The University of Sheffield
Research Associate in Formal Modelling and Verification
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The University of Sheffield
Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities, and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.
We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits [here](opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.
Overview
A Research Associate position is available on COVERT (“Safe and secure COncurrent programming for adVancEd aRchiTectures”), an EPSRC-funded project investigating the safety and security of advanced hardware architectures. The project brings together researchers at Sheffield, Kent, and Surrey, alongside academic, industrial, and governmental partners including ARM, Galois, Defence Science and Technology (DST), and the Universities of Amsterdam, Augsburg, Melbourne, and Oldenburg.
Based in Sheffield’s School of Computer Science, the post holder will work with Professor John Derrick (principal investigator), Professor Andrei Popescu (co-investigator), and the wider COVERT team.
Modern hardware architectures increasingly combine complex execution and memory technologies, including out-of-order and speculative execution, weak memory, and non-volatile memory. These advances can break assumptions traditionally relied upon by programmers, introducing subtle safety bugs and security vulnerabilities. Concurrent systems are particularly challenging: even well-synchronised programs and algorithms satisfying established correctness criteria such as linearisability may remain vulnerable to security attacks.
COVERT aims to develop reusable models, tools, and verification techniques for safety and security across advanced architectures, together with verified concurrency abstractions that balance trustworthy behaviour with performance. The project combines foundational theory, architecture-aware threat models, and correctness criteria with practical verification tools, litmus tests, and concurrency libraries. Theory and case studies will be mechanised in the Isabelle proof assistant, using examples from MITRE, the Folly concurrency library, and industrial partners.
We seek a highly motivated researcher keen to collaborate on groundbreaking verification research and publish in leading conferences and journals.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
- Perform research in the project's areas of interest: formal modelling and verification of safety and security properties for advanced hardware architectures.
- Create and adapt any necessary software to do the above.
- Engage the industry partners (e.g., at ARM) to aid the deployment of verification solutions.
- Publish in high-quality outlets (high-profile and reputable conferences and journals), prepare detailed research reports where appropriate (e.g., as formal project deliverables), and communicate our results to non-academic or non-verification specialist audiences as required, e.g., to project-wide workshops.
- Plan work to meet project deliverables and be appropriately prepared for supervision and project meetings.
- Carry out administrative roles as required, e.g., coordinating meetings across various sites.
- Participate in the general collaborative working of the Foundations of Computation group, e.g., to present to the group, participate in its seminar meetings, engage in its training events, and demonstrate research to visitors, etc.
- As a member of staff, you will be encouraged to make ethical decisions in your role, embedding the University sustainability strategy into your working activities wherever possible.
- Contribute to the development of further research proposals.
- Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.
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Person Specification
Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.
Criteria
Essential
- A PhD degree (or close to completion) in a scientific or engineering discipline (preferably computer science). Outstanding candidates who do not have a PhD but wish to pursue one on the topic of this project will also be considered.
- Knowledge and experience in software development or formal methods – ideally in functional programming, formal specifications, or theorem proving.
- Familiarity with a proof assistant, ideally Isabelle/HOL.
- Ability to develop and adapt software appropriately to support research.
- Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, and report writing skills. Ability to write up work to a standard consistent with publication in high-quality journals and conferences.
- Ability to work effectively in a team and engage in effective collaborative research. The work will involve discussions with academic and industrial partners, e.g., hardware manufacturers at ARM.
- Ability to develop creative approaches to problem-solving.
- Ability to assess and organise resources, and plan and progress through work activities.
Desirable
- A track record of producing internationally recognised, high-quality research.
Further Information
- Grade: Grade 7
- Salary: £38,784 - £39,906
- Work arrangement: Full-time
- Duration: Until 28th February 2027, with the opportunity to extend a further six months.
- Line managers: Professor of Computer Science and Professor of Computing Foundations (project leads)
- Direct reports: None
If you do not currently hold the right to work in the UK, you can find more information here to help determine your visa eligibility. Additional guidance is also available on the UK Visa & Immigration website.
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Our website: sheffield.ac.uk/cs
For informal enquiries about this job, contact Professor Andrei Popescu, project co-lead, at A.Popescu@sheffield.ac.uk.
Next steps in the recruitment process
It is anticipated that the selection process will take place within a month of this post closing. This will consist of an online interview. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage in the week around two weeks after the closing date. If you need any support, equipment, or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process, you can contact COM-Recruitment@sheffield.ac.uk.
Our vision and strategic plan
We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision (opens in new window).
What We Offer
- A minimum of 41 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
- Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
- Generous pension scheme.
- A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out, and travel.
- A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support, and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s, and Parent’s networks).
- Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
- A commitment to your development access to learning and mentoring schemes.
- A range of generous family-friendly policies, including:
- Paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies
- Access to menopause support in the workplace
- Paid time off and support for fertility treatment
- And more
More details can be found on our benefits page: sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits (opens in a new window).
We are a Disability Confident Leader (opens in a new window). If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job, you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.
We are a research university with a global reputation for excellence. Our ideas and expertise change the world for the better, making a real difference to society. We know that when people come together with different views, approaches, and insights, it can lead to richer, more creative, and innovative teaching and research and the highest levels of student experience. Our University Vision (www.sheffield.ac.uk/vision) outlines our commitment to building a diverse community of staff and students that recognises and values the abilities, backgrounds, beliefs, and ways of living for everyone.
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