[TYPES/announce] PhD Studentships in PL at the University of Glasgow (Deadline: 31st July 2023)

[Simon Fowler]

The School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow is offering studentships to support PhD research for students starting in Autumn 2023.
There are three studentships available: two which cover home fees (UK, including students with settled or pre-settled status), and one which covers international fees. All studentships also cover living expenses at UKRI rates (£18,622 per annum).
 
Although the above funding is open to students in all areas of Computing Science, applications in the area of programming languages are very welcome.
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/computing/research/researchthemes/pl-theme/__;!!IBzWLUs!Us3bG70ASSzMTC1daz1bqTzzPruEf9nmPIEA5I_ouGzAgdvavQ5AWpNXDV0xtQQ0mKJRtJYTNjfRf2zWAsU2dYOkrZMI2Zj13EO2LpiYo1k$ 

For applicants wishing to research PL, this round of studentships is available for students wishing to study with Dr Blair Archibald or Dr Simon Fowler.

Applicants will typically have a BSc (2:1 or above) or MSc in Computing Science, and will have had some exposure to the field of programming languages through courses, internships, or undergraduate projects.

# Supervisors and Sample Projects

## Dr Blair Archibald

Potential project: Programming Languages let us describe and reason about computational processes, but what about non-computational processes? Chemistry is becoming increasingly automated: what should a "programming language" for chemistry look like? what chemistry can it describe? can we tell if a chemical protocol is safe before executing it? Applicants are invited for a novel PhD applying ideas from computer science to chemistry (no chemistry background required!).

Bio: Blair Archibald's research focuses on the understanding of complex systems, specifically how we can use symbolic techniques to model and reason about them, and how we can create systems using expressive programming languages.

Website: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.blairarchibald.co.uk__;!!IBzWLUs!Us3bG70ASSzMTC1daz1bqTzzPruEf9nmPIEA5I_ouGzAgdvavQ5AWpNXDV0xtQQ0mKJRtJYTNjfRf2zWAsU2dYOkrZMI2Zj13EO2GEvd-8E$  
E-mail: blair.archibald at glasgow.ac.uk

## Dr Simon Fowler

Potential project: Behavioural type systems go beyond data types and classify the behaviour of a program (e.g., whether a program authenticates before making a privileged request). Behavioural type systems are often difficult to implement in a typechecker: algorithmic presentations of behavioural type systems are often designed on an ad-hoc basis, and often not written down or proved correct. Co-contextual type systems, originally designed for incremental type checking, have shown promise as a unifying foundation for implementing behavioural type systems. This research will investigate co-contextual versions of several behavioural type disciplines from the literature (e.g., session types and typestate), and will investigate how co-contextual typing can allow the implementation of abstractions (e.g., mixed choice) that are beyond the reach of current designs.

Bio: Simon Fowler’s research focuses on the design and implementation of programming languages, primarily in the context of functional programming and its applications to concurrency and data management. He is particularly interested in multi-tier programming and behavioural type systems.

Website: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.simonjf.com__;!!IBzWLUs!Us3bG70ASSzMTC1daz1bqTzzPruEf9nmPIEA5I_ouGzAgdvavQ5AWpNXDV0xtQQ0mKJRtJYTNjfRf2zWAsU2dYOkrZMI2Zj13EO2sKDl78U$ 
E-mail: simon.fowler at glasgow.ac.uk

# Application Process

To apply, please contact a supervisor to discuss an application (as we will need to nominate you for these studentships).

Students can apply for admission to PhD study at any time, but to be considered for the studentships we are offering at this round, we must receive your application by 31st July 2023. To discuss an application we would recommend contacting us earlier. For more information about how to apply, see https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/computing/postgraduateresearch/prospectivestudents/__;!!IBzWLUs!Us3bG70ASSzMTC1daz1bqTzzPruEf9nmPIEA5I_ouGzAgdvavQ5AWpNXDV0xtQQ0mKJRtJYTNjfRf2zWAsU2dYOkrZMI2Zj13EO2l9Moz34$ .  This web page includes information about the research proposal, which is required as part of your application.

# Research Environment
The School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow has an international research reputation, and Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, offers an outstanding range of cultural resources and a high quality of life.

As a PhD student researching PL, you will be part of the Programming Languages Theme (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/computing/research/researchthemes/pl-theme/__;!!IBzWLUs!Us3bG70ASSzMTC1daz1bqTzzPruEf9nmPIEA5I_ouGzAgdvavQ5AWpNXDV0xtQQ0mKJRtJYTNjfRf2zWAsU2dYOkrZMI2Zj13EO2LpiYo1k$ ), which comprises researchers interested in programming languages from theory, systems, and education. We have a regular seminar series, PLUG, and members of the theme regularly publish in top venues (e.g., POPL, ICFP, ECOOP, ESOP, CONCUR).

Scotland is an outstanding place to do programming languages research, with a vibrant PL community. You will benefit from the Scottish Programming Languages Seminar, which brings together PL researchers from across Scotland three times a year.