[TYPES] Research Job: Compositional Analysis for Mobility & Concurrency @ Heriot-Watt U., Scotland, UK

Joe Wells jbw at macs.hw.ac.uk
Tue Oct 18 11:33:24 EDT 2005


                             Research Position

    ULTRA group (Useful Logics, Types, Rewriting, and their Automation)
                        Computer Science Department
                School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
                           Heriot-Watt University
                          Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

The HTML version of this job posting can be found at:

   http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/position-ad.html

Description of the Position

   A research position is available working on modular reasoning and
   compositional analysis for computer systems and software with special
   interest in mobility and concurrency at Heriot-Watt University [1]
   working with Joe Wells [2].  The position is in the ULTRA (Useful
   Logics, Types, Rewriting, and their Automation) group [3] in the
   Computer Science Department [4] in the School of Mathematical and
   Computer Sciences [5] at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh [6], the
   capital of Scotland [7].  The position involves collaboration with the
   EC, EPSRC, NATO, and NSF-funded Church Project [8] as well as various
   contacts in the European Global Computing community.

   The research will include collaboration on the Poly* [9] polymorphic
   retargetable type system for process and mobility calculi, but is not
   limited to that topic.

   It will be helpful if the researcher is competent in 1 or more of the
   following knowledge areas which are likely to be used in the project.

     * Formal calculi for reasoning about the meaning of computer systems
       (including computer programs), especially those dealing with
       aspects of (a) concurrency and (b) mobility, but also those
       dealing with aspects of (c) modules, linking, and loading, (d)
       resource usage, (e) components, (f) staged compilation, (g)
       classes and objects, etc.
     * Analysis of systems represented in formal calculi.
     * Constraint solving and unification.
     * Type systems, especially those with features similar to
       intersection and union types.
     * Programming languages good for use for any of the above.

   The duration of the position is from 6 months to 1.5 years, depending
   on the circumstances of the researcher, with possible extensions up to
   3 years total depending on salary, experience, performance, and
   funding.  Applications to spend a shorter period (e.g., the sabbatical
   leave of an established academic) will be considered.  The initial
   salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience in the
   range from 22289 GBP to 30002 GBP per year.  The position is available
   immediately.  It is preferred that before starting the researcher will
   have completed a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline within Computer
   Science.  Very good Ph.D. students elsewhere who want to spend part of
   their studies visiting Heriot-Watt will be considered.  Applicants from
   outside the European Economic Area (EEA) will be considered.

   The researcher will probably collaborate on 1 or more of the following
   activities.  The specific activities will be matched to the strengths
   of the researcher.

     * Designing new type systems for compositional (modular) analysis of
       systems that may involve one or more aspects of mobility,
       concurrency, and modularity, as well as other features such as
       resource awareness, components, run-time code generation, objects,
       etc.
     * Designing analysis algorithms for the new type systems.
     * Designing theories (e.g., "calculi") for reasoning about the
       meaning of computer systems with some of the features mentioned
       above.
     * Making software systems incorporating the new type systems,
       algorithms, and calculi.
     * Writing scientific reports on the work done.

References

   1.  http://www.hw.ac.uk/
   2.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/
   3.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/ultra/
   4.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/cs/
   5.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/
   6.  http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/tour/edintour.html
   7.  http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/scotland.html
   8.  http://www.church-project.org/
   9.  http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/DART/software/PolyStar/FAQ.html

Contact Information

   Informal inquiries should be directed to Joe Wells at:

     web:     http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/
     e-mail:  jbw at macs.hw.ac.uk
     fax:     +44 131 451 3327

   Formal applications should be directed to the Heriot-Watt Human
   Resources Office at:

     web:          http://www.hw.ac.uk/hr/
     e-mail:       hr at hw.ac.uk (responses will usually be by paper mail,
                   telephone, or fax)
     voice mail:   +44 131 451 3475
     fax:          +44 131 451 3475
     minicom:      +44 131 451 8212
     post:         Human Resources Office
                   Lord Balerno Building
                   Heriot-Watt University
                   EDINBURGH
                   EH14 4AS
                   GREAT BRITAIN

Applying for the Position

   Please use the reference code 142/05/L to help prevent your
   application from getting mixed up.  Please convert Microsoft Word
   documents to a public, standard, and non-proprietary format.  The best
   format is PDF, because some of our staff will encounter difficulties
   with HTML or PostScript.

   To formally apply for this position, please do as many as possible of
   the items in the following list by 2005-11-11.  The first 2 are
   absolutely necessary and the 3rd is quite important.  If you expect
   trouble meeting the deadline, please ask Joe Wells what to do.

     * Cause 3 recommendation letters to be sent by their writers.  Do not
       send the letters with your application.  (If someone tells you the
       letters are not needed yet or that less than 3 are needed, this is
       a mistake.  We want to see the letters before choosing who to
       interview.)
     * Send the following yourself:
          + your complete curriculum vitae, and
          + contact details for the 3 people writing your recommendation
            letters.
     * Get the Heriot-Watt Human Resources Office to send you an
       "application pack".  (This contains an application form, an equal
       opportunities monitoring form, information for applicants with
       disabilities, and some additional information about Heriot-Watt
       and the position.)
     * Fill out and return by post the application form and the equal
       opportunities monitoring form.  If your curriculum vitae is well
       constructed, then some information requested will be redundant, so
       just write "see c.v." in those blanks, but please return the
       application form anyway.  Although the application form requests
       only the addresses of 2 references, please follow the instructions
       above instead and supply 3.
     * Optionally, also send either of the following:
          + a brief statement about why your research accomplishments and
            interests are a good match for the position, and
          + up to 3 relevant publications of yours.
     * It is helpful to inform Joe Wells that you are applying so that he
       knows to ask our human resources office for your application
       materials.  It is helpful to send copies to Joe Wells of any
       electronic files you submit.
     * Anyone who might need a work permit if hired (usually someone who
       is not a citizen of an EEA country) should also do the following.
       In addition to possibly being e-mailed or faxed, each letter of
       reference should also be sent by post on official-looking headed
       stationery paper and should include details on your whereabouts
       over the last two years.  A work permit application also needs
       copies of any degree certificates, so it is a good idea to send
       those also at the same time as you send the rest of your
       application.  Work permit applications can take quite some time for
       the UK's Home Office to process, so please avoid delays.

   For your information, it is helpful if the writers of reference
   letters provide details of:

     * the capacity in which they know the candidate,
     * the candidate's skills, abilities and performance in relation to
       the post applied for,
     * the candidate's employment record including details of the
       candidate's role and service dates,
     * their view of the candidate's suitability for the post as a whole,
       in light of the attached details and their knowledge of the
       candidate's experience and abilities,
     * any further relevant information which would assist us in making
       an appointment.


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