The Software Technology Group at Utrecht University is looking for a motivated PhD candidate in the Certifying Compilation of Smart Contracts. This four-year position includes 80% research time and 20% teaching time. As a PhD candidate you will primarily be conducting research and publishing the results. This research should result in successfully obtaining a PhD degree during the appointment. You will also be involved in supporting the preparation and teaching of Bachelor's and Master's level courses, supervising student theses, managing research infrastructure and participating in public outreach.

Research
This project aims to develop a certifying compiler for Plutus Tx, a subset of the purely functional language Haskell that is used to implement smart contracts for the Cardano blockchain. The Plutus smart contract framework is being developed by IOHK for Cardano and the present project is a joint effort of IOHK and Utrecht University. The Plutus Tx compiler is based on the GHC Haskell compiler and adds a translation step from GHC Core to a minimal lambda calculus. Programmes in this lambda calculus are executed during transaction validation in a sandboxed execution environment in a manner that is crucial to the security of the blockchain. The aim of this project is to formalise the semantics of the languages involved in a proof assistant such as Coq, to reason about the transformation and optimisation steps that the compiler performs, and finally, to generate a proof object certifying the correctness of the generated code together with that code.

Teaching
You will be involved in teaching activities within the Department of Information and Computing Sciences. These activities may include supporting senior teaching staff, conducting tutorials, and supervising student projects and theses. In doing so, these activities will contribute to the development of your didactic skills.

As a successful candidate you are an ambitious student who holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field. We welcome participants with past research experience, but this is not a requirement. Excellent English communication skills are necessary. You have a strong interest in research and teaching in Functional Programming, Interactive Proof Assistants, Programming Languages and similar topics.

• a full-time position for four years;
• the gross salary starts at €2,325 and increases to €2,972 per month during the appointment (scale P according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities).
• salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% per year;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions (based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities).
  
  

We offer an exciting opportunity to contribute to an ambitious and international education programme with highly motivated students and to conduct your own research project at a renowned research university. You will receive appropriate training, personal supervision, and guidance for both your research and teaching tasks, which will provide an excellent start to an academic career.

More information about jobs at the Faculty of Science can be found here.

The department of Information and Computing Sciences is nationally and internationally renowned for its fundamental and applied research in computer science and information science. In our constantly changing (digital) society, the department of Information and Computing Sciences is constantly looking for new, realistic ways to push the boundaries of both science and social application. We contribute to innovative information technologies through the development and application of new concepts, theories, algorithms, and software methods. We collaborate extensively with partners inside and outside the university, including the ones in the focus areas of Applied Data Science, Human-centered Artificial Intelligence, and Game Research. The department provides the Bachelor's programmes in Computer Science and Information Science and five English language Research Master's programmes in these areas. 

At the Faculty of Science there are 6 departments to make a fundamental connection with: Biology, Chemistry, Information and Computing Sciences, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Physics. Each of these is made up of distinct institutes which work together to focus on answering some of humanity’s most pressing problems. More fundamental still are the individual research groups – the building blocks of our ambitious scientific projects.

Utrecht University is a friendly and ambitious university at the heart of an ancient city. We love to welcome new scientists to our city – a thriving cultural hub that is consistently rated as one of the world’s happiest cities. We are renowned for our innovative interdisciplinary research and our emphasis on inspirational research and excellent education. We are equally well-known for our familiar atmosphere and the can-do mentality of our people. This lively and inspiring academic environment attracts Professors, Researchers and PhD candidates from all over the globe, making both the university and the Faculty of Science a vibrant international and wonderfully diverse community.