The System and Network Engineering (SNE) Lab, one of the three largest research labs at the Informatics Institute (IvI) of the University of Amsterdam, invites applications for a fully funded PhD position in the area of exa-scale computing. 

PROCESS aims to deliver a comprehensive set of mature services prototypes and tools specially developed to enable extreme scale data processing in both scientific research and advanced industry settings.

The PROCESS project has the objective to move the upcoming exa-scale data tools and technologies towards service-oriented computing and Cloud computing, while retaining their capacity to answer unprecedented data challenges and fulfil the requirements and constraints of existing simulation and computation packages. The PROCESS approach is to define and develop reliable and scalable techniques for service composition to enable application with ExaScale data sets, including both the infrastructure and user point of view. This combination of bottom-up and top-down approach aims at narrowing the gap between infrastructure services while addressing specific requirements of the most demanding cases, paving the way to future to future high capacity generations e-infrastructure.

In this project, the candidate is expected to work on developing a data infrastructure, which takes advantage of the current state of the art European e-infrastructures landscape (EGI.eu, EUDAT, and PRACE). Among other tasks the candidate will have to develop methods to optimize data management and delivery in various scientific applications.

• MSC in computer science or computer engineering;
• prior expertise in one or more of the following fields: HPC, Big data platform, scientific Data processing;
• fluency in oral and written English is required as well as good presentation skills;
• strong programming skills in C, Java, Python and knowledge of Web Technology is highly appreciated;
• work with a team of researchers.

The appointment will be full-time (38 hours a week) for a period of four years (initial employment is 18 months). Periodic evaluations will be held after 9 and 14 months, and upon positive evaluation, the appointment will be extended to a total of 48 months. The appointment must lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). An educational plan that includes attendance of courses, summer and/or winter schools, and national and international meetings will be drafted for the PhD candidate. The PhD candidate is also expected to assist in teaching of undergraduate students.

The salary is in accordance with the university regulations for academic personnel. The salary will range from €2,222 (first year) up to a maximum of €2,840 (last year) before tax per month (scale P) based on a full-time appointment. There are also secondary benefits, such as 8% holiday allowance per year and the end of year allowance of 8.3%. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable. 

Some of the things we have to offer:

• competitive pay and good benefits;
• top-50 University worldwide;
• one of the best deep learning ecosystems in the world;
• interactive, open-minded and a very international city;
• excellent computing facilities.

English is the working language in the Informatics Institute. As in Amsterdam almost everybody speaks and understands English, candidates need not be afraid of the language barrier.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Informatics Institute

The System and Network Engineering (SNE) Lab is one of the three largest research labs at the Informatics Institute (IvI). The SNE Lab conducts research on leading-edge computer systems of all scales, ranging from global-scale systems and networks to embedded devices. Across these multiple scales our particular interest is on extra-functional properties of computer systems, such as performance, energy consumption, reliability, programmability, productivity, trustability, and security.

http://ivi.uva.nl/