Open PhD topics

PhD student in low-level security

At the Centre for Cyber Security and Privacy at the University of Birmingham, we are looking for a PhD student in low-level security topics, for example confidential computing, embedded & firmware security, GPU security, side channels, and/or mobile network security.

The project is led by Prof David Oswald and Dr Marius Muench. Depending on the topic, some of our project partners might also devote time to the project, and the PhD student would have the opportunity to work with them.

Studentship: The studentship covers a stipend and tuition fees based on home student rates. The stipend provides an annual maintenance allowance of £19,237. The allowance is paid as a (usually) tax-free stipend and its rate is usually incremented on 1 October each following year.

We provide personal laptops and travel funding to attend conferences (subject to prior approval) and one summer school (or equivalent). Students will also be given the chance to participate in teaching activities, including creating and grading exercises as well as conducting laboratory and tutorial sessions, which are compensated separately.

Eligibility: Candidates from most countries are welcome to apply. Candidates should have a good background in system-level programming (e.g. using C, C++, Assembly, and/or Rust) and/or embedded systems/hardware. We also expect a first-class UG or PG degree in a relevant subject (e.g. computer science or electrical engineering).

How to apply: Applications are accepted until 5 Dec 2024 via https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/computer-science/postgraduate-research/applying-for-phd-in-computer-science.

Feel free to informally discuss with David Oswald (d.f.oswald (at) bham.ac.uk) and Marius Muench (m.muench (at) bham.ac.uk) before putting in a full application.