Cloud computing has reached widespread adoption by offering resource flexibility, cost efficiency, and fast deployment. Cloud’s services are provided by warehouse-scale datacenters, consisting of thousands of computer nodes that power public and private clouds and host different services we use daily. As cloud services continue to grow in scale and complexity, the traditional approach to their design needs to evolve. Currently, many computer systems rely on heuristics to make decisions, for example, to decide which resources to allocate for a task. However, with increasing heterogeneity in software applications and hardware platforms, designing effective heuristics is becoming more challenging. Due to the growing heterogeneity as well as the stochastic nature of cloud execution, automating resource management is increasingly important. One promising solution is to use machine learning models to learn resource management strategies by training them with data collected during profiling.

In your research, you will focus on using machine-learning techniques to improve distributed systems resource management. You will research and gain in-depth understanding of the current challenges with networked systems.

The objective of the temporary position is the production of a number of research articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference proceedings, which together will form the basis of a thesis leading to a PhD degree (Dr) at the University of Groningen.

Organisation
Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative institution of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Flexible study programmes and academic career opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 37,000 students and researchers alike to develop their own individual talents. As one of the best research universities in Europe, the University of Groningen has joined forces with other top universities and networks worldwide to become a truly global centre of knowledge.

Within the Faculty of Science and Engineering, a 4-years PhD position is available at the Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence with the topic of AI-based algorithms for distributed systems. The candidate would become a member of the Distributed Systems Group of the Computer Science Department and will work under the supervision of Dr Kawsar Haghshenas.

The successful candidate should:

- enjoy performing innovative and cutting-edge research geared to tackling the challenges of distributed systems
- work well in teams yet take initiative and ownership of her/his research and results
- have a master’s degree or equivalent in computer science or a related discipline
- have an excellent academic record proven by marks and transcripts from university degree
- have demonstrable competence in writing scientific articles and reports and be fluent in English, because s/he will be working in an international environment.

Fixed-term contract: 48 months.

We offer you, following the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

- a salary of € 2,541 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,247 gross per month in the fourth and final year for a full-time working week
- a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income and an 8.3% year-end bonus
- a full-time position (1.0 FTE). The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years. Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the next three years is to be expected. A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering.