[AISWorld] PhD Position: End-User Programming for the Internet-of-Things

[André Freitas]

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PhD Position: End-User Programming for the Internet-of-Things
School of Computer Science
The University of Manchester
ARM Research
EPSRC iCASE studentship
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Applications are invited for this fully funded (tuition fees plus
additional stipend), full-time PhD EPSRC iCASE studentship, to start in
September 2018 or as soon as appropriate. It is intended that this
studentship is part of a newly established partnership between the
University of Manchester and Arm Research.

The Project
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The emerging infrastructure of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) offers
unprecedented opportunities to build systems which integrate networks of
things, services, and people. The expansion of the borders of systems to
capture data from ambient and personal sensors, communicative tools, mobile
and ubiquitous computing devices, defines a dramatic increase of the
sensing substrate which can be used as the basis for the construction of
the next generation of computing systems.

However, the heterogeneous and distributed nature of this substrate
introduces new requirements for developing systems over the
Internet-of-Things. Designing, programming or managing these new
environments requires metaphors, interfaces, and interaction strategies for
supporting programmers in the construction of IoT systems. Additionally,
many IoT application scenarios require higher personalization and
contextualization.  Despite the sophistication and prevalence of user
centered design methods, it is increasingly problematic for software
developers to anticipate the needs of users at design time. In many
situations, end-users themselves (either domain experts or consumers)
should be enabled create and adapt systems to their preferences.
This project aims at building an end-to-end software development
environment for the Internet-of-Things to support end-users in programming
tasks. A central goal to the project is to enable end-users to build IoT
applications using the combination of natural language commands, semantic
search and visualization. The proposed programming environment is built
upon the concept of schema-agnostic data environments, where end-users are
abstracted away from the underlying data representation and can program
using their own vocabulary.

The Supervision Team and
Study Environment
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The University of Manchester boasts one of the most innovative and
successful schools of computer science in the world. Manchester saw the
birth of computer science, with the creation of the world's first
stored-program computer. We continue to work on pioneering research with
widespread activity and strength in a range of key aspects of computer
science from hardware through to user interaction.

The School of Computer Science was ranked in the top 5% in the UK (4th out
of 89 submissions) based on GPA for Computer Science and Informatics in
REF2014, the most recent UK research assessment. REF2014 also assessed that
The University of Manchester is the best environment in the UK for computer
science and informatics research, with 94% of our research being classed as
"world-leading" (4*) or "internationally excellent" (3*). All our "impact"
case studies were ranked 3* and 4*, which puts us joint-top for research
impact.
Arm is the worlds leading semiconductor intellectual property (IP)
supplier. In 2015/16, Arm's customers shipped 15 billion processors - more
than 2 processors for every human being on the planet. Arm Research looks
beyond today's products to identify problems and opportunities to generate
better experiences for people in the future. The student will be expected
to engage with Arm/Arm research through regular meetings and, at times,
through short periods of work at Arm premises.

Applications
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Applicants should have or expect to obtain a BSc 1st Class or MSc with
Distinction in computer science or a related discipline and strong
programming skills. Applicants must also have British citizenship or be a
permanent resident and have lived in the UK for the last 3 years.
Exceptional EU students may be eligible.

Academic Supervisors: Dr Andre Freitas (UoM, School of Computer Science)
and Dr Sarah Clinch (UoM, School of Computer Science)
Industrial Supervisor: Prof. John Goodacre (Arm)

Deadline for applications is Friday 6th April. Qualified applicants are
strongly encouraged to informally contact Sarah Clinch (
sarah.clinch at manchester.ac.uk) and/or Andre Freitas (
andre.freitas at manchester.ac.uk) to discuss the application prior to
applying.

Please submit a full application via the standard application route at the
School of Computer Science website.