[TYPES/announce] PhD Studentships: Logics, Types, & Rewriting for Software & Mathematics @ Heriot-Watt, Scotland, UK

[Joe Wells]

                          Ph.D. Student Positions

    ULTRA group (Useful Logics, Types, Rewriting, and their Automation)
                        Computer Science Department
                School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
                           Heriot-Watt University
                          Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

The HTML version of this posting can be found at:

   http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/phd-student-ad.html

Description of the Positions

   Several Ph.D. student positions are available in areas involving
   research into the theories of logics, types, and rewriting and their
   applications in reasoning about computer systems and mathematics.  The
   positions are at Heriot-Watt University[1] in the ULTRA (Useful
   Logics, Types, Rewriting, and their Automation) group[2] in the
   Computer Science Department[3] in the School of Mathematical and
   Computer Sciences[4] at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh[5], the
   capital of Scotland[6].  The Ph.D. supervisors will be either
   Fairouz Kamareddine[7] and/or Joe Wells[8].

   Possible specific research topics include further development of any
   one of the following:

     * The Poly*[9] polymorphic retargetable type system for process and
       mobility calculi, aimed at the goal of supporting modular
       reasoning and compositional analysis for systems involving
       mobility and concurrency (such systems can include combinations of
       hardware, software, people, etc.).
     * The MathLang[10] framework for computerizing mathematical text
       where the computerization remains as close as possible to the
       original language in which the mathematical text was written, and
       yet acts as a formal structured style which can be used in
       mathematical software systems (e.g., computer algebra systems,
       theorem provers, etc.).
     * The idea of Expansion[11] as a fundamental organizing principle
       for obtaining flexible and compositional polymorphic type
       inference for computer software.
     * The use of Type Error Slicing[12] as a superior user interface for
       explaining type errors to users of new programming languages with
       advanced (and complicated!) type systems.
     * Any other reasonable idea which builds on work we have already
       started.

   It will be helpful to have interests (or possibly even competence) in
   1 or more of the following background knowledge areas:

     * Formal calculi for reasoning about the meaning of systems
       (including computer programs) such as the lambda calculus, the pi
       calculus, and the numerous other calculi they have inspired that
       deal with aspects of concurrency, mobility, modules, components,
       linking & loading, resource usage, staged compilation, classes &
       objects, etc.
     * Methods for analyzing specific systems (e.g., specific computer
       programs) represented by individual terms of such formal calculi.
     * Formal calculi for representing mathematical texts, including
       those aspects related to how actual practicing mathematicians
       (i.e., not mathematical logicians) construct and present
       mathematics.
     * Type systems for the kinds of formal calculi mentioned above,
       especially those with features similar to intersection, union,
       dependent, and singleton types.
     * Rewriting theories, especially those with higher-order features
       (the lambda calculus is the canonical example, but this also
       includes higher-order rewriting (HOR), systems with explicit
       substitutions, combinators, etc.).
     * Constraint solving and unification.
     * Programming languages especially suitable for use for any of the
       above.

   The usual duration of Ph.D. studentships in the UK is 3 years.  The
   positions are available immediately.

   The Ph.D. students will probably collaborate on 1 or more of the
   following activities.  The specific activities will be matched to their
   strengths.

     * Designing languages/calculi for representing various aspects of
       such things as computer programs, concurrent systems, mathematical
       texts, etc.
     * Developing theories for reasoning about such a calculus as a whole
       as well as individual terms written in the calculus.
     * Developing new type systems for such calculi with useful
       properties.
     * Developing analysis algorithms for the new type systems.
     * Proving various properties of the above items.
     * Making software systems incorporating the new calculi, theories,
       type systems, and algorithms.
     * Publishing scientific reports on the work done.

References

   1.  http://www.hw.ac.uk/
   2.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/ultra/
   3.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/cs/
   4.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/
   5.  http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/tour/edintour.html
   6.  http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/scotland.html
   7.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~fairouz/
   8.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/
   9.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/DART/software/PolyStar/
  10.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~fairouz/talks/talks2005/mathlang-general-talk.pdf
  11.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/papers/#Car+Wel:ITRS-2004
  12.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/ultra/compositional-analysis/type-error-slicing/

Contact Information

   Inquiries can be directed to Fairouz Kamareddine at:

   web:    http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~fairouz/
   e-mail: fairouz at macs.hw.ac.uk
   fax:    +44 131 451 8179

   Inquiries can be directed to Joe Wells at:

   web:    http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/
   e-mail: jbw at macs.hw.ac.uk
   fax:    +44 131 451 8179

Applying for the Positions

   Please contact Fairouz Kamareddine and/or Joe Wells for full details
   on how to apply.  We will want to see your curriculum vitae, as well as
   2 (or even 3 if possible) recommendation letters (preferably written
   by people familiar with your academic and research abilities, but a
   letter from an industry source is better than no letter at all).  We
   will expect recommendation letters to be sent directly by their
   authors and will need contact details for the letter authors.  You
   should probably already have a master's degree or equivalent
   experience.  It can be helpful to write a brief statement about why
   your research interests are a good match for the ULTRA group.  If you
   already have research publications (this is not required), it can be
   helpful to send 1 (or even 2) of them.  There will also be official
   Heriot-Watt application forms to fill out.  Please convert Microsoft
   Word documents to a public, standard, and non-proprietary format.  PDF
   is good, plain text is good, LaTeX is okay (if using only standard
   packages), HTML is okay (if not generated by Microsoft Word),
   PostScript is sometimes okay, Open Document format is undesirable,
   Microsoft Word format will not be accepted.

   For your information, it is helpful if writers of recommendation
   letters provide details of:

     * the capacity in which they know the candidate,
     * the candidate's skills, abilities and performance in relation to
       the post applied for,
     * the candidate's record including details of the candidate's
       role(s) and service dates,
     * their view of the candidate's suitability for the post as a whole,
       in light of the attached details and their knowledge of the
       candidate's experience and abilities,
     * any further relevant information which would assist us in choosing
       the right candidate.