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PhD Studies

PhD Studies

World-class Doctoral Education & Research

CISTER Research Centre in Real-Time and Embedded Computing Systems offers PhD opportunities in the scope of its research activities, in the areas of Embedded and Real-Time Systems. PhD students with CISTER are either enrolled in the Doctoral Programs of the Engineering School of the University of Porto (FEUP - Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto) or in the Dual-degree PhD Programs of the Portugal-CMU initiative, where CISTER is involved.

 

Open Calls (apply till 17th September)
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Doctoral Programs

The accepted candidates will be hosted by CISTER and will enrol in one of the PhD programs offered by its academic partnerships. These are:

PDEEC program - The PhD Program offered by the University of Porto on Electronic and Computer Engineering, within a specialized stream in Embedded and Real-Time Systems (ERTS) in Doctoral Programs of the School of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP - Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto), which will also award the PhD upon successful completion of the studies. This stream is a collaboration between the Electrical and Computer Engineering and Informatics Engineering departments at FEUP on one hand and the CISTER research centre on the other. This program involves classes during the first year of studies. The stream courses are:

  • Real-Time Embedded Systems (mandatory)
  • Parallel and Distributed Embedded Systems (mandatory)
  • Ubiquitous Embedded Systems (optional)
  • Reliable and concurrent software (optional)
  • Hardware/Software System Development (optional)

Please refer to  http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~pdeec/ for more details on the PDEEC Doctoral program.

PRODEI program - The PhD Program offered by the School of Engineering of the University of Porto on Computer Science and Software Engineering. For more details on this Doctoral program, please refer to https://web.fe.up.pt/~dei/prodei/en/home/.

PhD MAP-i PhD Program - The PhD Program in Computer Science offered by the Universities of Minho, Aveiro and Porto. For more details on this Doctoral program, please refer to http://mapi.map.edu.pt/ .
 
Highly performing students may be given the opportunity to engage in the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program. In this program, students can obtain a double degree from the Carnegie Mellon University in the USA and a University in Portugal (University of Porto among others). Participation in the program implies time spent at both Universities. See the Carnegie Mellon Portugal program website for requirements and details: http://www.cmuportugal.org/tiercontent.aspx?id=546. 

Topics and Supervision

The PhD studies include topics from CISTER's research areas:

  • Sensor Networks
  • Cyber-Physical Systems
  • Multicore Systems
  • Mixed-Criticality and Multimode Real-Time Systems
  • Real-Time Embedded Software

Research work in these areas span from quality-of-service in WSNs, link quality estimation, scalable data processing to scheduling algorithms, analysis methods, single and multiprocessor operating systems work, component-based real-time systems, hierarchical scheduling, power management, software concurrency in languages, formal verification of concurrent real-time embedded software, and real-time middleware. Individual topics can be discussed with potential supervisors after an initial assessment of the candidates.

Research studies in CISTER are supervised by internationally renowned researchers:

  • Eduardo Tovar (CISTER Director; ACM SIGBED Vice-Chair; General Chair of ICCPS 2017, EWSN 2015, and RTAS 2014; Program Co-Chair of ICCPS 2016, RTCSA 2016, ARCS 2014, RTAS 2013)
  • Anis Koubâa (Program Co-Chair of RSC 2014 and 2015; PC member of RTSS 2014, WFCS 2017; Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal on Cyber-Physical Systems and of the International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems)
  • Konstantinos Bletsas (TPC member of ETFA 2017, ETFA 2015, ECRTS 2014 and 2015)

Researching with CISTER is an opportunity to connect in national and international networks of researchers and companies, in an excellent research environment with researchers of different nationalities.

Grants

Research grants can be provided for up to four years, with a salary around 14.500,00€ (after taxes) per year, and with tuition costs covered by CISTER. Depending on CV, extra responsibilities and sponsor availability, specific scholarships can be in place.

Requirements

CISTER is looking for highly motivated candidates with a Master degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Computer Science (CS), Software Engineering (SE), Applied Mathematics (AM) or related areas, with an excellent academic record. Candidates with a solid industrial CV that wish to pursue a PhD degree, are also encouraged to apply. Excellent communication skills in English is considered essential and applicants are expected to have command of both spoken and written English.

Application procedure (Open Call)

To apply, please send your CV, a copy of your transcripts with all your course grades, and a research statement, to the e-mail address jobs@cister-labs.pt, with subject "CISTER-PDS". Please indicate at the end of your CV at least two independent referees to be requested by our services for reference letters. If you have further questions or doubts regarding the application, please contact us via the same email address. 

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