PhD Studentship in Foundations of Web Services and Conversation-Based Programming

Department of Computing

We are seeking to fill a PhD studentship to carry out work on the EPSRC-funded project "Multiparty Session Types: Theory and Conversation-Oriented Programming". This is a collaborative project with Queen Mary University of London (Dr Kohei Honda).  Web services represent one of the fundamental transformations of software development in recent years, and this leads to a number of engineering challenges which must be addressed in order to establish sound programming methodologies for the delivery of safe, secure and robust communicating systems. The project aims to develop theories, languages and implementations for distributed, communication-based systems such as web services, based on recent research on process calculi and type theories.

The successful applicant will be part of the Theory of Computational Systems Group.  The group is based in Department of Computing at Imperial College which was rated 5* at the last RAE (research quality assessment), and has been placed among the top ten departments worldwide by several academic surveys. The group has attracted significant funding in recent years and offers a great multi-disciplinary research environment.

Please note that due to the restrictions of the grant full support is only available to UK/EU candidates.  However if you are an overseas national able to fund the difference in fees (currently £11,900 per year) and have been resident in the UK/EU for three years you can apply.  An outstanding academic record in Computer Science is essential (preferably at Master's level or equivalent) as is strong evidence of excellent software engineering skills.

The project is funded for 3 years. Funding covers tuition fees plus a tax-free stipend of a minimum of £14,940 per annum to cover the living expenses.

Applications must include the following:
• A detailed CV that includes the contact details of 3 referees and stating the reference number PHD NY 12 08
• A 1-2 page research statement indicating what you see as interesting research issues relating to the project and your relevant experience
• Transcripts of all degree results

Applications should be sent to:
Joanne Day
Department of Computing
Imperial College London
South Kensington campus
London SW7 2AZ

mailto:research.officer@doc.ic.ac.uk

Closing date: 30th January 2009

Imperial College London values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity