======================================================================
Various Open Positions for Research Assistants/Associates
in the post-graduate program UnRAVeL
“Uncertainty and Randomness in Algorithms, Verification and Logic”
at RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
https://www.unravel.rwth-aachen.de/
======================================================================
Context.
The RWTH Aachen University is looking for enthusiastic and highly
qualified doctoral researchers. Various positions are available within
the interdisciplinary Research Training Group (RTG) UnRAVeL founded by
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The key emphasis of an RTG is on
the qualification of doctoral researchers with a focused research
program and a structured training strategy. The RTG UnRAVeL aims to
significantly advance probabilistic modelling and analysis for
uncertainty by developing new theories, algorithms, and tool-supported
verification techniques, and to apply them to core problems from
security (e.g., probabilistic protocols), planning (robotics and railway
engineering), and safety and performance analysis (railway systems). To
tackle these research challenges, theoretical computer scientists from
computer-aided verification, automata, logic and games, algorithms and
complexity, together with experts from management science (robust
optimization), applied computer science (robotics and security), and
railway engineering intensively cooperate within the RTG UnRAVeL.
Required profile.
Candidates must have (or soon obtain) a master degree in Computer
Science, Mathematics or related area and have completed their studies
with excellent grades. You should have interest in performing original,
highly competitive scientific research, publishing your results in top
conferences and scientific journals. Self-motivation and the ability to
work both independently and as a team player in local and international
research groups are expected. Fluency in English is required;
proficiency in German is helpful but not compulsory.
How to apply?
Your written application should contain:
- a curriculum vitae
- a transcript of records (list of courses and grades)
- a cover letter including a statement of interest in (some of) the
RTG topics (Algorithms and Complexity, Verification, Logic, or
Application Scenarios) that can be found on our web-site, and
- a recommendation letter e.g., by your master thesis supervisor(s).
All documents should be formatted as a single pdf-file. You should send
your application ultimately by ** October 30, 2020 (AoE) ** to the
e-mail address: unravel-appl(a)cs.rwth-aachen.de. We check applications
once they are received, and will conduct interview until our vacancies
are filled.
What do we offer?
We offer a stimulating international research environment, the
possibility to participate in highly competitive and interdisciplinary
research and the opportunity to involve students in your research
through project work. Doctoral researchers have a status as employee
with a salary according to the German federal employee scale TV-L E13;
the exact salary is subject to your family situation. The duration of
the positions is three years. RWTH Aachen University offers excellent
facilities for professional and personal development. Starting date of
the positions: January 1, 2021 and June 1, 2021.
Enquiries can be directed to Prof. Joost-Pieter Katoen (e-mail:
katoen(a)cs.rwth-aachen.de).
RWTH Aachen University is certified as a “Family-Friendly University”.
We particularly welcome and encourage applications from women, disabled
persons and ethnic minority groups, recognizing they are
underrepresented across RWTH Aachen University. The principles of fair
and open competition apply and appointments will be made on merit.
The Theoretical Computer Science Group (Prof. Barbara Koenig) at the
University of Duisburg-Essen, Campus Duisburg (Germany) has two open
PhD positions paid according to TV-L 13 (full-time).
The first position (no. 604-20) is in the DFG project SpeQt ("Spectra
of Behavioural Distances and Quantitative Logics"), which has recently
been granted by the German Research Foundation. This is a joint
project with Prof. Lutz Schröder at the University of
Erlangen-Nürnberg. A project description is attached below.
The second position (no. 605-20) is not associated with a specific
project. The PhD thesis topic will be in the area of modelling and
verification of concurrent systems.
You can apply for one or both positions. For both positions,
candidates at post-doc level can also be considered.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic universities in Germany are partially
closed. However, there is the possibility to meet and work at the
university, observing the current Corona regulations. There is of
course the possibility to do the job interview virtually.
Requirements
------------
You should have or should be in the process of obtaining an MSc or
equivalent degree (in Computer Science or Mathematics). Prior
knowledge about the topics of the projects is considered an
advantage. Good English speaking and writing skills are demanded, as
well as the willingness to learn German.
For a post-doc position you should have or should be in the process of
obtaining a PhD.
The application deadline is 8th October 2020.
https://www.uni-due.de/theoinf/index_en.php
======================================================================
Your Application
----------------
You can obtain further information by adressing your enquiries to:
Barbara Koenig
barbara_koenig(a)uni-due.de
tel.: ++49-203-3793397
If you are interested in the position, please send your
application. Your application should include:
* A description of your interest in the position, including your
motivation and specific qualifications.
* A curriculum vitae, including an abstract of your graduate thesis
and the name of your supervisor.
* If you are interested in a post-doc position, please include
a list of your publications and the names of possible referees.
Please send your application directly to me
(barbara_koenig(a)uni-due.de).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DFG Project SpeQt - Spectra of Behavioural Distances and Quantitative
Logics
----------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the central topics in the study of concurrent systems are
notions of system equivalence, which define when two given system
states have the same behaviour in a given sense. Classically,
i.e. over relational transition systems, such system semantics range
on a spectrum between branching-time and linear-time equivalences,
with each equivalence reflecting a notion of possible interaction with
systems, and characterized by a dedicated modal logic. In this
setting, equivalences and logics are two-valued, i.e. two states are
either equivalent or inequivalent, and a formula is either satisfied
or not satisfied in a given state. For systems involving quantitative
data, such as probabilities, weights, or more generally values in some
metric space, it has been recognized that quantitative notions of
equivalence, i.e. behavioural distances, and quantitative logics are
more suitable for some purposes, and enable a more fine-grained
analysis. For instance, while two states in Markov chains with small
differences in their transition probabilities are just inequivalent
under two-valued probabilistic bisimilarity, a suitable behavioural
distance will retain the information that the two states are not
exactly equivalent but still quite similar.
As indicated above, behavioural distances by their very nature apply
to settings that deviate from the classical relational model; these
settings are generally less standardized and vary quite widely. This
creates a need for uniform methods that apply to many system types at
once. For branching-time behavioural metrics, we have developed such
methods in earlier work within the framework of universal coalgebra,
which encapsulates system types as functors and systems as coalgebras
for the given type functor. The objective of SpeQt is to additionally
parametrize these methods over the system semantics, thus providing
support for spectra of behavioural distances in coalgebraic
generality.
The key tool we foresee for such a parametrization are graded monads,
which we have successfully used in earlier work to parametrize
two-valued equivalences. Central research goals include game-theoretic
and logical characterization and efficient calculation of
distances. Our results will enable us to derive such logics, games and
algorithms in a principled way for a whole range of different types of
transition systems and for the full spectrum between branching-time
and linear-time semantics. We plan to test and evaluate the resulting
algorithms in case studies centered around conformance testing of
hybrid systems and differential privacy.