PhD

Fully-funded PhD scholarship in parallel programming and dependent-types

The school of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews has a fully-funded scholarship available working in the Programming Languages Research Group with Dr Christopher Brown. Applications must be received by 1 March 2025.

Background

Algorithmic skeletons provide a convenient and high-level approach to writing efficient parallel software by leveraging common patterns of parallel behaviours. A skeleton library presents the programmer with a library of high-level parallel interfaces, abstracting away the low-level complexities of manually handling concurrency primitives, e.g. locking, synchronisation and thread creation. Skeletons give an excellent compromise between ease of programming and the ability to generate highly efficient parallel software. A wide range of skeletons have been developed for several different languages, including Fastflow, TBB, PPL and OpenMP. However, despite the proliferation of skeleton libraries, there is little support for an increasingly popular class of programming languages equipped with dependent types.

 

Dependently-typed programming languages address the problem of program safety by ensuring that code conforms to its specification. This is achieved by permitting types to depend on values, thereby allowing programmers to express logical properties, and proof, as intrinsic parts of their programs. This conformance is checked at compile-time. This interest in dependent-types has resulted in a number of functional languages such as pi-forall, Agda, Idris and Coq. However, despite these developments in types, these dependently-typed languages still lack a parallel implementation, making development of safe parallel programs impossible.

 

This project will explore approaches to designing and implementing a dependently-typed parallel programming language. These approaches will consider the technical challenges, but also balancing those with the high-level usability that skeletons bring and the performance expectations of a performant system. As part of this exploration, use-cases will also need to be developed, and the scientific evaluation of the performance of the system will need to be carried out.

Topics of Interest

This project is largely exploratory in nature, and may take several different approaches and directions, including (but not limited to):

  • Extending an existing dependently-typed language, such as Idris, with new concurrency primitives.
  • Designing and implementing an efficient parallel runtime system as a backend to the language.
  • Building on top of these primitives to provide dependently-typed concurrency behaviours, such as synchronisation points, channel behaviours, etc.
  • To design and implement a set of dependently-typed algorithmic skeletons such as farms and pipelines.
  • To explore and identify new skeletons that arise from writing dependently-typed programs.
  • To use dependent-types to encode safety and soundness properties and reason about these properties in a formal way.

The Scholarship

We have one fully-funded scholarship available, starting in September 2025, which will be awarded to competitively to the best applicant. The scholarship covers all tuition fees (irrespective of country of origin) and comes with a stipend valued at £19,705 per annum. More details can be found here: https://blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/csblog/2024/10/24/phd-studentships-available-for-2025-entry/

International applications are welcome. We especially encourage female applicants and underrepresented minorities to apply. The School of Computer Science was awarded the Athena SWAN Silver award for its sustained progression in advancing equality and representation, and we welcome applications from those suitably qualified from all genders, all races, ethnicities and nationalities, LGBT+, all or no religion, all social class backgrounds, and all family structures to apply for our postgraduate research programmes.

To Apply

Informal enquiries can be directed to Chris. Full instructions for formal applications can be found at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-science/prospective/pgr/how-to-apply/

The deadline for applications is 1 March 2025.

 

PhD studentships available for 2025 entry

The School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews is offering a number of PhD scholarships for 3.5 years of study in our doctoral research programme. UK, EU and International students are all eligible for fully-funded scholarships consisting of tuition and a stipend. These awards are part-funded through the University of St Andrews’ ‘handsel’ scheme for tuition waivers.

The School of Computer Science is a centre of excellence for computer science teaching and research, with staff and students from Scotland and all parts of the world. It is a member of the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA).

Value of Award

  • Tuition scholarships cover PhD fees irrespective of country of origin.
  • Stipends are valued at £19,795 per annum (or the standard UKRI stipend, if it is higher).

Eligibility Criteria

We are looking for highly motivated research students willing to be part of a diverse and supportive research community. Applicants must hold a good Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, or a related area appropriate for their proposed topic of study.

International applications are welcome. We especially encourage female applicants and underrepresented minorities to apply. The School of Computer Science was awarded the Athena SWAN Silver award for its sustained progression in advancing equality and representation, and we welcome applications from those suitably qualified from all genders, all races, ethnicities and nationalities, LGBT+, all or no religion, all social class backgrounds, and all family structures to apply for our postgraduate research programmes.

Application Deadline

All applications received before 1st February 2025 will be considered for these scholarships.

How to Apply

Any PhD application received by the deadline will be automatically considered for these scholarships. There is no need for a separate application.

The School’s main research themes are Artificial Intelligence, Health Informatics, Human-Computer Interaction, Programming Languages, and Systems. You can find further details at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-science/research/themes/. In addition, we have cross-cutting research groups in Complex and Adaptive Systems, Computer Vision, Constraints, Data Science, MedTech, Research Software, and Responsible Computing. Applicants with interests in any of these areas are encouraged to develop a relevant research proposal and apply.

The best way to obtain a place and a scholarship is to make a robust PhD application. You are strongly encouraged to read the application guidance written on our webpages. Note that this guidance asks you to approach supervisors before formal submission to discuss your project ideas with them. Historically, applications with no named supervisor have been much less likely to result in an offer. We provide a list of existing faculty, areas of research and some potential project ideas. All supervisors listed on this page may be contacted directly to discuss possible projects. You can define your own project or discuss a project currently on offer.

Full application instructions can be found at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-science/prospective/pgr/how-to-apply/. Enquiries and questions may be directed to pg-admin-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk.

AI Seminar Friday 18th October – Leonardo Bezerra

The School is hosting an AI seminar on Friday 18th October at 11.30am in JCB1.33A!

Our speaker is Leonardo Bezerra from the University of Stirling.

FAIRTECH by design: assessing and addressing the social impacts of artificial intelligence systems

In a decade, social media and big data have transformed society and enabled groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like deep learning and generative AI. Applications like ChatGPT have impacted the world and outpaced regulatory agencies, who were rushed from a data-centred to an AI-centred concern. Recent developments from both the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) originated in the executive branch, and the most advanced Western binding legislation is the European Union (EU) AI Act, expected to be implemented over the next three years. In the meantime, the United Nations (UN) have proposed an AI advisory body similar to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and countries from the Global South like Brazil are following Western proposals. In turn, AI companies have been proactive in the regulation debate, aiming at a scenario of improved accountability and reduced liability. In this talk, we will briefly overview efforts and challenges regarding AI regulation and how major AI players are addressing it. The goal of the talk is to stir future project collaborations from a multidisciplinary perspective, to promote a culture where the development and adoption of AI systems is fair, accountable, inclusive, responsible, transparent, ethical, carbon-efficient, and human-centred (FAIRTECH) by design.

Speaker bio: Leonardo Bezerra joined the University of Stirling as a Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Data Science in 2023, after having been a Lecturer in Brazil for the past 7 years. He received his Ph.D. degree from Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) in 2016, having defended a thesis on the automated design of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. His research experience spans from applied data science projects with public and private institutions to supervising theses on automated and deep machine learning. Recently, his research has concentrated on the social impact of AI applications, integrating the Participatory Harm Auditing Workbenches and Methodologies project funded by Responsible AI UK.

Fully-funded PhD scholarship in user experience design

Applications are sought from passionate, creative and outgoing students interested in using their skills and interests in tabletop gaming in application to research in computer science, Human Computer Interaction, and User Experience design. This exciting PhD project will see the worlds of TTRPG and computing coincide to produce meaningful interactions to support the design, development and deployment of technology, whether from the software level, or at the pipeline level in support of those who will become developers and designers.

Tabletop Role Playing Games (TTRPG) allow the player to immerse themselves in a world where anything can happen — within the rules. You can become someone new, fight demons, play out exciting and speculative storylines, all with the help of your party. This ability to place yourself in the life of another person (or ethereal being) resonates with principles of User Experience Design (UX) where usability experts strive to understand the impact their application or interface might have on a hypothetical audience. There is also the potential for this technique to be used in computer science education, to enable students to explore real world design and programming processes, and the ethical challenges that ensue with the creation of new software and hardware.

The difficulty in eliciting requirements from users, especially users with complex interaction needs, is well-established in literature (Ferreira et al., 2019; Heumader et al., 2018; Pacheco et al., 2018). The process is one that is primarily an ongoing act of interpretation in which user ‘wants’ are translated from interviews, observation, focus groups and such into actionable ‘needs’ that can then be addressed in further design and development. The literature thus makes a distinction between ‘gathering’ requirements – as in collecting together feedback – versus ‘eliciting’ requirements, which is a a more participatory form of ongoing interpretation. As noted by Pacheco et al. the process is highly contextual and its complexities are influenced by everything from the project, the organisation, the environment, and the prior-experiences and skill-sets of all involved parties. It is also dependent on the requirements elicitation techniques employed.
Continue reading

Fully-funded PhD scholarship in Privacy and Trust on the Web

As part of their efforts to enhance privacy and trust on the Web, many applications need to be able to determine whether or not a relationship exists between different entities. For example, it is desirable for web browsers to be able to determine that two domain names are under the same administrative control, such that cookies and other data can be safely shared between them. While determining these relationships might be easy for humans, it is impossible to do so algorithmically.

This project will explore approaches to the defining and enforcing organisational boundaries on the Internet. These approaches will consider the technical challenges, balancing those with user behaviour and expectations, and regulatory considerations. This will include identifying use cases, evaluating and measuring existing and proposed approaches, and developing and implementing novel techniques. Where appropriate, this will involve engagement with standards development organisations, including the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Continue reading

PhD studentships available for 2024 entry

About the Programme

The School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews is offering a number of PhD studentships for 3.5 years of study in our doctoral programme. Funding is available to cover tuition fees for UK, EU and international students, as well as living expenses (a stipend of £18,622 per annum, or the standard UKRI stipend if it is higher). We offer two types of studentship:

  • a fully-funded studentship consisting of tuition and stipend
  • tuition-only studentships, funded through the University’s ‘handsel’ scheme for tuition waivers

The School of Computer Science is a centre of excellence for computer science teaching and research, with staff and students from Scotland and all parts of the world. It is a member of the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA).

Eligibility Criteria

We are looking for highly motivated research students willing to be part of a diverse and supportive research community. Applicants must hold a good BSc or MSc in Computer Science, or a related area appropriate for their proposed topic of study.

We especially encourage female applicants and underrepresented minorities to apply. The University of St Andrews is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all, which is further demonstrated through its working on the Gender and Race Equality Charters and being awarded the Athena SWAN award for women in science, HR Excellence in Research Award and the LGBT Charter.

Application deadline

1st February 2024.

How to apply

Any PhD application received through the University PGR application system by the deadline will be automatically considered for these studentships. There is no need for a separate application. Note, however, that if you are applying for a CSC Scholarship then you cannot be considered for these School studentships due to conflicting application dates.

We strongly advise applicants to contact potential supervisors to discuss their research proposal before applying. Historically, applications with no named supervisor have been much less likely to result in an offer.

The School’s main research groups are Artificial Intelligence, Computer Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, and Programming Languages. You can find further details at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-science/research/groups/. A list of existing faculty and areas of research can be found at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-science/prospective/pgr/supervisors/. All supervisors listed on this page may be contacted directly to discuss possible projects. You can define your own project or discuss a project currently on offer. Some highlighted potential areas or projects offered by supervisors include:

  • Tool support for the representation of ethical concerns in software artefacts (Dr Dharini Balasubramaniam)
  • Automated Configuration of Constraint Solvers via Machine Learning
    (Dr Nguyen Dang)
  • ILNP ubiquitous communications (Prof Saleem Bhatti)

Full details on how to apply can be found at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-science/prospective/pgr/how-to-apply/

Application enquiries can be directed to pg-admin-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk.