Deadline: 1 December 2011
Open to: Applicants with M.Sc. Level (5-years equivalent) degree in computer science or equivalent
Scholarship: The salary will range from € 2,042 per month (first year) up to a maximum of € 2,612 (last year) before tax
Description
The System and Network Engineering research group (SNE) focuses its research on emerging new local and wide area optical networks and the associated models, systems and protocols. The group is building tools and proof of concept applications to promote optimal use of these high speed networks. The group develops grid middleware to empower applications to optimally allocate and use these infrastructures. Security of the required mechanisms, infrastructure, middleware, applications and the privacy of data in distributed processing environments are fundamental to the research. The research group is closely working together with the SNE Master, the Software Engineering Master and the Computer (Grid) Science Master programs to disseminate knowledge through education.
The student should develop declarative system descriptions that are used to configure the underlying (virtual) infrastructure such that it meets an application’s security requirements. At the same time, the student will develop methods to protect the system as a whole against malicious applications or misconfigured systems – for example to ensure that a (virtual) infrastructure instantiated using an obsolete system description cannot be misused, e.g., to host a botnet.
Besides offering novel academic insights, the PhD student should produce working software to demonstrate feasibility of the framework to create virtual infrastructure to support (biomedical) e-Science applications. Practical deployment of the developed methods is a primary concern in COMMIT.
The appointment will be full-time (38 hours a week) for a period of four years (initial employment is 18 months and after a positive evaluation, the appointment will be extended by 30 months) and should lead to a dissertation. The salary is in accordance with the university regulations for academic personnel. The salary will range from € 2,042 per month (first year) up to a maximum of € 2,612 (last year) before tax (scale P). Employees receive an 8% holiday bonus and an end of the year bonus on top of the monthly salaries. The collective employment agreement of Dutch universities is applicable.
Eligibility
The applicant should have:
- an M.Sc. Level (5-years equivalent) degree in computer science or equivalent;
- a study and research curriculum focused on computer systems, systems security, and/or privacy;
- good knowledge of OS (linux / unix) internals and low-level systems programming (preferably in C), besides being able to use scripting and high-level languages;
- knowledge of vulnerabilities, operational security, and hacking/cracking techniques is a pre;
- a keen interest in security and privacy issues.
How to apply?
Applications should include a letter of motivation, a detailed Curriculum Vitae, a transcript of grades and courses, a web link to a writing sample available online (such as MSc thesis and/or other publications), and names and contact details of two academic referees. (There is no special application form to be sent)
Applications should be emailed before 1 December 2011 to: application-science@uva.nl. Send applications only by electronic mail. The application procedure is continuous, and the application remains open until the position is filled.
In case of any further questions, please contact Guido van ‘t Noordende via email to noordende@uva.nl.
Contacts
University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Science, Personnel Dept., attn. J.C. Knaap-Cabi.