Big data has evolved to extreme data. Extreme data characteristics (volume, speed, heterogeneity, distribution, diverse quality, etc.) challenge the data-driven analytics and decision-making approaches in many critical domains, such as crisis management, predictive maintenance, mobility, public safety, and cyber-security. At the same time, data-driven insights need to be extremely timely, accurate, precise, fit-for-purpose, and trustworthy so that they can be useful.

This PhD project focuses on developing distributed ledger and smart contract methods for access control to extreme data. These methods will affect the permit-or-deny decision to access requests to data and knowledge artefacts, even across organisational boundaries. You will research and expand the attribute-based access control mechanism based on smart contracts provisioning over a private and permissioned blockchain. Moreover, you will study and build a Non-Fungible Token (NFT)-based dataset provenance mechanism used for transparently, immutably, and uniquely ‘tagging’ with metadata the datasets used for experiment-driven analytics.

Your research will take place in a Horizon Europe project called ExtremeXP. Its main goal is to create a next-generation decision support system that integrates machine learning, visual analytics, explainable AI, decentralised trust, knowledge engineering, and model-driven engineering into a common framework. The overarching idea of the framework is to optimise the properties of a complex analytics process that the end user cares about (e.g., accuracy, time-to-answer, specificity, recall, precision, and resource consumption) by associating user profiles with computation variants. The framework will be validated in five pilot demonstrators.

As a researcher in this position, you will work closely with MSc. ir. Marcela Tuler de Oliveira and Dr.ir. Mark de Reuver. There are opportunities to teach and supervise students in collaboration with your supervisors.

This position will be filled within the Engineering Systems and Services section Information and Communication Technology department at the Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.      

The candidate for this position has a (research) master degree in Computer Science, Telecommunications Engineering, Computer Engineering, Informatics or a related field. You will also have an interest in or experience with Blockchain and Smart Contracts. You have affinity with programming, computer network, multi-actors systems and the internet of things, and interest on research collaboration with other researchers and external stakeholders as a team player. 

Furthermore you:
• Have a clear research interest in the topic of the project 
• An excellent written and spoken command of English

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2541 per month in the first year to € 3247 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. For international applicants we offer the Coming to Delft Service and Partner Career Advice to assist you with your relocation.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Technology, Policy and Management

The Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) at TU Delft contributes to sustainable solutions for technological challenges in society by combining the insights from engineering with the humanities and the social sciences. The PhD-student will be positioned in the Engineering Systems and Services (ESS) department. The core activity of the department is to model, understand, forecast, and shape emerging technological innovations and user patterns in the increasingly interconnected sectors of energy, industry, mobility and ICT; and use these insights for improved design, regulation and operation of such engineering systems. ESS aims to contribute to the scholarly debate at the highest international level, and is rooted in both engineering and social sciences. You will work in the section Information and Communication Technology, which hosts expertise in areas of blockchain, AI, open data, data platforms, and digitalization.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.