Senior Research Associate: SCULI: Security in Ultra-Large Scale Systems (Two Posts)

Lancaster University is part of a 5-year £6.8 million EPSRC Programme Grant on “Securing Convergent Ultra-large Scale Infrastructures (SCULI)” conducted jointly with Bristol and Oxford Universities, international collaborators CMU/Duke, RISE-Sweden, and industry partners BT, HP, Airbus, BAE and Vodaphone.

In upcoming ultra large-scale interconnected distributed/networked systems, the need is for a paradigm shift away from the idealized concepts of providing security-by-design, that assumes trusted components, to the reality of securing an operational system with existing compromised elements and dynamic configurations. 

We seek to appoint 2 full-time post-doctoral research associates (starting Summer 2025) as part of a team exploring fundamental new concepts to a) provide for, and b) to assess security in ultra-large scale distributed and networked systems. We target both conceptual research as well as applied tools/techniques for the provisioning and assessment of run-time security assurance. 

As a Programme Grant there is considerable flexibility in the research agenda to allow you to have significant leeway in scoping the research activities. This is a great opportunity for an individual to build a research career.

Key duties of this post include:

•    Conducting original research to provision security in future ultra-large scale systems.

•    Developing high quality and impactful publications. 

•    Developing collaborations with academic, industry partners and EPSRC projects.

You will have a PhD in Computer Science or equivalent with experience in cyber security, distributed systems and assurance techniques. 

The School of Computing and Communications at Lancaster University offers a highly inclusive and stimulating environment for career development, and you will be exposed to a range of further opportunities over the course of this post. We are committed to family-friendly and flexible working policies, as well as the Athena SWAN Charter, which recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address gender equality in higher education and research.

You will join us on an indefinite contract; however, the role remains contingent on external funding, which for these roles initially ends after 24 months (with the possibility to extend further)

You will be working under the direct supervision of Prof. Neeraj Suri (neeraj.suri@lancaster.ac.uk)  and Dr. Matthew Bradbury (m.s.bradbury@lancaster.ac.uk). Enquiries are welcome. 

Closing Date: 15 Apr 2025

Department: Research

Salary: £39,355 to £45,413 (Full time, indefinite with end date)