[TYPES/announce] Postdoc opportunities at UPenn, Harvard, and Northeastern

[Benjamin Pierce]

Applications are invited for postdoc positions in the areas of programming languages, formal verification, operating systems, and  hardware design at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard  University, and Northeastern University.

The hosting project, SAFE (Semantically Aware Foundation Environment), is part of CRASH, a larger DARPA-funded effort to design new computer systems that are highly resistant to cyber-attack, can adapt after a successful attack in order to continue rendering useful services, can learn from previous attacks how to guard against and cope with future attacks, and can repair themselves after attacks have succeeded.  It offers a rare opportunity to rethink the hardware / OS / software stack from a completely clean slate, with no legacy constraints whatsoever.

Specifically, we aim to build a suite of modern operating system services that embodies and supports fundamental security principles—including separation of privilege, least privilege, and mutual suspicion—down to its very bones, without compromising performance.  Achieving this goal demands an integrated effort focusing on (1) processor architectures, (2) operating systems, (3) formal methods, and (4) programming languages and compilers -- coupled with a co-design methodology in which all critical system layers are designed together, with a ruthless insistence on simplicity, security, and verifiability at every level.

The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. in Computer Science, a combination of strong theoretical and practical interests, and expertise in two or more of the following areas: programming languages, security, formal verification, operating systems, and hardware design.  The position is for one year in the first instance, with possible renewal up to four years.  Starting date is negotiable. Applications from women and members of other under-represented groups are particularly welcome. 

To apply, please send a CV, research statement, and the names of three people who can be asked for letters of reference to Benjamin Pierce (bcpierce at cis.upenn.edu).  Inquiries can be directed to any of the PIs: 

   Andre Dehon (Penn)
   Greg Morrisett (Harvard)
   Benjamin Pierce (Penn)
   Olin Shivers (Northeastern)
   Jonathan Smith (Penn)