PhD student in Computer Science with a focus on Computer Architecture Full-time NEW

PhD Student in Computer Science with a Focus on Computer Architecture

Are you interested in working with next-generation interconnect technology for energy-efficient AI systems, 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 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.

Project description: The PhD position is part of the NEAT research project and focuses on computer architecture for future AI systems. The project aims to contribute to efficient and sustainable computing by investigating how architectural and system-level choices affect performance, energy use and scalability.

As a PhD student, you will investigate research questions in computer architecture, develop and evaluate new approaches, and analyse their potential benefits and limitations. The work involves modelling, simulation and experimental evaluation, combining theoretical understanding with practical research skills.

The PhD student will be supervised by Associate Professor Yuan Yao and join an international research environment with established collaborations with both academia and industry.

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.

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

• hold a Master's (second-cycle) degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, embedded systems, or another field relevant to the project, 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.

The University may permit an exemption from the general entry requirements for an individual applicant, if there are special grounds (Chapter 7, § 39 of the Higher Education Ordinance). For special entry requirements, please see the subject's general study plan.

The position also requires that you have:

• very good knowledge of computer architecture and digital hardware design,
• very good programming skills, for example in C/C++ and Python,
• excellent oral and written proficiency in English.

Great emphasis will be placed on personal qualities such as analytical ability, independence, attention to detail, and good collaboration skills, as well as on motivation for doctoral studies.

Additional qualifications: Experience with any of the following is considered an advantage:

• FPGA development and hardware description languages (e.g. Verilog, VHDL, or Chisel),
• architecture or network simulators (e.g. gem5, SCALE-Sim, ASTRA-sim),
• interconnection networks/networks-on-chip (NoC) or AI accelerators (GPUs, TPUs, NPUs),
• machine learning frameworks (e.g. PyTorch) and work with large AI models,
• scientific publications in computer architecture or related areas.

About the employment: The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 1 February 2027 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

Application: In this recruitment we have replaced the cover letter with questions that you are asked to answer when making your application. The answers will be used as a part of the selection process. Applicants are expected to provide original and accurate answers that reflect their own experiences, knowledge, and reasoning. AI tools may be used for language editing and proofreading, but applicants must ensure that the content represents their own work and understanding. Applicants may be asked to elaborate on their answers during the interview. Misrepresentation of qualifications, experiences, or individual contributions may result in disqualification from the recruitment process.

For further information about the position, please contact: Yuan Yao, Associate Professor, yuan.yao@it.uu.se.

Please submit your application by 30 November 2026, UFV-PA 2026/3314.