PhD student in Computing Science with focus on Sustainable Algorithmic Solutions - Befattningen är under tillsättning eller redan tillsatt, och det är inte längre möjligt att lämna in en ansökan

To Department of Computing Science, characterized by world-leading research in several scientific fields, we now look for a doctoral student in Sustainable Algorithmic Solutions. 

The Department of Computing science has been growing rapidly in recent years where focus on an inclusive and bottom-up driven environment are key elements. The 50 doctoral students within the department compose a diverse group of different nationalities (representing more than 20 countries worldwide), backgrounds and fields. As a doctoral student, you will receive the benefits of support in career development, networking, administrative and technical support functions along with good employment conditions. See more information at:
https://www.umu.se/en/department-of-computing-science/

Is this interesting for you? Apply until March 8th, 2023.

Project description 

The EU-funded Center of Excellence for Exascale CFD (CEEC), which started on January 1st 2023 and runs for four years, specializes in the area of numerical simulations for turbulence. The consortium consists of partners from nine universities and research labs across Europe, with experience in different aspects of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Using computer simulation has become an increasingly common tool for developing advanced products such as aircraft. Anyone who has ever flown knows that there can be turbulence, air currents that spin and twist with varying strength and direction. Today there are methods to calculate this seemingly unpredictable phenomenon, but they are complex and require a lot of computing power. Exascale computing offers such supercomputer performance.

In this project, Roman Iakymchuk leads the work on algorithmic development and enhancements for the consortium CFD applications. Our focus is on assuring sustainability and numerical reliability in linear algebra kernels and operations occurring in the consortium codes due to the fact that these properties are either violated or simply ignored under the parallel and cross-architectural executions. Thanks to the usage of various auto-tuning and performance optimization strategies, these algorithms would guarantee high performance but also cross-architectures performance portability, which is a difficult task in HPC. This together with mixed-precision schemes, supported by arithmetic tools, would not only boost performance but also would ensure energy-efficient computing. We aim at delivering comparable accuracy of the results as in the original precision and to wisely use the resources, yielding in sustainable algorithmic solutions.

By working in CEEC, a PhD student will have an opportunity to collaborate with leading European researchers from five different countries and to contribute to the algorithmic development driven by production-ready project applications. This will be supported via regular discussions as well as two face-to-face meetings per year. The PhD student will also actively participate in dissemination of project results at various conferences and events.

A brief overview of the CEEC project: 

https://www.umu.se/en/news/80-new-eu-millions-for-research-at-umea-university_11679058/ 

For more information about Roman Iakymchuk, visit: 

https://www.umu.se/en/staff/roman-iakymchuk/ 

Admission requirements 

The general admission requirements for doctoral studies are completion of the second-cycle studies; or completed course requirements of at least 240 ECTS credits, of which at least 60 ECTS credits are at second-cycle level; or an equivalent education from abroad. To fulfill the specific entry requirements for doctoral studies in computing science, the applicant is required to have completed at least 90 ECTS credits in computing science or computational mathematics. Applicants who otherwise have acquired skills that are deemed equivalent are also eligible.

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the project, connecting computational mathematics with the domains of high-performance computing, optimization, computational fluid dynamics and numerical analysis, the approach needs to be proactive and independent in the identification of topics relevant to the conducted research, and in the acquisition of new knowledge.

The applicant should be equipped with algorithmic thinking and development (preferably from scientific computing), be a skilled programmer (C/C++ and possibly Fortran), be familiar with concepts of high-performance computing (shared memory, accelerators, distributed), as well as the relative libraries (OpenMP, MPI, CUDA). The research will be carried out in collaboration with international researchers from different disciplines, so good collaborative skills are required, and the applicant must be able to speak and write in English fluently.

The most important assessment criteria for the selection are the ability to assimilate the doctoral programme, suitability for the project, and documented ability to work in groups and to independently carry out work tasks.

About the position

The position provides you with the opportunity to pursue PhD studies in Computing Science for four years, with the goal of achieving the degree of Doctor in Computing Science. While the position is mainly devoted to PhD studies (at least 80% of the time), it may include up to 20% department service (usually teaching). If so, the total time for the position is extended accordingly, resulting in a maximum of five years.

The procedure for recruitment for the position is in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance (chapter 12, 2§) and the decision regarding the position cannot be appealed.

The expected starting date is April 1st, 2023 or as otherwise agreed.

Application

Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University.

A complete application should contain the following documents:

• A cover letter that motivates your interest in the position and that describes how your qualifications and experience are relevant to the employment (maximum 2 A4 pages with 11pt font). Please include a discussion of your experience in the development of (parallel) software.
• A curriculum vitae 
• Copies of completed BSc and/or MSc theses and any other relevant publications
• Copies of degree certificates, including documentation of completed academic courses and obtained grades 
• Documentation and description of other relevant experiences or competences
• Contact information of at least two references and a reference letter from each of them

The application must be written in English. If any material is submitted in another language, a translation must be included. Attached documents must be in pdf format. Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University, and be received no later than February 22nd, 2023.

The Department of Computing Science values gender diversity, and therefore particularly encourages women and those outside the gender binary to apply for the position.

For more information, contact Associate Professor Roman Iakymchuk: riakymch@cs.umu.se

We look forward to receiving your application!