PhD Scholarships in Computer Science at the Free Univ. of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy). <http://www.unibz.it/EN/INF/PROGS/PHDCS/>
The Free University of Bozen-Bolzano was founded in 1997 as a multilingual (English, German, Italian) internationally oriented institution. A public competition for the allocation of 12 PhD positions in the Faculty of Computer Science is open, and 9 of these positions will be covered by grants (17,000€ per year). The deadline for submitting the application (admission/pre-enrolment to the 32nd PhD cycle) via <http://www.unibz.it/en/public/research/phd/> is the 8th of June 2016. PhD students are expected to work full-time on their research during the period of the PhD studies, which lasts three years. An additional support is given to spend a period of 6-12 months at an international research center. The official language of the programme is English, and it is expected that students are able to write and speak fluently in English. The PhD study programme places an emphasis on research. PhD candidates are strongly advised to look at the three areas (listed below) which are the focus of the research at the Faculty of Computer Science, and to get in contact with their desired research area before applying. The Selection Committee ranks PhD students based on a comparative assessment of the merits and qualifications of applicants, taking into account also feedback from potential supervisors in the selected research area. RESEARCH AREAS: * KRDB - KNOWLEDGE AND DATA Logic-based languages for knowledge representation Intelligent access to data Semantic technologies Information integration Data-aware process modelling, verification, and synthesis Business process monitoring, mining, and conformance Temporal aspects of data and knowledge Extending database technologies Visual and verbal paradigms for information modelling and exploration Reasoning with Uncertain and Imprecise Knowledge The KRDB Research Centre for Knowledge and Data (web page: <http://www.inf.unibz.it/krdb>) was founded in 2002, and it currently comprises about 30 researchers, including PhD students. The research activity is focussed on two main areas: (1) intelligent data and information management, with emphasis on modelling of data and on the challenges related to modelling and dealing with structured, complex, and big data; and (2) business processes and data, with the aim of studying the entire process lifecycle including the modelling of business processes and organisations. The KRDB Centre is widely recognised as one of the internationally leading groups in knowledge representation research, with a synergy between foundational research and application-oriented research. KRDB contact person: Enrico Franconi <franc...@inf.unibz.it>. * IDSE - INFORMATION AND DATABASE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING Spatial and temporal databases Approximation techniques in databases Query optimisation in databases Cooperative interfaces for information access and filtering Data mining techniques for preference elicitation and recommendation Cloud computing and big data Agile development and human aspects of software engineering Software startups and lean startup methodology Design based hardware engineering Technology enhanced learning Interaction design The research activities in the area of database and information systems engineering focus on key aspects of applied computer science, including data warehousing and data mining, the integration of heterogeneous and distributed databases, time-varying information, data models, and query processing. The research approach is primarily constructive in its outset, and it includes substantial experimental and analytical elements. The development activities cover the design of data models and structures, and the development of algorithms, data structures, languages, and systems. The experimental activities verify real world artefacts with the help of prototypes and simulations. The analytic activities include the analysis of the algorithmic complexity and the evaluation of languages. The main goal is theoretically sound results that solve real world problems. * SERG - SOFTWARE ENGINEERING Empirical software engineering Mining software repositories Software reliability and testing Automatic improvement and empirical investigation of software quality attributes Recommendation systems in software engineering Software system behaviour The research topics in software engineering are focused on the empirical and quantitative study of innovative models for software development. The target analysis techniques include both traditional statistics, and new approaches, such as computational intelligence, Bayesian models, and meta-analytical systems. The innovative software development techniques include (a) methods based on lean management, such as agile methods, with a specific interest for benchmarking and identification of defects, and (b) open source development models, with specific attention for self organising systems and the analysis of the resulting quality aspects.
