Applications are invited for a research assistant position funded under the Carnegie Mellon - Portugal partnership (http://www.cmuportugal.org), to work on the project entitled Web Security and Privacy (http://wesp.cmuportugal.org).  This post is part of a multidisciplinary research program involving the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, Lab:USE at the University of Madeira, the University of Minho, Instituto Superior Tecnico, and Portugal Telecom.  The post is based in Madeira Portugal, will be co-supervised by Carnegie Mellon faculty, and will involve annual visits to Carnegie Mellon. The ideal candidates will have a good first degree or MSc in a relevant subject.  Successful candidates may opt to apply for a PhD degree in Portugal, or a joint PhD degree with Carnegie Mellon University.

About the post

We seek a candidate with a strong background in either computer science, mathematics, or any relevant subject. The work for this post will focus on analysing large-scale social networks and the development of automated tools to protect users' privacy within online social networks.  This work will be validated in the context of actual deployments of mobile social software applications in Portugal and at Carnegie Mellon. Ideal candidates will have strong oral and written communication skills, the ability to work independently as well as a team member and the ability to take the initiative and be proactive.  We welcome applicants with experience in development for online or mobile platforms.

About the project

This multidisciplinary project addresses issues of security, privacy and trust in the context of the web and ubiquitous systems.  This project will carry out fundamental research in the following themes:-Build tools to enable end-users to effectively control their privacy on the web, focusing on social networking websites.-Develop and evaluate mechanisms and design principles to help users decide whether or not they can trust different types of digital services.-Test automated approaches to detecting copyright breach and enforcement of copyright policies in the context of peer-to-peer networks and related services.-Implement formal methods aimed at validating policy languages developed in the context of online social networking.

More details about the project can be found at http://wesp.cmuportugal.org

Contact

Potential applicants should contact Vassilis Kostakos (vassilis@cmu.edu) for informal discussions or enquiries.

Applying

The closing date for receipts of applications is January 5th 2010, and we anticipate that interviews will be held in mid January. Applicants should submit a cover letter, a full CV, and contact details for three referees to Vassilis Kostakos (vassilis@cmu.edu). The post will start ideally on February 1st 2010 (or as soon as possible thereafter) by arrangement with the successful candidate.  The award includes a stipend of 11760 Euros per annum (tax exempt), health insurance, research-related travel expenses, and research equipment.