[TYPES/announce] Postdoc in language-based security and provenance

[James Cheney]

A postdoctoral research position has become available in LFCS, University
of Edinburgh, suitable for candidates holding a PhD in foundations of
programming languages, databases, or language-based security, ideally with
experience applying principles in practical systems. The position is
available July 1, 2015 (the start date is very flexible) and is for 12
months initially, with possible extension contingent on availability of
funding.

http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/jcheney/lbps.html

== Project description ==

The position is part of a multi-year project on Language-Based Foundations
for Provenance Security. Provenance, or metadata describing the process by
which a computation produced some data or by which a data resource has been
constructed over time, is important in a variety of contexts, including
science, intelligence gathering, and audit of business data, but so far
there is relatively poor understanding of the theoretical foundations of
provenance. The overarching goal of this project is to develop foundational
understanding of provenance based on ideas from programming languages and
language-based security, and in particular, how the transparency and
accountability goals of provenance tracking might strengthen or undermine
traditional security policies and mechanisms. Furthermore, provenance has
recently been identified as a potential contributor to detecting so-called
advanced persistent threats, or attackers who gradually infiltrate a system
in order to achieve long-term objectives, and there is an opportunity in
this project to contribute to this fast-moving area.

Previous research experience concerning provenance or related topics is
desirable but not necessary.


The successful applicant will play an important role in one or more of the
following project tasks:


* Enrich and extend formal models of provenance from simple programming
  languages or database query languages to handle features such as
concurrency,
  references, side-effects, notions of location, time, or boundaries of
control.
* Analyze existing proposals for provenance security mechanisms, and
identify
  shortcomings or generalizations leading to a richer understanding of
policies and
  correct mechanisms for provenance
* Develop efficient techniques for integrating provenance-tracking
techniques into
  programming languages or other frameworks.
* Formalize and verify provenance techniques in mechanized proof systems or
  dependently-typed languages such as Coq, Agda or Isabelle/HOL.

For more information about the project background, please consult our
recent publications page here:

http://wcms.inf.ed.ac.uk/lfcs/research/groups-and-projects/database/provenance/#provenance-and-security

== Application instructions ==

A complete application consists of a CV and a 1-2 page research statement
summarizing your background, previous research experience, and how they
relate to this position.

Applications must be submitted by 5pm GMT on May 22, 2015, through the
University of Edinburgh recruitment site:

http://vacancies.ed.ac.uk
Reference number:  033051

or directly by following this link:

https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=033051

Interviews will likely be held during the first half of December.

== About the University of Edinburgh and LFCS ==

The University of Edinburgh School of Informatics brings together
world-class research groups in theoretical computer science, artificial
intelligence and cognitive science. The School led the UK 2008 and 2014 RAE
rankings in volume of internationally recognised or internationally
excellent research.

The School of Informatics also holds an Athena SWAN Silver Award, which
recognises a significant record of activity and achievement by the School
in promoting equality.

The Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science was established by
Burstall, Milner and Plotkin in 1986, and is recognized worldwide for
groundbreaking research on topics in programming languages, semantics, type
theory, proof theory, algorithms and complexity, databases, security, and
systems biology.

Programming Languages and Foundations is one of the largest research
activities in LFCS, including 15 academic staff, 8 postdoctoral
researchers, and 10 current PhD students, working on functional
programming, types, verification, semantics, software engineering,
language-based security and new programming models. We participate in a
thriving PL research community across Scotland, with Scottish Programming
Languages Seminars hosted every 3-4 months by PL groups at Glasgow,
Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt, St. Andrews, Dundee and Edinburgh.

For more information about Edinburgh and research activity in PL and
security, see these pages:

* Explore Edinburgh
   (http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/city)
* Programming Languages and Foundations at LFCS
   (http://wcms.inf.ed.ac.uk/lfcs/research/groups-and-projects/pl)
* Cyber-Security and Privacy at Edinburgh
   (http://secpriv.inf.ed.ac.uk/)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/pipermail/types-announce/attachments/20150416/c03b4244/attachment.html>