PhD Research Fellow in The Field of Computer Networking

PhD study in the Department of Computer Science

About the position

We have a vacancy for a PhD Candidate at the Department of Information Security and Communication Technology (IIK), NTNU.

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

This is a researcher training position aimed at providing academic development in the form of a doctoral degree in the PhD Programme in Information Security and Communication Technology. The research focus is on better understanding and defining the role of computer networks in fundamental Cloud/Edge services such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS).

Software development and Information Technology (IT) operations, or DevOps, have evolved to highly automated and reproducible processes. Multiple tools/frameworks exist for managing and orchestrating services, OS-level virtualisation (e.g. containers, zones and jails), virtual machines, unikernels, among other possibilities, through concepts such as Infrastructure as Code (IaC). However, the importance of the networking substrate is often underestimated and defined through simplistic metrics. Research in this topic will contribute to increased efficiency and security in automated processes for future systems of systems.

The expected research activities are to be carried out in close cooperation with other PhD students and faculty members associated to IIK’s Networking group.

The position’s working place is at NTNU’s campus in Trondheim and reports to IIK’s Head of Department.

Duties of the position

Several stakeholders are involved in the processes of IaC, DevOps and Continuous configuration automation (CCA), with different knowledge and understanding of the components that are being managed. Therefore, in this position the candidate is expected to:

conduct excellent research in the field of computer networking with the goal of becoming a leading expert in computer networking for IaC, DevOps and CCA ;
contribute to defining a clearer role of computer networking, and its impact, in IaC, DevOps and CCA;
identify, test and validate relevant networking metrics and appropriate network management mechanisms for the entire life-cycle, from the design phase;
explore mechanisms and processes that help to strengthen a more human-centric perspective towards the Next Generation Internet (NGI) in this context.

Required selection criteria

You must have a professionally relevant background in Communication and Information Technology or Computer Science.
Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree programme, where 120 credits are obtained at master’s level
You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master’s degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty’s doctoral program.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant