PhD Student Position in Functional Programming at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

Application deadline 2010-04-07

Reference number Ref 2010/44
Job start date 2010-09-01

The department provides a strong, international, and dynamic research environment with about 70 faculty and 70 PhD students. For more information, see www.chalmers.se/cse/. Half of our researchers and PhD students are native Swedes; the rest come from more than 30 different ,countries. The research group is a newly established group in the division of Software Engineering and Technology.
The functional programming group consists of 5 senior researchers, 5 post-docs, and 7 doctoral students, and recently got a 4-year grant supporting new research direction in the development and application of domain-specific languages. Examples of our current work in this area are a language for digital signal processing (called Feldspar, which is developed together with Ericsson), a language for high-level micro-architecture exploration (called Chalk, which is developed together with Intel), a language for GPU programming (called Obsidian) and a language for computational vulnerability assessment (developed together with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research). Generic programming is a paradigm we actively use in the development of DSLs.


Job description
The PhD student will join the research activities at our department in the area of functional programming, much of which concentrates on the design and application of Domain Specific Embedded Languages (DSELs). Examples of our previous work in this area are Lava, a language for hardware description and verification, QuickCheck, a DSL for specifying and testing programs and PolyP, a language for generic functional programming.

Our goals for the coming four years are to develop theories and tools that make future DSELs easier to design, implement, and use. Concretely, we aim for making reusable, generic libraries that capture common aspects occurring in many DSELs, such as symbolic simulation and error messages. Moreover, we want to develop domain-specific specification, testing and verification methods, using for example QuickCheck and automated theorem proving techniques, that exploit the particular restrictions that programs in the DSL at hand obey. All this will be done in the context of the concrete DSELs the group is already working on.

As a Ph.D. student you are employed by Chalmers and will receive a salary according to current salary agreements. A maximum of 20% of your time will be devoted to other duties at the department, mainly teaching. The remaining time will be devoted to your own courses and research within the project and you are expected to obtain a Ph.D. within a maximum of 5 years.

Required qualifications
Applicants must have a very good undergraduate degree in Computer Science or in a related subject with a strong Computer Science component. They must also have a strong, documented interest in doing research. The ideal student for the position is an accomplished functional programmer, with an interest in applied functional programming as well as a good understanding of logic.
You may apply even if you have not yet completed your degree, but expect to do so before the position starts.

Application procedure
The application shall be written in English and include the following items:

1. An application of a maximum of one A4 page containing your specific qualifications for the position
2. Attested copies of education certificates, including grade reports and other documents
3. Curriculum
4. Letters of recommendation and name of reference persons (optional)
   

The application shall be sent electronically as pdf or zipped documents. Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.

If any material is not available electronically or cannot be transferred to pdf format, the material can be sent as a hard copy to Registrar.
The applicants name and the reference number (Ref 2010/44) must be written on the first page of the application.

Address:
Registrar
Chalmers University of Technology
SE-412 96
Göteborg
Sweden

Further information
Research group level:
Assoc. Professor Patrik Jansson, E-mail: patrikj'at'chalmers.se Assoc. Professor Koen Lindström Claessen, E-mail: koen'at'chalmers.se Professor Mary Sheeran, E-mail: ms'at'chalmers.se Professor John Hughes, E-mail: rjmh'at'chalmers.se
Departmental level:
Dr. Björn von Sydow, Tel. +46 31-772 1040 +46 31-772 1040, E-mail: sydow'at'chalmers.se
More information is available at the departmental homepage www.chalmers.se/cse/EN

source: For details: http://www.chalmers.se/cse/EN/news/vacancies/positions/phd-student-position-in2935