Multiple Postdoc Positions on Formal Methods for Cyber Security

 

 Nanyang Technological University and Singapore University of Technology and Design (23 Oct 2014)

 

Highly motivated applicants are sought to work on developing and applying verification techniques for infinite state systems in the project on Building Security Verified System.

The project aims to fully verify the execution stack of a cyber-physical system: i.e., hardware, operating system, system libraries and applications, using model checking and theorem proving technologies.

 

The postdocs will work with the PAT formal methods research group (www.patroot.com) and other researchers at NTU and SUTD in Singapore.

 

They will also have the opportunity to travel overseas to collaborate with partners of the project, including ETH Zurich, Oxford University, Royal Holloway University of London, University of Luxembourg, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

 

Positions for Research Fellow and Senior Research Fellow are available for the following topics:

 

1. Hardware Verification.

   The preferred candidates are those with experience in one or more of the following areas:

      - Formal methods, model checking, theorem proving.

      - Temporal logics, Higher order logic.

      - Functional programming.

      - Hardware design, especially SPARK/LEON architecture

    Contact: Liu Yang (yangliu@ntu.edu.sg), Alwen Tiu (atiu@ntu.edu.sg)

 

2. Microkernel Verification

   The preferred candidates are those with experience in one or more of the following areas:

      - Formal methods, theorem proving.

      - Temporal logics, Higher order logic.

      - Functional programming.

      - Operating System Design.

   Contact: Liu Yang (yangliu@ntu.edu.sg)

 

3. Software Model Checking for Security

   The preferred candidates are those with experience in one or more of the following areas:

      - Formal methods, model checking.

      - Temporal logics.

      - SMT solvers.

      - Formal languages and automata.

   Contact: Jun Sun (sunjun@sutd.edu.sg) and Yang Liu (yangliu@ntu.edu.sg)

 

4. Runtime security verification

   The preferred candidates are those with experience in one or more of the following areas:

            - Temporal and modal logics

            - First-order theorem proving

            - Runtime verification

            - Preferably also backgrounds in operating system and network security

   Contact: Alwen Tiu (atiu@ntu.edu.sg)

 

5. Compositional Verification of Security.

   The preferred candidates are those with experience in one or more of the following areas:

      - Formal methods, model checking.

      - Assume-Guarantee Reasoning.

      - Temporal Logics.

      - Formal languages and automata.

 

   Contact: Yang Liu (yangliu@ntu.edu.sg) and Jun Sun (sunjun@sutd.edu.sg)

 

6. System Security.

   The preferred candidates are those with experience in one or more of the following areas:

      - Binary security and analysis, especially LLVM.

      - Malware and vulnerabilities.      

      - Mobile platform security.

      - Embedded system security.

      - Cloud security.

 

   Contact: Yang Liu (yangliu@ntu.edu.sg)

 

7. Secure Code Generation.

   The preferred candidates are those with experience in one or more of the following areas:

      - Formal methods, model checking, theorem proving.

      - Temporal logics, Higher order logic.

      - Model driven development.

 

   Contact: Yang Liu (yangliu@ntu.edu.sg)

 

The position involves conducting basic research, developing tools, working as part of a research team, travelling, and giving presentations. The working language is English.

 

Apart from specific requirements to each topic candidate general requirements are:

- A PhD in Computer Science or related areas is required.

- Strong background in logic and discrete math.

- Strong programming skills.

- An established research record.

 

The term is currently one to three years starting as early as January 2015 till all positions are filled.

The salary range is 4000 SGD - 6000 SGD per month for Research Fellows and

6000 - 8000 SGD per month for Senior Research Fellows.

Yearly bonus is 1 to 3 month salary based on the performance.

Singapore’s tax is around 3%-5% of the annual salary.

1USD = 1.25 SGD.

 

Candidates interested in a particular topic or topics should contact the contact person(s) listed in the respective topics above for more details.

 

General inquiries can be directed at either Yang Liu, Jun Sun and Alwen Tiu.