Programming Languages and Systems Research Group

Call for applications for PhD studentships (2021 entry)

We are currently calling for applications for a number of fully-funded PhD studentships for an expected start in September 2021.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) PhD studentships

Application Deadline 22nd January 2021

The School of Computing invites applications for up to 6 fully-funded 3-year PhD EPSRC studentships, which cover

• tuition fees at the home rate
• maintenance grant (£15,285 per year).

All academics in the School, including those from the Programming Languages and Systems Group, are eligible to be principal supervisors of such PhD students.  Further details of this Scholarship.

For general inquiries about the process, please e-mail: cs-phd@kent.ac.uk or visit https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply. 

Application Deadline 31st January 2021. 

The University of Kent and the China Scholarship Council are jointly providing up to 20 fully funded PhD scholarships per annum for Chinese students to study at University of Kent’s UK campuses.

Further details of this Scholarship.

Kent-Lille Joint (Cotutelle) PhD Scholarships

Applications will be put forward by their Academic School by Sunday April 18 2021 for consideration by the Panel

The Joint Kent-Lille PhD Scholarship partnership is funding 3 PhD scholarships (notionally 1 in Arts and Humanities, 1 in Natural Sciences or Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and 1 in Human and Social Sciences, KBS or Law and Society and Social Justice) for 2021/22. This will include fees plus a maintenance stipend at the Home Research Council rate for three years.

Jointly supervised PhDs (widely known as cotutelles) offer PhD students the chance to be jointly supervised by the University of Kent and a university in another country, resulting in a dual award: a PhD from Kent and a doctorate from the partner university. More information about cotutelles is available here.

Cotutelle students are required to have an academic supervisor from each institution, with the Main Supervisor located in the host institution.

Candidates should contact the relevant academic school as early as possible and identify a supervisor at Kent and discuss your cotutelle plans with them, whether that is an advertised staff project or an original research project.

Once the academic school has confirmed it would be willing to admit and supervise you as a cotutelle candidate, you will need to apply for a place at the University of Kent through a standard PhD application, indicating that you wish to be considered for the cotutelle award by Friday 17 April 2020.

Further Details of this Scholarship

Kent-Signature-Research-Themes”>Kent Signature Research Themes PhD Scholarships

Application Deadline 14th March 2021

The University of Kent is delighted to invite applications for 6 doctoral scholarships starting in the academic year 2021 (from September 2021). The call is open to candidates interested in pursuing a PhD programme in any discipline or disciplines at the University on a research project directly linked to one of our recently established Signature Research Themes. These themes are:

• Food, Natural Resources and Environment
• Future Human
• Migration and Movement

Further information on these three themes can be found on the University’s Signature Research Themes webpages: https://research.kent.ac.uk/signature-themes/

Signature Research Theme scholars will receive the following:

• Annual stipend at UKRI rates (£15,285 in 2020/21);
• Annual tuition fees at UKRI Home rates (£4,407 in 2020/21)
  • 2021/22 rates to be announced.

NOTE: This scholarship call is open to Home applicants only.

Applications for Signature Research Theme scholarships will be student-led. Interested students should suggest their own research projects, however we strongly recommend that applicants contact the supervisor/s they have in mind to discuss their research proposal with them in advance of submitting their application.

Applicants should follow the University of Kent’s online application process. As part of the process, you should include the following:

• your reasons for study
• your research proposal;
• how your research fits with the Signature Research Theme;
• details of your qualifications;
• two academic references;
• other relevant personal information and supporting documentation.

How to Apply

To apply for any of the above PhD studentships, follow the steps below. Note that the research proposal is used to test your technical writing and literature review skills, and the topic may still be adjusted in the application process and refined during your PhD study. Please read the application requirements carefully for the scholarship you are applying for, as these may vary.

1. Read the general instructions for PhD applications.
2. Study research profiles of all eligible supervisors (including all PLaS Academics) to identify one or several supervisors you want to work with.
3. Approach potential supervisors to discuss your research topics to identity the principal supervisor(s) you want to work with and to get advice on how to prepare a research proposal (required as part of your application material, see below).
4. Prepare your application material, which should include
   • a properly formatted CV
   • the certificate(s) and transcript(s) of all university degree programme(s) studied
   • a research proposal on a selected topic including a mini literature review, a proposed methodology, a work plan and a bibliography
   • proof of your English qualifications (if not obvious from other application material)
   • proof of your home student status (if you consider yourself eligible as a home student)
   • at least two reference letters (which can be provided after you submit your formal application)
   • (if you are an overseas applicant please check the specific eligibility criteria on the relevant scholarship)
5. After you have all your application material ready, visit the following web page to submit your application: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply

Contact Us

If you have questions on the School level PhD admissions procedure, please contact Dr Laura Bocchi.

Reader in Computing

Application deadline 30 April 2021

The School of Computing is seeking to appoint a Reader, based in the Programming Languages and Systems (PLAS) research group at our Canterbury campus.

The appointee will help us to build on our success in the last REF exercise when we were ranked in the top quartile of 89 Computing departments across the country, coming 12th by Research Intensity. The School of Computing has an international reputation for its research in programming languages, regularly publishing in the top venues in the field. During the 2021 REF period, csrankings.org places Kent second in the country for Programming Languages publications.

We invite applications from candidates with research interests that can complement or enhance the School’s existing research strengths.

Full job advert here:
https://jobs.kent.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=CEMS-046-21

Computing Support Tutors

Application deadline 31 March 2021

The School of Computing is seeking to appoint a number of Computing Support Tutors who can help us to deliver an excellent standard of education across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in computer science.

Your primary responsibility will be the delivery of small group classes, such as seminars, drop-in sessions and PC classes, including assisting with the development of teaching materials and methods. You will also have responsibility for marking assessments.

Full job advert here: https://jobs.kent.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=CEMS-041-21

Research Associate: “CaMELot: Catching and Mitigating Event-Loop Concurrency Issues”

Application deadline 17 March 2021

The School of Computing wishes to appoint a qualified and highly motivated researcher to work as a Research Associate. You will work on a project titled “CaMELot: Catching and Mitigating Event-Loop Concurrency Issues”, which is funded by an EPSRC UK grant and is led by Dr Stefan Marr.

Your role will be to develop lightweight techniques for detecting a wide range of concurrency issues as run time. One element of this work is to devise optimization strategies for a just-in-time compiled dynamic language. Another element is the development of tools that enable software developers to fix the bugs in their software. To ensure that this research solves relevant problems, we plan to engage with user groups and industrial partners to build a corpus of bugs to better understand the common issue and to enable an evaluation of this research.

You are encouraged to contact Stefan, the principal investigator by email (s.marr@kent.ac.uk) if you have any further questions about this post, or if you would like a copy of the full project description.

Full details here: https://jobs.kent.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=CEMS-005-20-R