[ The Types Forum (announcements only),
http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-announce ]
University of Glasgow
College of Science and Engineering
School of Computing Science
Research Assistant / Associate
Ref: 077847
Grade 6/7: £29,614 - £33,309 / £36,382 - £40,927 per annum
We have a position for a research assistant / associate in the theory,
design and implementation of programming languages. This position is
associated with the EPSRC-funded project "STARDUST: Session Types for
Reliable Distributed Systems".
The project is funded until 30th September 2024 and the position is
available from 1st May 2022.
*Project Description*
Distributed software systems are an essential part of the infrastructure
of modern society. Such systems typically comprise diverse software
components deployed across networks of hosts. Ensuring their reliability
is challenging, as software components must correctly communicate and
synchronise with each other, and any of the hardware or software
components may fail. Failure and service "outage" is extremely costly,
with worldwide financial losses due to software failures in 2017
estimated at US$1.7tn, up from US$1.1tn in 2016.
Failures can occur at all levels of the system stack: hardware,
operating systems, networks, software, and users. Here we focus on using
advanced programming language technologies to enable the software level
to handle failures that arise from any level of the stack. Our aim is to
provide software-level reliability for distributed systems by combining
fault prevention with fault tolerance. The key objective is to combine
the communication-structuring mechanism of session types with the
scalability and fault-tolerance of actor-based software architectures.
The result will be a well-founded theory of reliable actor programming,
supported by a collection of libraries and tools, and validated on a
range of case studies. Key aims are to deliver tools that provide
lightweight support for developers – e.g. warning of potential issues –
and to allow developers to continue to use established idioms. By doing
so we aim to deliver a step change in the engineering of reliable
distributed software systems.
The project is a collaboration between the University of Glasgow
(Professor Simon Gay and Professor Phil Trinder), Imperial College
London (Professor Nobuko Yoshida) and the University of Kent (Professor
Simon Thompson and Dr Laura Bocchi). The industrial partners are Actyx
AG, Erlang Solutions Ltd, Quviq AB and Tata Consultancy Services.
*Principal Duties*
The successful candidates will be responsible for conducting research
into the theory and practice of session types for actor languages, and
for evaluating programming language designs and implementations in
relation to realistic case studies provided by the industrial collaborators.
The main line of work in Glasgow is the development of a session type
system for Erlang. The first phase of the project has produced a session
type system for a higher-order actor-based functional calculus, with a
prototype implementation. The next phase will transfer these theoretical
results into a session type system for Erlang, implemented as either a
language extension or an external tool.
You should have, or be close to completion of, a PhD in a relevant area,
or have comparable experience; an awarded PhD or equivalent experience
is necessary for appointment at Grade 7. You should have a track record
of publication and communication of research results, strong programming
and software engineering skills, and a strong background in programming
languages, including type systems and implementation. It is desirable
also to have one or more of the following: a combination of theoretical
and practical skills; knowledge of the theory or practice of concurrent
and distributed systems; knowledge of the theory or practice of
actor-based languages;
knowledge of the theory of session types. Experience with the theory and
implementation of type systems in general is more important than
specific knowledge of session types or actor languages.
We seek applicants at an international level of excellence. The School
of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow has an international
research reputation, and Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, offers an
outstanding range of cultural resources and a high quality of life.
It is the University of Glasgow’s mission to foster an inclusive
climate, which ensures equality in our working, learning, research and
teaching environment.
We strongly endorse the principles of Athena SWAN, including a
supportive and flexible working environment, with commitment from all
levels of the organisation in promoting gender equity.
Information about the Programming Language research theme at the
University of Glasgow:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/computing/research/researchthemes/pl-theme/__;!!IBzWLUs!D-ZmKfiqnhBycM-7nmoHoMm5Mpa9_ICV1EWa-X6nKAhts5Vzui82ZpM5FqztcezFyn__ISSZVdZUfA$
*Coronavirus / COVID-19*
Considering the current travel restrictions, interviews will be held
remotely if necessary. We will also be flexible about the starting date
and working practices.
*Further information*
For informal enquiries or further information about the project,
please contact Professor Simon Gay <simon....@glasgow.ac.uk> or
Professor Phil Trinder <phil.trin...@glasgow.ac.uk>.
*Application details*
Glasgow University online application system:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://my.corehr.com/pls/uogrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=077847__;!!IBzWLUs!D-ZmKfiqnhBycM-7nmoHoMm5Mpa9_ICV1EWa-X6nKAhts5Vzui82ZpM5FqztcezFyn__ISQJ_28a9Q$
Also:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CMS487/research-assistant-associate__;!!IBzWLUs!D-ZmKfiqnhBycM-7nmoHoMm5Mpa9_ICV1EWa-X6nKAhts5Vzui82ZpM5FqztcezFyn__ISTiBkK1lQ$
Closing date: 15th March 2022
The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401.
--
***************************************
Professor Simon Gay
Head of the School of Computing Science
University of Glasgow
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/*simon__;fg!!IBzWLUs!D-ZmKfiqnhBycM-7nmoHoMm5Mpa9_ICV1EWa-X6nKAhts5Vzui82ZpM5FqztcezFyn__IST_0aGdVg$
***************************************
