[ecoop-info] Open PhD (3 years) and postdoc (2 years) positions at INRIA

[Benoit Baudry]

TITLE: Runtime emergence of software diversity 

We are looking for highly motivated PhD/Post-doc candidates in software engineering. The position takes place in a EU-sponsored collaborative project in the field of empirical software engineering and large-scale distributed systems simulation. The project involves inter-disciplinary work with ecology researchers.

Contact: Benoit Baudry (benoit.baudry at inria.fr) 
Keywords: Software diversity, search-based software engineering, self-adaptive software.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Collaborative adaptive systems integrate heterogeneous devices (ranging from sensors to phones), which collaborate through a network of software components to provide global services such as environmental monitoring or urban transportation control. These large-scale systems operate continuously in open, unpredictable environments. The DIVERSIFY European project investigates the automated synthesis of software diversity in order to improve the adaptive capacities of the system.

Your work will aim at proposing generative mechanisms to dynamically increase software diversity in collaborative adaptive systems. The generation of variants of software component will reuse recent techniques based on reflective models at runtime platforms, mutational robustness, quality of service profiling, genetic programming or software product lines. The intuition of diversity synthesis is to explore novel solutions to adapt the system, before the system actually needs these options (i.e., provide a ‘pool’ of alternative software components). The major challenges will lie (i) in generating variants that can be integrated in the running system while providing new options for adaptation, and (ii) handling the lifecycle of these variants (when they emerge, when they disseminate or when they disappear). You will collaborate closely with the ecologists in order to develop sound models of diversity dynamics, and with the software engineering researchers to ensure the integration of results in proof-of-concept simulator for smart cities.

Our ideal candidate is someone with a background in software engineering, and a keen interest in model-based software analysis, distributed systems or search-based software engineering. Qualified candidates are encouraged to contact Benoit Baudry (benoit.baudry at inria.fr). 

References.

[1] G. Fraser and A. Arcuri, Whole Test Suite Generation. IEEE Trans. on Software Engineering, 2012.
[2] D. Posnett, V. Filkov, P. Devanbu. Ecological Inference in Empirical Software Engineering, Proc. of ASE 2011
[3] E. Schulte, Z. P. Fry, E. Fast, W. Weimer, S. Forrest. Software Mutational Robustness and Proactive Diversity, 2012.
[4] S. Sidiroglou-Douskos, S. Misailovic, H. Hoffmann, M. C. Rinard: Managing performance vs. accuracy trade-offs with loop perforation. Proc. of FSE 2011: 124-134.
[5] F. Fouquet, O. Barais, N. Plouzeau, J.-M. Jézéquel, B. Morin, F. Fleurey. A Dynamic Component Model for Cyber Physical Systems. Proc. of CBSE’2012.
[6] http://diversify-project.eu/

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

These positions are funded by the DIVERSIFY project, supported by the FET European Commission program. The candidates will work at INRIA in the Triskell team. Triskell’s research is in the area of software engineering, focusing on model-driven engineering and software testing. The team is actively involved in European, French and industrial projects and is composed of 7 faculty members, 20 PhD students and 4 engineers. 

The positions are open and applications will be reviewed until the positions are filled. The monthly net salary will vary between 1600 and 2100 euros depending on the experience of candidates. The PhD position is for 3 years and the postdoc position is for two years.