[ecoop-info] Three post-doctoral positions at the Software Languages Lab in Brussels

[Wolfgang De Meuter]

The Software Languages Lab of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is welcoming applications for **3 vacant positions** for post-doctoral researchers with respective expertise in **formal aspects of programming languages, software analysis and tooling, or reactivity and event-based systems**. This as the result of an intense, but highly successful period of competing for various research grants.

Our group is located on a green campus in the de facto capital of Europe. It is headed by professors Viviane Jonckers, Wolfgang De Meuter, Elisa Gonzalez Boix, and Coen De Roover. As we host researchers of various nationalities, our working language is English. We are well-connected and frequently collaborate with our colleagues in France, Colombia, Germany, Austria, and Japan. Sufficient research funding also implies state-of-the-art offices and computing equipment, as well as opportunities for travel to top-tier conferences. Most importantly, we are fun to work with. 

We are looking for highly-motivated researchers with the aforementioned expertise. The responsibilities of a post-doc at our lab include advising Master and PhD students, coordinating and contributing to the research on ongoing projects, and actively helping the lab procure new research grants. Depending on your interests and qualifications, responsibilities can also include more networking with industry or a modest teaching duty. A period as a post-doc at our lab is an ideal stepping stone for a career as an independent researcher in academia or industry. 

More concretely, you could play a leading role in our research along the following lines: 

a) Formal Aspects of Programming Languages: 
We are looking for someone with a knack for advanced type systems, formal proof theory, and the application of proof assistants. 
This to complement our expertise in operational semantics for experimental programming languages, distributed calculi, and abstract interpretation. Keywords include linear/dependent/gradual types, soundness proofs, CoQ and Agda. The focus lies on languages for e.g., cloud computing, multi-core systems, high-performance computing, distributed computing, SDN, ... 

b) Software Analysis and Tooling: 
We are looking for someone to help us apply our expertise in static analyses of dynamic languages to the problems of developing and securing rich internet applications. Keywords include development tooling for JavaScript in general, and in particular for checking user-defined security policies or for implementing offline functionality. Knowledge about contemporary distributed architectures is a plus. 

c) Reactivity and (Complex) Event-based Systems:
We are looking for someone to explore the combination of rule-based systems and reactive programming in a big data context. We have already applied this technology to recognize gestures in Kinect sensor data or to detect patterns in data uploaded by mobile applications. We would now like to push it towards real-time intrusion detection. Keywords include the RETE algorithm, the Elm programming language, etc.

For details on our work and our university, see http://soft.vub.ac.be/soft/ and http://www.vub.ac.be/en/.

The monthly net salary for a post-doc in Belgium varies between 2200-2500 euro, depending on age and qualifications. Given that Belgium features a highly-developed social security system, this is more than ample for a very comfortable life in Brussels. 

The three positions are available now, and will remain open until filled. The positions coincide with the 4-year research projects listed at http://soft.vub.ac.be/soft/currentprojects. Candidates require a PhD degree in Computer Science, an excellent research record with proven expertise related to this call, and very good knowledge of English. 

Applications can be sent to Prof. Wolfgang De Meuter (wdmeuter at vub.ac.be) and should include: 

- earliest available starting date. This is negotiable during a Skype conversation in case you are selected.
- curriculum vitae with a list of publications and previous positions held. We prefer terse CVs with a focus on quality rather than quantity.
- a one-page research vision in one of the above research domains. We encourage applicants to have a look at our website and seek for a good match.
- digital copy of the Ph.D. dissertation and Ph.D. diploma with annexes (no need for official translations of the diploma - we can read Dutch, English, French, Spanish, Catalan, German or Russian).
- digital copy of one (co-)authored paper demonstrating some of the expected expertise.
- e-mail addresses of two academic referees that we can contact for a reference