MSCA Doctoral Student in SecReSy4You with a Focus on Secure Control Systems under Uncertainty Full-time

MSCA Doctoral Student in SecReSy4You with a Focus on Secure Control Systems under Uncertainty

Are you interested in working in the intersection of control theory, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a PhD position at the Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University.

The position is part of the SecReSy4You Doctoral Network, funded by the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). For a complete list of the 10 available positions, please visit the network's website.

The Department of Information Technology holds a leading position in both research and education at all levels. We are currently Uppsala University's third largest department, with 350 employees, including 120 teachers and 120 PhD students. Approximately 5,000 undergraduate students take one or more courses at the department each year. You can find more information about us on the Department of Information Technology website.

The doctoral student will join the Secure Learning and Control Laboratory, an interdisciplinary research group doing basic and applied research at the intersection of cybersecurity, control theory, and machine learning. Our vision is to develop methodologies for designing intelligent autonomous decision-making systems that are secure and resilient against malicious adversaries and natural failures.

As a doctoral student with us, you get offered:

• Work in an interdisciplinary network of national and international collaborators at an outstanding research institution.
• Active supervision and promotion of your scientific development toward a PhD.
• A close integration of fundamental research and applications.
• Access to state-of-the-art research facilities and resources, including high-performance compute clusters.
• A collaborative and supportive research environment with an international, friendly, and dedicated team.
• A balanced and family-friendly work-life relationship.

About the MSCA Doctoral Network Critical infrastructures and cyber-physical systems face increasing risks from cyberattacks exploiting vulnerabilities in digital communication networks, embedded hardware, and software. These attacks have far-reaching consequences, including the potential to collect sensitive information, cause physical damage, and endanger human lives.

In response to these challenges, the European MSCA Doctoral Network SecReSy4You aims to train a new generation of 10 researchers in cybersecurity and resilience for cyber-physical systems (CPS). The 10 doctoral candidates will collaborate on modeling threat actors, developing scalable AI-based monitoring and control systems, and designing strategies to ensure long-term CPS protection. Through a comprehensive training program combining technical expertise with transferable skills, they will be well-prepared for careers in this rapidly evolving field. SecReSy4You will drive innovation in CPS security through cutting-edge research, industry collaboration, and the development of practical tools tailored to real-world challenges.

The network brings together leading research institutions and companies from Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands. It comprises 10 closely connected research projects and a joint doctoral training program.

Project description The project aims to develop new theories and methods for enhancing the security of control systems in the presence of strategic, realistically constrained adversaries and probabilistic uncertainty. We seek to develop analysis and design algorithms that incorporate cross-layer information and account for trade-offs between nominal performance, resilience to undetectable attacks, and uncertainty at the operator and adversary.

We envision the project to involve methodologies from game-theory and robust optimization integrated with advanced adversary models and control frameworks such as model-predictive control or reinforcement learning. The exact details of the project will be decided in a dialogue between the student and supervisors.

As part of an MSCA Doctoral Network, the project includes extended research visits abroad of up to 6 months in total. Planned supervisors are Assoc. Prof. André Teixeira and co-supervisor Prof. Christian Rohner.

Duties The doctoral student will primarily devote their time to graduate education. Other departmental duties of at most 20%, including teaching and administration, may also be included in the employment. In addition, the duties include the following:

• Interdisciplinary research on cyber-physical security, with a focus on secure control systems under uncertainty and realistic adversaries.
• Publication of scientific results in top journals and at flagship conferences.
• Contributions to network-wide events and performing (transnational) academic and/or industrial secondments within Europe.

Requirements To meet the general entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must:

• hold a Master's (second-cycle) degree in electrical and computer engineering, engineering physics, computer science, applied mathematics, or a closely related field, or
• have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master's level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

For special entry requirements, please see the subject's general study plan.

Additionally, you must have:

• Very good academic performance in previous studies.
• Solid knowledge in automatic control and systems theory.
• Good proficiency in programming (e.g. in C, C++, Python, Julia, or Matlab).
• High-quality MSc thesis (or equivalent) or other independent written work.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Personal characteristics such as a good level of creativity, thoroughness, and/or a structured approach to problem-solving.

To be eligible as a doctoral student within MSCA (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions), you must not have a doctoral degree at the time of recruitment and not be enrolled in a doctoral program. The MSCA mobility rule requires applicants not to have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organization (Sweden) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date.

Additional qualifications

• Demonstrated high-quality analytical ability.
• Personal qualities such as initiative, collaborative ability, and the capacity to communicate effectively with both international and national project partners, as well as to work independently and as part of a team.
• Merit is given to knowledge in one or more of the following areas: machine learning, cybersecurity, or computer systems

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

Application The application must include the documents listed below. The submitted materials should provide clear evidence of the applicant's qualifications in relation to the assessment criteria.

1. Cover letter (maximum two pages) describing the applicant's motivation for applying for the position and the earliest possible starting date. The letter should include a section titled “Suitability for this position”, in which the applicant briefly explains how their background, skills, and experience match the requirements and assessment criteria.
2. Curriculum vitae (CV).
3. Copies of degrees and transcripts of records, including grades (with translations into English or Swedish if the original documents are in another language).
4. Master's thesis (or a draft, if not yet completed) and/or one other self-produced technical or scientific writing that demonstrates the applicant's research and analytical abilities. Applicants may also include publications or other relevant documents.
5. Contact information for two references (names, email addresses, and telephone numbers). Applicants may also include up to two letters of recommendation.

About the employment The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date September 1st or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

Doctoral students employed through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie programme will receive a salary in accordance with the Marie Curie rules for doctoral students for the duration of the scholarship (36 months). This means that the gross salary (i.e., after deduction of employer contributions but including employee taxes) is approximately (depending on the exchange rate) 37,000 SEK/month (without family allowance). Employee's national and local taxes will be deducted from this gross salary before payment of the net salary to the doctoral candidate. At the end of the project an additional payment of salary may be made, if the average exchange rate during the entire project is higher than the estimated exchange rate.

For the remaining period of your studies, you will be employed under a regular doctoral