhD and postdoc positions, asking me to circulate them. This blog is as good a place as any other (as a matter of fact when I asked Oge de Moor if it was appropriate  he replied: “Readers of your blog are just the kind of applicants we look for…” — I hope you appreciate the compliment). So here they are:

• Daniel Jackson, for work on Alloy, see here. (“Our plan now is to take Alloy in new directions, and dramatically improve the usability and scalability of the analyzer. We are looking for someone who is excited by these possibilities and will be deeply involved not only in design and implementation but also in strategic planning. There are also opportunities to co-advise students and participate in research proposals.”)
• University College London (Anthony Finkelstein), a position as lecturer, similar to assistant professor), see here. The title is “Lecturer in software testing” (which, by the way, seems a bit restrictive, as I am more familiar with an academic culture in which the general academic discipline is set, say software engineering or possibly software verification, rather than a narrow specialty, but I hope the scope can be broadened).
• Semmle, Oge de Moor’s company, see here.

These are all excellent environments, so if you are very, very good, please consider applying. If you are very, very, very good don’t, as I am soon going to post a whole set of announcements for PhD and postdoc positions at ETH in connection with a large new grant.