[TYPES/announce] PhD position in higher-order rewriting and program equivalence at Radboud University Nijmegen

[Cynthia Kop]

Dear all,

There is currently a PhD position available at Radboud University 
Nijmegen (the Netherlands) in the topic /Higher-order Term Rewriting for 
Program Equivalence/. The position is for four years, and comes with a 
competitive salary and very attractive employment conditions.

Interested students who either already hold a Masters' degree in 
computer science, mathematics, or a related area, or who will complete 
such a degree before September, are encouraged to apply. The initial 
application deadline is 20 June, but will be extended if no suitable 
candidate is found by that time.

*The project*

As a PhD candidate, you will conduct research into higher-order term 
rewriting systems with logical constraints. This project brings together 
two different areas of theoretical computer science: /higher-order term 
rewriting/ and /program equivalence analysis/.

/Term rewriting/ is a formal system that can be used to specify 
algorithms. Its simple, rigorous definition makes it very suitable for 
formal analysis, and as a result, its properties are well studied. 
Higher-order term rewriting extends standard term rewriting with 
anonymous functions and binders as in the lambda-calculus, thus 
providing a highly liberal class of systems.

Term rewriting can be combined with a logical theory and logical 
constraints; for example, integer numbers and conditions such as x >= 1 
/\ y != x. With this approach, it Is possible to model programs in 
common programming languages; higher-order term rewriting systems in 
particular offer a natural model to analyse functional and 
object-oriented programming languages.

/Program equivalence analysis/ is the study of whether two systems of 
program code have the same result, given the same input. This is a 
challenging field with many applications both in business practice and 
in other areas of computing science.

In this project, your task will be to develop techniques for program 
equivalence analysis, by analysing in particular higher-order term 
rewriting systems with logical constraints, which encode realistic 
programs. The majority of the project is the development of theory, but 
since it is a goal to develop automatable techniques, you will also 
implement some of your techniques in a prototype analysis tool.

You will be supervised by Dr Cynthia Kop. If you wish to learn more, 
feel free to send an e-mail to C.Kop at cs.ru.nl.

*Work environment*

Strategically located in Europe, Radboud University is one of the 
leading academic communities in the Netherlands. It is a place with a 
personal touch, where top-notch education and research take place on a 
beautiful green campus, in modern buildings with state-of-the-art 
facilities.

The position is available in the Software Science group of the Institute 
for Computing and Information Sciences (iCIS) at Radboud University. 
Research at iCIS focuses on software science, digital security and data 
science. During recent evaluations, iCIS has been consistently ranked as 
the No. 1 Computing Science department in the Netherlands. Evaluation 
committees praised our flat and open organisational structure, our 
ability to attract external funding, our strong ties to other 
disciplines, and our solid contacts with government and industrial 
partners. The Software Science group is well known for its contributions 
to the mathematical foundations of software, formal methods, and 
functional programming.

*What we expect from you*

  * you will be able to start at some time between the end of August and
    the end of November;
  *

    you hold an Msc or equivalent degree in computer science,
    mathematics or a closely related field -- or will graduate from such
    a field before starting the PhD position;

  *

    you are able to work both independently and as part of a team;

  *

    you are proficient in English (knowledge of Dutch is not required);

  * you have some programming experience.

Note that prior knowledge of term rewriting or implicit complexity is 
not required.

*What we have to offer*

  *

    employment: 1.0 FTE;

  *

    a maximum gross monthly salary of € 2,972 based on a 38-hour working
    week;

  *

    the gross starting salary amounts to €2,325 per month, and will
    increase to €2,972 in the fourth year;

  *

    in addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3%
    end-of-year bonus;

  *

    duration of the contract: 4 years;

  *

    your performance will be evaluated after 18 months. If the
    evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years;

  *

    you will be classified as a PhD Candidate (promovendus) in the Dutch
    university job-ranking system (UFO);

  *

    you will be able to make use of our dual career service (
    https://www.ru.nl/english/working-at/why-work-at-radboud-university-0/our-way-working-personal-approach/dual-career-service/
    ) where our Dual Career Officer will assist with family related
    support, such as child care, and help your partner prepare for the
    local labour market and with finding an occupation;

  * For our employment conditions, see
    https://www.ru.nl/english/working-at/why-work-at-radboud-university-0/terms-employment/
    .

*How to apply*

Submit a motivation letter, your CV, and a list of courses taken and 
grades obtained by e-mail to C.Kop at cs.ru.nl (you will receive a 
notification confirming when it has arrived).

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