[TYPES/announce] PhD positions in Automated and Foundational Verification at ISTA

[Michael Sammler]

Dear all,

I am excited to announce that I am recruiting PhD students to join my 
group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), located 
on the outskirts of Vienna. I am looking for motivated and capable 
students with a strong interest in Programming Languages and 
Verification (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://ista.ac.at/en/research/sammler-group/__;!!IBzWLUs!UnXb_o95o28P6oHvQOzPEdNWfa3seCu8QDJ3DlUnX1gpbO1OwlM8oHLCaAyQOl3y0aWjEmMjNOjA-ov6HqrkA6ANLrhlkgnjNdAJJhgYPrM$ ).

The research of my group centers around the theoretical and practical 
challenges of verifying realistic low-level code, with a focus on 
verification techniques based on proof assistants like Lean and Rocq and 
separation logics like Iris. Concrete projects of the group are the 
RefinedC verification tool for C (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://plv.mpi-sws.org/refinedc/__;!!IBzWLUs!UnXb_o95o28P6oHvQOzPEdNWfa3seCu8QDJ3DlUnX1gpbO1OwlM8oHLCaAyQOl3y0aWjEmMjNOjA-ov6HqrkA6ANLrhlkgnjNdAJv_E0Bgo$ ), 
the DimSum framework for multi-language semantics and verification 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://plv.mpi-sws.org/dimsum/__;!!IBzWLUs!UnXb_o95o28P6oHvQOzPEdNWfa3seCu8QDJ3DlUnX1gpbO1OwlM8oHLCaAyQOl3y0aWjEmMjNOjA-ov6HqrkA6ANLrhlkgnjNdAJDqT65z0$ ), or work on Iris-Lean 
(https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://github.com/leanprover-community/iris-lean__;!!IBzWLUs!UnXb_o95o28P6oHvQOzPEdNWfa3seCu8QDJ3DlUnX1gpbO1OwlM8oHLCaAyQOl3y0aWjEmMjNOjA-ov6HqrkA6ANLrhlkgnjNdAJfA7TT9U$ ). If any of these 
sound interesting, I encourage you to apply.

ISTA offers internationally competitive salaries, full health benefits, 
and subsidized on-campus housing in the first year. Students with a 
bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field are encouraged to 
apply. The deadline for PhD applications is January 8, 2026 for a start 
date in September 2026 (or earlier, if desired).

Applications should be submitted through https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://phd.ista.ac.at/__;!!IBzWLUs!UnXb_o95o28P6oHvQOzPEdNWfa3seCu8QDJ3DlUnX1gpbO1OwlM8oHLCaAyQOl3y0aWjEmMjNOjA-ov6HqrkA6ANLrhlkgnjNdAJ9ol0E2U$ . If you 
apply, please also drop me a note at michael.sammler at ista.ac.at so I am 
aware of your application. Feel free to reach out to me via email for 
more information or visit https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://phd.ista.ac.at/__;!!IBzWLUs!UnXb_o95o28P6oHvQOzPEdNWfa3seCu8QDJ3DlUnX1gpbO1OwlM8oHLCaAyQOl3y0aWjEmMjNOjA-ov6HqrkA6ANLrhlkgnjNdAJ9ol0E2U$ .

Best regards,
Michael Sammler