Imperial College London is one of the largest Colleges of the University of London. The Department of Computing is located in the Huxley Building on Queen's Gate, in South Kensington.
The Department of Computing currently has around forty full-time academic staff, and is active in research on many topics including Logic and Artificial Intelligence, Distributed Systems and Software Engineering, Theory and Formal Methods, Advanced Languages and Architectures, Computer Vision and Computer Graphics, Decision Support and Financial Modelling, and Communicating Agents. It was rated 5* (the top rating) in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, and is also rated Excellent in teaching.
The research associate will be employed on the "Efficient Systems of Dynamic Interaction" project. This is an EPSRC funded project, nominally to run from February 1998 until January 2000. There will be five staff, on three sites:
The aim of the project is to apply algebraic logic to solve problems in computer science.
Modern computer systems involve dynamic interaction between various components. Naive logical modelling of dynamic interactions often leads to systems which are computationally more complex than the original problem. The aim of the project is to discover which aspects of such modellings cause intractability, and use this knowledge to design formal systems which faithfully reflect the complexity of the original problem, but are still expressive enough to capture its essential features.
We will undertake this research from both a logical and an algebraic perspective, and develop the mathematical methods as necessary for this. The general framework of combining logics was especially created to design systems which can capture different dimensions and their interactions. We will find out when interaction blocks transfer of tractability to the combinations, and use this knowledge to design tractable interactive systems. From the algebraic side, focussing on dynamic aspects of algebras of relations will allow us to develop algebras finely tuned for applications --- sufficiently expressive but not excessively complex.
The formalisms we develop will be evaluated with respect to both their theoretical complexity and their suitability for practical applications in the verification and specification of programs and distributed and multi-agent systems.
The project will attempt:
The successful applicant will pursue research on the project under the supervision of Dr Ian Hodkinson. She or he will concentrate on the second of these areas, the first being developed primarily at King's. However, a great deal of the work will be done jointly with colleagues.
Some familiarity with some of modal logic, algebraic logic, mathematical logic, computational complexity, and/or general algebra will be very useful. A PhD in a related area is almost essential.
There will be regular project meetings at King's, UCL, and Imperial, as well as some meetings with colleagues outside Britain, particularly in Amsterdam and Budapest.
The post is for approximately 24 months, starting as soon as possible after 1 February 1998.
Salary will be on the RA1A scale (£17293 -- £24919 including a London allowance of £2134) depending on age, qualifications, and experience.
Applications should consist of a full CV with a list of publications, the names of at least two academic referees, and a short statement in support of the application.
Please send the completed application to:
Dr I Hodkinson
Department of Computing
Imperial College
180 Queen's Gate
London SW7 2BZ
UK.
Tel (+44) 171 594 8219.
The closing date is Tuesday 27 January 1998.
Prospective applicants are welcome to contact Ian Hodkinson for informal enquiries or discussions. Phone (+44) 171 594 8219 or email imh@doc.ic.ac.uk.