[TYPES/announce] Researcher positions in Rigorous Engineering for Mainstream Systems (REMS)

[Peter Sewell]

Researcher positions in Rigorous Engineering for Mainstream Systems (REMS)

How can we use rigorous semantics to improve the quality of mainstream
computer systems? REMS (Rigorous Engineering for Mainstream Systems)
(http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~pes20/rems/) is a 6-year EPSRC-funded
Programme Grant to do just that, bringing together an exciting
combination of researchers in systems (architecture, operating
systems, and networks) and in semantics (programming languages,
automated reasoning, and verification) at three UK universities:
Cambridge, Imperial, and Edinburgh.

We want to understand how to build accurate full-scale mathematical
models of some of the key computational abstractions (processor
architectures, programming languages, and concurrent OS interfaces),
and how these can be used for new verification research, to build
tools that are applicable to real systems, and to enable new systems
and programming language research. Supporting all this, we are also
working on new specification tools and their foundations.

If you have a keen interest in developing and applying rigorous
methods for real-world systems, we'd like to hear from you. At the
Cambridge site, we're looking to appoint several researcher and
research-engineer staff: up to four postdocs and two research
engineers (we will also be looking to appoint researchers at the
Imperial site, advertised separately). We're looking for people who
have a strong background in systems, in semantics, or in both, and who
want to develop research that integrates theory and practice,
contributing to ongoing research and initiating new subprojects. You
should have expertise in one or more of the following, on the
semantics side:

* Programming Language and Processor Semantics and Type Systems
* Automated Reasoning Tools, including Interactive Proof Assistants
* Concurrency
* Program Verification
* Static and Dynamic Analysis

and/or the following, on the systems side:

* Computer Architecture
* Operating Systems
* Security
* Compilers

We have four postdoctoral researcher positions available. For these
positions you should have a PhD (which should be submitted by the
start date) or equivalent experience. For candidates with exceptional
experience it may be possible to appoint on the Senior Research
Associate scale (£37,382-£47,314); for this you should also have the
ability to assist with project coordination.

We also have two research engineer positions available, which will be
on the Research Assistant scale. Candidates for these should have an
excellent first degree. One of the positions has a tenure of three
years; in some cases it may be possible to combine this with PhD
study. The limit of tenure for the other position is one year; this
may suit someone who is thinking of going on to a PhD later.

The positions are funded by the EPSRC grant EP/K008528
(http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/K008528/1), led
by Peter Sewell (http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~pes20/). Further details of
the project are at http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~pes20/rems/. Enquiries can
be addressed to any of the investigators, listed there.

Those involved in the project include researchers in semantics and
systems at Cambridge: Mike Gordon, Magnus Myreen, Andrew Pitts, and
Peter Sewell (PI) for the former, and Jon Crowcroft, Steve Hand, Anil
Madhavapeddy, Simon Moore, and Robert Watson for the latter, together
with Philippa Gardner at Imperial College London and Ian Stark at the
University of Edinburgh. Also involved are Mike Dodds (York), Susmit
Sarkar (St. Andrews) and Scott Owens (Kent). Project partners include
ARM, IBM, Microsoft Research, the FreeBSD foundation, INRIA,
U. Pennsylvania, Purdue University, and U. Texas Austin.

Applications should include:

* a Curriculum Vitae

* a brief statement of the particular contributions you would like to
  make to the project

* a completed form CHRIS6: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/hr/forms/chris6/

* the names and contact details (postal and e-mail addresses) of two
  or three referees who, if asked, will be able to provide references
  promptly.

Start date: as soon as possible. The project runs until end February 2019.

For the postdoctoral researcher positions, please quote reference:
NR27842.  Closing date: 15 May 2013; salary: £27,854-£36,298 pa.

For the research engineer positions, please quote reference NR27832.
Closing date: 14 May 2013; salary: £24,049-£27,047 pa.  Please
indicate the length tenure for which you are applying (one or three
years).