The group of Networks and Distributed systems at the Informatics Department, University of Oslo has two PhD positions available.
The deadline for applications is 13 April, 2015.
The fellowships are part of the ConSeRNS initiative at the University of Oslo. ConSeRNS is run by 12 faculty from the Department of Informatics. The initiative targets absolutely essential research challenges in security and robustness of ICT infrastructures. ConSeRNS is part of a national Center for Resilient Networks and Applications (CRNA), which spans Simula Research Laboratory, the University of Bergen as well as the University of Oslo.
The Internet is being revolutionized by the interest-based data exchange within social communities. Millions of users in free online social networks (OSNs) are producing staggering volumes of data: Facebook receives more than 4.75 billion shared items every day while Twitter receives more than half a billion tweets per day.
However, numerous incidents indicate that free OSN services cannot be relied upon when it comes to protecting sensitive user data. As observed in multiple sources, concentrating the personal data of hundreds of millions of users under a single administrative domain leaves users vulnerable to large-scale privacy violations via inadvertent disclosures and malicious attacks. Furthermore, OSN terms of service often give the provider the right to reuse users' data in any way the provider sees fit.
We are seeking students who are interested in designing, developing, and evaluating techniques that address privacy in social networks.
The subject area of this PhD fellowship is middleware that allows applications to leverage the rich set of transport protocols available today. This topic is motivated by the increased focus in the Internet community on new end-to-end transport architectures that more effectively and flexibly can exploit available network resources and better satisfy requirements to the network from different types of applications.
The goal of this PhD fellowship is to investigate how existing middleware can be made capable of exploiting these emerging Internet transport architectures in order to provide improved communication-related middleware services (like pub/sub and video streaming).
Since the research in this project will deal with both middleware and transport protocols, it will be supervised collectively by several faculty members in the group of Networks and Distributed Systems, whose expertise span these areas.
Applicants must have a degree in Computer Science, or in a related study, with excellent results. They must also be able to demonstrate interest in scientific research. The evaluation considers many aspects of excellence, as well as the personal drive and organizational skills. The ideal candidate for the position will have strong background in distributed computing.
You may apply if you have not yet completed your degree, but expect to do so before the position starts.
University of Oslo is an equal opportunity employer.
Knowledge of Norwegian is not a prerequisite for application. English is our working language for research.
We expect the candidate to be internationally oriented and willing to do, for example, summer internships abroad.
A PhD position is a regular job with social benefits and with salary starting from 429.700 NOK per year.
The currently open positions are for three years with a possibility to apply for extending the time period to 4 years. A 4 year position means that 25% of the time will be for duties beyond the normal research and project work, such as teaching and supervision of master students.
The University of Oslo is Norway's largest and oldest institution of higher education. Founded in 1811, today the University of Oslo has approx. 30,000 students and 4,600 employees. Four Nobel Prize winners indicate the quality of the research at the University. The Department of Informatics has been a home to a number of world-renown scientists, such as Turing Award recipients Prof. Dahl and Prof. Nygaard.
The group of Networks and Distributed Systems offers a work environment that is well equipped with the newest hard- and software technology. The research group has tight bonds with Simula Research Laboratory. Furthermore, we have well established links to national and international research institutions. We conduct collaborative research projects that are funded by Norwegian research funds, and the European Community.
The country, also known for its unique scenic beauty, has been ranked by the UN as having the highest standard of living in the world. Oslo is considered one of the sunniest places in Northern Europe, with summer temperatures averaging 21 degrees Celsius.
Futher information can be found on this page.
See the frontal for submitting applications for the 1st position and for the 2nd position. The announcement on the University web page for the 1st position and for the 2nd position may include additional details. If you are interested in both positions, you should submit your application for each position separately (sorry for the inconvenience).
Full application should include
Inquiries for additional information should be sent to Professor Roman Vitenberg, romanviSPAMFILTER@ifi.uio.no. For the 2nd PhD position, other members of the ND group can also be contacted: Professor Frank Eliassen frankSPAMFILTER@ifi.uio.no, Professor Michael Welzl michaweSPAMFILTER@ifi.uio.no, and Professor Stein Gjessing steingSPAMFILTER@ifi.uio.no.