[AISWorld] PhD Vacancy at UU - Adaptable Model-Based and User-Specific Software Ecosystems

[Slinger Roijackers (Jansen)]

*= The AMUSE Project =*
Software Producing Organizations (SPOs), i.e., open source and commercial
organizations producing mass-market software, are increasingly engineering
Very Large Software Systems (VLSSs). These VLSSs are, however, directly
conflicting with current trends in software engineering: development and
deployment agility, ecosystemification, inter-organizational collaboration,
and multi-tenancy. These trends could be highly beneficial for VLSSs, but
few techniques exist to exploit these trends. We see these trends as a call
to action for software engineering researchers to rise up to the challenge
of developing a framework that embraces the needs for variability, openness
to collaborative software development and composition, and resource sharing
across highly specialized applications. We envision the AMUSE framework as
the answer to this challenge, a framework that enables VLSSs in the
software engineering context of the future.

The AMUSE framework specifically addresses the (1) composition, (2)
configuration, (3) deployment, and (4) monitoring challenges of VLSSs will
be faced by (1) designing and developing a composition language for
software composers, by (2 & 3) developing shortest-path algorithms for
configuration upgrades of highly dependent and integrated systems, and (4)
by providing a set of software operation knowledge tools that observe and
analyze behavior, through process mining, of MDD software systems in the
cloud. The ultimate goal of such a framework is to provide a self-healing
system that, based on predefined policies, can change its own deployment in
the heterogeneous cloud.
*= Qualifications =*
The Responsibilities of the candidate. Although development costs are
potentially significantly lower using model driven development, those
savings are typically lost in maintenance of such systems, especially when
such applications are deployed in the cloud. Current release, delivery, and
deployment mechanisms are no longer sufficient to support generated
multi-tenant apps with high degrees of variability. In his vacancy we seeks
a researcher with the responsibility to take on three challenges: first, a
deployment model must be designed supporting partiality, i.e., that enables
software vendors to update parts of generated applications, without
affecting other parts of the running application significantly. This can be
realized by supporting different running versions of services, which also
enables zero-downtime. Secondly, the model must support a segmented release
of updated parts of the application, to enable the deployment of updates to
individuals or segments of the complete set of customers, for instance for
canary deployment. Thirdly, all deployment must happen with a minimum of
downtime, applying techniques such as hot-swapping in quiescence
(Vandewoude et al., 2007).

*= Deliverables = *
* A configuration management framework for versioned and interdependent
services, that can be updated at runtime and dynamically be deployed to one
or more customers;
* A framework for partial generation of applications for the sake of
development efficiency.

*= Profile = *
The ideal candidate holds a Master's degree or equivalent in Information
Systems or computer science and should have excellent academic
qualifications as well as good communication and collaboration skills. We
will give preference to candidates speaking Dutch or willing to learn
Dutch. The candidate preferably has experience in doing empirical fieldwork
and using qualitative methods. Candidates without a Master's degree have
until August 30th 2015 to complete the final exam. Candidates are expected
to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic
credentials and must show interest in an academic career, including both
research and teaching/supervision activities. Furthermore the successful
candidate should be proficient in reporting scientific findings. Knowledge
of and experience with at least some of the following areas is essential:
* Modern version control systems such as git, nix, mercurial, or darcs;
* Cloud infrastructures, such as AWS, Heroku, or Azure;
* Configuration, product, and release management;
* Variability and multi-tenancy;
* Or process mining.
Finally, candidates will be tested on their programming skills before
acceptance. The working locations will be Leusden (70%) and Utrecht (30%).

*= Collaboration = *
As the project is a collaboration between Utrecht University, the Free
University of Amsterdam, and AFAS software in Leusden, the candidate is
expected to travel between Utrecht, Amsterdam, and Leusden frequently. The
research will be conducted by three PhD students and one Postdoc.
Please note that this vacancy is a limited topic vacancy. Applications that
contain an independently designed project proposal will immediately be
discarded.
*= Offer =*
The candidate is offered a full-time AIO-position for 4 years. The salary
is supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8,3%
per year. In addition we offer: a pension scheme, a partially paid parental
leave, flexible employment conditions. Conditions are based on the
Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities. The research group will
provide the candidate with necessary support on all aspects of the project.
The gross salary is in the range between € 2125,- and maximum   €2717,- per
month.

*= About the organisation = *
Utrecht University has great ambitions for its teaching quality and study
success rates. This also applies to its clear research profiles which are
centred around four themes: Dynamics of Youth, Institutions, Life Sciences
and Sustainability. Utrecht University plays a prominent role in our
society and contributes to finding the answers to topical and future
societal issues.

The Faculty of Science consists of six departments: Biology, Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Information and Computing Sciences, Physics and Astronomy,
Chemistry and Mathematics. The Faculty is home to 3500 students and nearly
2000 staff and is internationally renowned for the quality of its research.
The Faculty's academic programmes reflect developments in today's society.

The Department of Information and Computing Sciences is nationally and
internationally renowned for its research in computer science and
information science. The research of the department is grouped into four
divisions: Software Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Worlds, and
Interaction Technology. Its research focus is on Game Technology, one of
the four research focus areas of the Faculty of Science. Both the
Department and the Faculty strive to strengthen the research in computer
science and information science with applications in gaming technology.

The Department offers bachelor programs in computer science and information
science, and four English-language research master-programs in Artificial
Intelligence, Business Informatics, Computing Science, and Game and Media
Technology. High enrollment figures and good student ratings make the
education very successful.

*= Additional information = *
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from: Slinger
Jansen (slinger.jansen at uu.nl).

As part of the selection procedure, the candidate is expected to give an
outline of his/her research plans in a written report and an oral
presentation. Furthermore, if there are doubts about the technical skills
of the candidate, he or she may need to take part in a developer test as
part of the procedure.

*= Apply = *
To apply please attach a letter of motivation, curriculum vitae and (email)
addresses of two referees. Application deadline is 14-10-2015. Please apply
through this link
<http://ssl1.peoplexs.com/Peoplexs22/CandidatesPortalNoLogin/ApplicationForm.cfm?PortalID=4124&VacatureID=758382>
.

-- 
Slinger Jansen (Roijackers)
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