Research Position ULTRA group (Useful Logics, Types, Rewriting, and their Automation) Computer Science Department School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, Scotland, UK The HTML version of this job posting can be found at: http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/position-ad.html Description of the Position A research position is available working on modular reasoning and compositional analysis for computer systems and software with special interest in mobility and concurrency at Heriot-Watt University [1] working with Joe Wells [2]. The position is in the ULTRA (Useful Logics, Types, Rewriting, and their Automation) group [3] in the Computer Science Department [4] in the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences [5] at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh [6], the capital of Scotland [7]. The position involves collaboration with the EC, EPSRC, NATO, and NSF-funded Church Project [8] as well as various contacts in the European Global Computing community. The research will include collaboration on the Poly* [9] polymorphic retargetable type system for process and mobility calculi, but is not limited to that topic. It will be helpful if the researcher is competent in 1 or more of the following knowledge areas which are likely to be used in the project. * Formal calculi for reasoning about the meaning of computer systems (including computer programs), especially those dealing with aspects of (a) concurrency and (b) mobility, but also those dealing with aspects of (c) modules, linking, and loading, (d) resource usage, (e) components, (f) staged compilation, (g) classes and objects, etc. * Analysis of systems represented in formal calculi. * Constraint solving and unification. * Type systems, especially those with features similar to intersection and union types. * Programming languages good for use for any of the above. The duration of the position is from 6 months to 1.5 years, depending on the circumstances of the researcher, with possible extensions up to 3 years total depending on salary, experience, performance, and funding. Applications to spend a shorter period (e.g., the sabbatical leave of an established academic) will be considered. The initial salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience in the range from 22289 GBP to 30002 GBP per year. The position is available immediately. It is preferred that before starting the researcher will have completed a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline within Computer Science. Very good Ph.D. students elsewhere who want to spend part of their studies visiting Heriot-Watt will be considered. Applicants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) will be considered. The researcher will probably collaborate on 1 or more of the following activities. The specific activities will be matched to the strengths of the researcher. * Designing new type systems for compositional (modular) analysis of systems that may involve one or more aspects of mobility, concurrency, and modularity, as well as other features such as resource awareness, components, run-time code generation, objects, etc. * Designing analysis algorithms for the new type systems. * Designing theories (e.g., "calculi") for reasoning about the meaning of computer systems with some of the features mentioned above. * Making software systems incorporating the new type systems, algorithms, and calculi. * Writing scientific reports on the work done. References 1. http://www.hw.ac.uk/ 2. http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/ 3. http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/ultra/ 4. http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/cs/ 5. http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/ 6. http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/tour/edintour.html 7. http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/scotland.html 8. http://www.church-project.org/ 9. http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/DART/software/PolyStar/FAQ.html Contact Information Informal inquiries should be directed to Joe Wells at: web: http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~jbw/ e-mail: jbw@macs.hw.ac.uk fax: +44 131 451 3327 Formal applications should be directed to the Heriot-Watt Human Resources Office at: web: http://www.hw.ac.uk/hr/ e-mail: hr@hw.ac.uk (responses will usually be by paper mail, telephone, or fax) voice mail: +44 131 451 3475 fax: +44 131 451 3475 minicom: +44 131 451 8212 post: Human Resources Office Lord Balerno Building Heriot-Watt University EDINBURGH EH14 4AS GREAT BRITAIN Applying for the Position Please use the reference code 142/05/L to help prevent your application from getting mixed up. Please convert Microsoft Word documents to a public, standard, and non-proprietary format. The best format is PDF, because some of our staff will encounter difficulties with HTML or PostScript. To formally apply for this position, please do as many as possible of the items in the following list by 2005-11-11. The first 2 are absolutely necessary and the 3rd is quite important. If you expect trouble meeting the deadline, please ask Joe Wells what to do. * Cause 3 recommendation letters to be sent by their writers. Do not send the letters with your application. (If someone tells you the letters are not needed yet or that less than 3 are needed, this is a mistake. We want to see the letters before choosing who to interview.) * Send the following yourself: + your complete curriculum vitae, and + contact details for the 3 people writing your recommendation letters. * Get the Heriot-Watt Human Resources Office to send you an "application pack". (This contains an application form, an equal opportunities monitoring form, information for applicants with disabilities, and some additional information about Heriot-Watt and the position.) * Fill out and return by post the application form and the equal opportunities monitoring form. If your curriculum vitae is well constructed, then some information requested will be redundant, so just write "see c.v." in those blanks, but please return the application form anyway. Although the application form requests only the addresses of 2 references, please follow the instructions above instead and supply 3. * Optionally, also send either of the following: + a brief statement about why your research accomplishments and interests are a good match for the position, and + up to 3 relevant publications of yours. * It is helpful to inform Joe Wells that you are applying so that he knows to ask our human resources office for your application materials. It is helpful to send copies to Joe Wells of any electronic files you submit. * Anyone who might need a work permit if hired (usually someone who is not a citizen of an EEA country) should also do the following. In addition to possibly being e-mailed or faxed, each letter of reference should also be sent by post on official-looking headed stationery paper and should include details on your whereabouts over the last two years. A work permit application also needs copies of any degree certificates, so it is a good idea to send those also at the same time as you send the rest of your application. Work permit applications can take quite some time for the UK's Home Office to process, so please avoid delays. For your information, it is helpful if the writers of reference letters provide details of: * the capacity in which they know the candidate, * the candidate's skills, abilities and performance in relation to the post applied for, * the candidate's employment record including details of the candidate's role and service dates, * their view of the candidate's suitability for the post as a whole, in light of the attached details and their knowledge of the candidate's experience and abilities, * any further relevant information which would assist us in making an appointment.