PhD student in Computer Systems: memory management in architecture and OS - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Are you interested in working with computer systems, particularly the memory management in the architecture and the OS, together with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that values work-life balance in a community with a strong connection to the outdoors and good public transportation? If so, we encourage you to apply for this PhD student position at The Department of Information Technology at Uppsala University! 

The Department of Information Technology holds a leading position in both research and education at all levels. We are currently Uppsala University's third largest department, have around 350 employees, including 120 teachers and 120 PhD students. Approximately 5,000 undergraduate students take one or more courses at the department each year. You can find more information about us on the department of Information Technology website.

The division of computer systems within the department focuses on the combination of hardware and software. Within the division, the Uppsala architecture research team (UART) has four faculty members and ten PhD students conducting research on computer architecture and operating systems. We produce work that is adopted by the top companies in the world and published in the top conferences in the field. We are looking for creative, talented, problem-solving people who like working with great colleagues to join us.  

Duties
The virtual memory system is the backbone of memory management in computers and operating systems, and has evolved to efficiently support memory protection and isolation in cloud environments (i.e., containers and virtualization). However, the growth in physical memory (DRAM) has not kept up with the explosive growth of data sets. This results in part of data sets to be stored off the DRAM and on comparatively slower but larger memory/disk. Recent developments in high bandwidth SSD storages make them appealing due to their highly parallel capabilities. We will strive to design systems that support larger data sets while minimizing performance loss due to the use of slower media. The PhD student will start off with an initial project on memory management in architectures and the OS. This project will address the gap between data set sizes and memory size, using techniques that range from SW approaches, such as using the virtual memory system of the operating system, to fully HW approaches, such as CXL like systems. This project will work on understanding the fundamental problems in building such systems and designing architectural and operating system solutions to help bridge the ever-growing gap between the size of data and memory. We will implement and evaluate the proposed designs in architectural simulators (e.g. gem5), and implement the operating system features on the Linux kernel. 

The position is for four years of research, but will typically include for example teaching for up to 20%, extending the time to a maximum of five years.  

Requirements
To meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must

• hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or equivalent, or
• have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master’s level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

Candidates must have the following competences:

• experience with and knowledge about computer architecture
• the (self-)motivation to persevere throughout the PhD journey and excitement for the project and subject area
• programming skills that will enable the candidate to implement their proposed solutions and scientifically evaluate them (e.g., experience with C/C++ and python)
• a passion for solving challenging problems and the skills to do so
• the skills and desire to work in a cooperative environment together with your advisors, fellow PhD students and others
• maturity in giving and receiving feedback, and
• competence in written and oral English along with the ability to convey your thoughts in a structured manner.

Additional qualifications
The following competences will be meritorious:

• knowledge on operating systems and/or compilers and the interplay with computer architecture
• experience developing OS/Architecture/Compilers

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

Application
The application must include a statement (at most 2 pages) of the applicant’s motivation for applying for this position, including the candidate’s research interests and how they will support this project, a description of their MSc thesis, and evidence of the applicant’s self-motivation and ability to work in a group. The application must also include a CV, degrees and grades (translated to English or Swedish), a copy of the MSc thesis (or a draft thereof), publications (if applicable, and specific descriptions of the candidate’s own contributions), links to online repositories of code (such as GitHub) other relevant documents, and the earliest possible starting date. Contact information for at least one reference should be provided. Promising applicants will be invited for in-depth interviews and practical programming challenges before hiring.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 18 March 2024 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala. 

For further information about the position, please contact: Chang Hyun Park (phone number +4618 471 7363, e-mail address chang.hyun.park@it.uu.se) or David Black-Schaffer (phone number +4618 471 6830, e-mail address david.black-schaffer@it.uu.se)

Please submit your application by 31 January 2024, UFV-PA 2023/4614.

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