Up to 5 Post-docs in IT for a sustainable and secure society - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Information Technology has a leading position in research and education in a wide spectrum of areas, from construction of computer systems, via programming of computers, storage and handling of data, to information retrieval and methods for applying computers in a variety of contexts. The Department currently has about 300 employees, including 120 teachers and 110 PhD students. More than 4,000 students take one or more courses at the department each year. More info: https://www.it.uu.se.

Two very important aspects of Information Technology are sustainability and security. To support research in these directions, the department is recruiting up to five postdocs across a range of projects.

Sustainability in Information Technology encompasses both the direct impacts on the environment of IT and the environments where IT is used. For example, the power consumption and emissions generated by operating computing devices (including data centres, mobile devices, embedded devices, and communications networks) as well as the global supply chains that deliver and maintain them, should be studied from a sustainability perspective. IT also plays a key enabling role in sustainability for industry, civil infrastructure, healthcare, and traffic control by improving efficiency. The Faculty of Science and Technology at Uppsala University (https://teknat.uu.se) has selected sustainability as one of its key focus areas.

Security in Information Technology addresses the challenge of protecting from disruptions the people, places, and societal infrastructure that rely on computer systems for data storage and processing. This disruption can come from malicious actors or as side-effects of unexpected interactions. Security research at the Department covers all aspects from speculative hardware attacks to software practices and proof systems for guaranteeing safety and reliability of codes and systems (https://www.it.uu.se/research/arenas/security?lang=en).

To support research in these critical areas, the Department of Information Technology has decided to make a joint effort to recruit five postdoctoral researchers with a focus on “IT for a Sustainable and Secure Society.”

We will employ up to five postdocs, one for each of the research projects specified below. The applications will be handled and ranked in relation to each project, and an applicant may apply for more than one project.

Duties: The position is focused on research in the described research project, and includes a limited amount of teaching and departmental duties, but not more than 20%.

Requirements: To qualify for an employment as a postdoc you must have a PhD degree or a degree equivalent to a PhD degree. The PhD degree must have been obtained no more than three years prior to the application deadline. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc. Proficiency in English (spoken and written) is required.

Research projects

• Project 1: The Division of Visual Information and Interaction (https://www.it.uu.se/research/visual_information_and_interaction?lang=en) hosts research activities ranging from social robotics, image processing, and human computer interaction (HCI), and the proposed postdoc will be instrumental in building the division’s profile in HCI and sustainability. Research will include fieldwork and critical analysis on topics such as online services, thermal comfort, smart devices, or rural communities.  Equally, the postdoc will contribute to the development of research at the intersection of digital technologies, everyday practices and energy demand/carbon emissions.
  Requirements: A PhD degree in human-computer interaction; or a PhD degree which addresses energy/sustainability from a related field such as design, sociology or human geography.  Direct experience using qualitative methods (e.g. interviewing) in your own research as well as experience from computer science and an IT perspective on sustainability are meriting.
  Contact: Robin Strand (Robin.Strand@it.uu.se) or Mike Hazas (Mike.Hazas@it.uu.se)

        For complete advertisement and application info click here (UFV-PA  2021/1571)

• Project 2: The project at the Computing Science Division (https://www.it.uu.se/research/computing_science) addresses sustainability and security concerns computationally, for the social good. Each applicant must outline a project in one of the following areas: either (1) social data science for the analysis of online disinformation; or (2) cybersecurity using formal methods, e.g., mathematical modelling and specification, verification, protocol analysis, interactive or automated theorem proving, or language-based security.
  Requirements: A PhD degree in Computer Science or a related subject, or a PhD in a computational discipline related to Data Science. A requirement for employment is documented experience, depending on the choice of area for the research project, of either • formal methods and/or proof assistants; experience in cybersecurity is meriting OR • social media and online data research, either method development or computational analysis; experience in studying online information disorders is meriting.
  Contact: Joachim Parrow (Joachim.Parrow@it.uu.se) or Pierre Flener (Pierre.Flener@it.uu.se)

        For complete advertisement and application info click here(UFV-PA 2021/1572)

• Project 3: The area of the project is Scientific Computing (https://www.it.uu.se/research/scientific_computing?lang=en) in a broad sense and sustainability or security. We expect the successful candidate to suggest a project, e.g., in one of the following areas: energy efficient computational methods, computational methods for sustainable energy production (fusion, wind, solar), computational methods relating to sustainable technologies (carbon sequestration, spintronics), privacy-preserving machine learning methods for federated data analysis, computational methods for sustainable plant and animal breeding.
  Requirements: A PhD degree in Scientific Computing, Numerical Analysis, Computational Mathematics, or Computer Science.
  Contact: Emanuel Rubensson (Emanuel.Rubensson@it.uu.se)

        For complete advertisement and application info click here (UFV-PA 2021/1573)

• Project 4: Security aspects in hardware, software, or their combination. This research project will focus on the security of computer systems, and connects to the ongoing research at the Division of Computer Systems (https://www.it.uu.se/research/computer_systems?lang=en). It can include, among others, research on security of hardware architectures with speculative execution, of computer networks, protocols, of the Internet of Things, of critical software, or of embedded systems. The precise research plan will be defined by the postdoc together with the researchers of the division.
  Requirements: A PhD degree in Computer Science, Computer Systems, Computer Engineering, or equivalent.
  Contact: Philipp Rümmer (Philipp.Ruemmer@it.uu.se)

        For complete advertisement and application info click here (UFV-PA 2021/1574)

• Project 5: Civil infrastructure systems (https://www.it.uu.se/research/systems_and_control) comprise a physical network supporting material flow and a computer network that enables monitoring and control. Extreme weather and malicious actors threaten both. Depending on the applicant’s interest, the project focus may be on either (i) how security incidents propagate through the network structures and affect the physical system’s operation, or (ii) how machine learning can be used to improve extreme weather forecasts on time scales of weeks to months.
  Requirements: A PhD degree in Automatic Control, Machine Learning, Scientific Computing, Applied Mathematics, or Dynamical Systems.
  Contact: Stefan Engblom (Stefane@it.uu.se)

        For complete advertisement and application info click here(UFV-PA 2021/1575)

Salary: Individual salary.

Starting date: As soon as possible.

Type of employment: Temporary position for 2 years according to central collective agreement.

Scope of employment: 100 %.