Postdoc and PhD positions at CWI, Amsterdam

[Farhad.Arbab at cwi.nl]

Position Description
====================

The Coordination and Component Based Software group in SEN3 at CWI
has two open positions for:

        (1) a postdoc for a period of four years, and 
        (2) a PhD student (OIO) for four years. 

Both positions are within the project number 600.065.120.03N02
Compositional Construction of Component Connectors (C-Quattro), recently
funded by the NWO (the Dutch government's funding agency for academic
scientific research), with F. Arbab (CWI) and J. Rutten (CWI and VUA) as
Principal Investigators.  The project C-Quattro is in fact 
a collaboration of SEN3 at CWI with the Section 
Theoretical Computer Science at the Free University of Amsterdam (VUA).
The postdoc will be employed by CWI; the PhD student will be employed 
by the VUA but will spend part of his or her time at CWI.

The main goal of the C-Quattro project is to develop an operational
semantics based on a calculus of component connectors, as the foundation
for further development of practical tools and programming environments
for the actual deployment of Reo.  Reo is a recently introduced
channel-based coordination model wherein complex coordinators, called
connectors, are compositionally built out of simpler ones. 
Reo is intended as a ``glue language'' for construction of connectors 
that orchestrate component instances in a component-based system. 
The emphasis in Reo is on connectors and their composition only, 
not on the components that are being connected.

The activities under C-Quattro involve both system oriented 
and theoretical work.  On the systems side, we develop tools
supporting visual connector programming, as well as the automation of
equivalence proofs, e.g., for optimization.  On the theoretical side,
the semantic modeling is based on the coalgebraic methodology, 
and coinduction, with its potential for automation, will be 
the main reasoning principle.

The candidate for the postdoc position is expected to have a strong
background in Software Engineering, maturity in formal methods and
their practical applications, familiarity with component-based software,
concurrency, and coordination.  Teamwork and leadership, as well as the
ability to work effectively with academic colleagues and PhD students,
are all important qualifications for this position.

The candidate for the PhD position should have a master degree
in computer science or mathematics, with a clear
interest in questions from theoretical computer science.
Ideally, the candidate has a background both in mathematical
disciplines such as algebra, analysis and discrete mathematics,
and in such elements of theoretical computer science as
automata theory and semantics.

The Theme SEN3 (http://www.cwi.nl/sen3) at CWI is a dynamic group of
internationally recognized researchers who work on Coordination Models
and Languages and Component-Based Software Composition.  The activity
in SEN3 is a productive, healthy mix of theoretical, foundational,  and
experimental work in Computer Science, ranging in a spectrum covering
mathematical foundations of models of computation, formal methods and
semantics, implementation of advanced research software systems, as well
as their real-life applications.

General information
===================

CWI is an internationally renowned research institute 
in mathematics and computer science, located in Amsterdam, 
The Netherlands. The focus is on 
fundamental research problems, derived from societal needs.
Research is carried out in 15 research themes. 
More information about these themes can be found on the website 
www.cwi.nl where you can also take a 
look at our Annual Report. A substantial part of this research 
is carried out in the framework of national or international programs.
CWI maintains excellent relations with industry 
and the academic world, at home as well as abroad. 
After their research careers at CWI, an increasing 
number of young staff members find employment in these sectors, for 
example in spin-off companies that are based 
on research results from CWI.  Of course, library and computing 
facilities are first-rate. CWI's non-scientific services to 
its personnel include career planning, training & courses, 
assistance in finding housing, and tailor-made solutions to 
problems that may occasionally arise.

Terms of employment
===================

The salary is in accordance with the "CAO-onderzoekinstellingen" and is
commensurate with experience.  For instance, the postdoc base salary
for a fresh PhD with no additional experience in scale 10 is around
2800 Euros/month, and for an experienced PhD in scale 12 it is around
4500 Euros/month. The current starting salary for a first year PhD
student is around 1500 Euros/month with an incremental raise for each
subsequent year.  (Note: a considerable increase in the salaries of all
PhD students is currently under negotiation).

Besides the salary, CWI offers very attractive and flexible terms of
employment, like a collective health insurance, pension-fund, etc.

Application
===========

For more information on these vacancies you can contact 
either of the PIs:

        F. Arbab, telephone +31-20-5924056, e-mail Farhad.Arbab at cwi.nl
        J. Rutten, telephone +31-20-592-4116, email Jan.Rutten at cwi.nl

Official applications, together with curriculum vitae, letters of
references, and lists of publications must be sent to Mrs. J. Koster,
head of Personnel Department, P.O. box 94079, 1090 GB Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.