PhD researcher – Software for high performance networks & clouds

What you will do The internet and cloud infrastructure are undergoing a massive change in the last decade. Software is playing an increasingly important role in this rapidly changing environment. Where in the old days, telecommunication networks were characterized by rigid protocols and hardware devices strongly regulated by the big vendors in the field, current telecom network is controlled by adaptive software mechanisms (Software Defined Networking or SDN) and network traffic handling (e.g., deep network traffic inspection) is implemented by smart software deployed on commodity servers in data centers (Network Function Virtualization or NFV). As a result, network services continuously offer new features, have non-stop increase in performance, and are continuously being optimized in the resources they consume. These evolutions introduce new possibilities but also significant research challenges for future telecommunication networks and applications. Software-based, virtualized networks are a two-sided sword, with flexibility and agility on one side, and uncertain reliability/performance on the other side. Although new network services or control mechanisms can be rapidly developed in software and deployed on virtual machines or containers, it is an open challenge to ensure that these efforts will result into highly available networks/services, producing maximal performance with minimal resources in dynamically changing environments. The offered position will put you in the middle of this challenge, where you will combine state of the art software development with deep insight in internet technologies, cloud-based services and their associated control mechanisms. You perform research in the domain of software networks and cloud technologies: You are conducting research on the design and evaluation of network programming mechanisms for softwarized network services You develop cutting-edge software for controlling telecom and cloud-based services You are performing scientific evaluation of control and verification mechanisms through simulation and proof-of-concept prototypes You will be part of a stimulating international environment of researchers You publish and present results both at International conferences and in scientific journals The research leads to a PhD degree. Throughout the complete PhD period, you receive a full-time, attractive salary. What we do for you We offer a challenging, stimulating and pleasant research environment, where you can contribute to the worldwide research for the Future Internet. The work is done in close collaboration with key European ICT and telecom industry players. Who you are You have a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Informatics, ICT or Electronics. You have a good background in software development and preferably provable experience with programming (e.g., in professional life, hobby projects, or participation in open-source software development) You are flexible in the programming language/environment to be used (either object-oriented or functional programming framework), and can adapt the tool to the job You have some experience with modern software development tools such as version control (Git, Mercurial), Integrated Development environments (e.g., Eclipse, Emacs) and possibly test methodologies (e.g., build server, unit testing, integration testing, etc.), and/or automation frameworks such as Maven, Puppet, Chef, etc. Experience in software development in the domain of telecom and/or cloud environments is a plus (e.g., SDN controllers, Docker, Kubernetes, OpenStack) You have an eye for optimal design, and are eager to get the best results You feel comfortable in applying or adapting mathematical models or proofs, when needed You are able to plan and carry out your tasks in an independent way. You have strong analytical skills to interpret the obtained research results. You are a responsible, communicative and flexible person. You are a team player. You respect the predetermined milestones in research projects. Your English is fluent, both speaking and writing. Interested? Send your motivation letter and CV, indicating “Application: PhD Research – Software for high-performance networks & clouds” in the subject