[please circulate this to any likely candidates - thanks, =
Peter]
Research Associate/Senior Research Associate in Applied Seman=
tics for Production Architectures
University of Cambridge Computer L=
aboratory
Research Associate =C2=A329,301 - =C2=A338,183 or Senior Resea=
rch Associate =C2=A339,324 - 49,772
Fixed-term: until February 28, 2019,=
when the grant funding the post currently ends.
Details:
http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/12397/=
Do you want to help build mathematically rigorous foundations f=
or real-world computing, to make it more robust and secure?
We have =
an ongoing project to establish rigorous semantic models for production mul=
tiprocessors, to provide a clear basis for programming, software verificati=
on, and hardware verification. This involves long-term close collaborations=
with ARM and IBM, and we have an agreement with ARM to take their internal=
ISA description, build a mathematical model based on it, integrate it with=
the concurrency semantics we are developing, and release the whole in a fo=
rm usable for verification. This will provide the first strongly validated =
public model for a production multiprocessor architecture. We also have a c=
lose collaboration with the CHERI research project, developing processors w=
ith hardware-accelerated in-process memory protection and sandboxing, toget=
her with an open-source operating system and toolchain based on FreeBSD and=
Clang/LLVM; formal modelling is at the heart of the CHERI design process. =
For more details, see some of our previous papers:
POPL17 (
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk=
/~pes20/popl17/mixed-size.pdf), POPL16 (
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~pes20/popl16-armv=
8/top.pdf), MICRO 2015 (
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~pes20/micro-48-2015.pdf), PLDI11=
(
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~pes20/ppc-supplemental/pldi105-sarkar.pdf), CHERI ISA spec (
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-891.html), =
CHERI (
=
https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/security/ctsrd/cheri/), REMS (
http://rems.io).
We have a position availabl=
e to work on:
- the development of our Sail metalanguage for ISA des=
cription: a language with a lightweight dependent type system, designed to =
capture ARM, IBM POWER, and CHERI instruction semantics in an engineer-frie=
ndly way;
- translation from Sail to generate efficient emulators and us=
able theorem-prover definitions;
- mechanised proof about the architectu=
re definitions, e.g. of security properties, relationships between concurre=
ncy models, and correctness results for high-level language concurrency com=
pilation; and/or
- development of reasoning, symbolic execution, debuggi=
ng, and/or model-checking tools above the architecture definitions - the in=
itial work should generate many opportunities along these lines.
The=
successful candidate must have a PhD (or equivalent experience), a track-r=
ecord of publication in relevant areas of Computer Science, good knowledge =
of English and communication skills, and the expertise and commitment to ap=
ply rigorous semantics to real systems. We're looking for people with t=
he skills to make solid models and tools, well-engineered and widely usable=
. You should have expertise in one or more of:
- functional programm=
ing (e.g. OCaml)
- programming language semantics and type systems
- =
theorem provers, especially Isabelle and/or Coq
- symbolic execution
=
- model-checking
For senior applicants, e.g. who will be able to con=
tribute substantially to future grant applications, it may be possible to a=
ppoint at the Senior Research Associate level.
This is part of the b=
roader REMS (Rigorous Engineering for Mainstream Systems) programme grant: =
a lively collaboration between systems and semantics researchers in Cambrid=
ge, Imperial, and Edinburgh to scale up and apply mathematically rigorous s=
emantics to mainstream systems.
Informal enquiries should be directe=
d to Peter Sewell (
Peter.Sewel=
l@cl.cam.ac.uk).
To apply online for this vacancy, please click =
on the 'Apply' button below. This will route you to the University&=
#39;s Web Recruitment System, where you will need to register an account (i=
f you have not already) and log in before completing the online application=
form.
Please ensure you upload your Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a cov=
er letter explaining your potential contribution to the project, as pdf doc=
uments. Include the names of 2 or 3 referees at the appropriate point in th=
e online application. Your referees should be prepared to send references w=
ithin a week of the closing date, if asked by the University. If you upload=
any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be abl=
e to consider these as part of your application.
Please quote refere=
nce NR10978 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacanc=
y.
The University values diversity and is committed to equality of o=
pportunity.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all e=
mployees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
--001a1141e304e72e1d0543babe16--