Doctoral student in Formal verification of spatial multi-agent systems

Om jobbet

The University of Gothenburg tackles society's challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

Doctoral positionin Formal verification of spatial multi-agent systems

The department of Computer Science and Engineering is strongly international, with approximately 300 employees from over 30 countries. The department is a fully integrated department with the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology as principals. The department of Computer Science and Engineering is looking for a doctoral student. The position is placed in the Division for Computing Science at the department, with the University of Gothenburg as the employer.

This position belongs to the Formal Methods unit within the Computing Science division. The unit and the broader division are lively environments with fun interactions between research areas such as Formal Verification, Functional Programming, Type Theory, Information Security and more.

General information about being a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg can be found on the university's doctoral student pages.

https://www.gu.se/en/doctoral-studies

Duties

Doctoral studies comprises four years of full-time study, and leads to a doctoral degree.

As part of your employment as a doctoral student, you may have departmental duties corresponding to up to 20 % of full-time employment, distributed throughout your study period, and result in a corresponding extension of the studies. Departmental duties usually consist of teaching at first- and second-cycle levels, but may also include research and administration.

This position is funded by a prestigious grant from the Swedish Research Council, on automatic synthesis of programs for spatial Multi-Agent Systems. Early results appeared in venues such as AAMAS, ACC, JAAMAS etc.

Our research involves developing theories and techniques for formal verification of autonomous systems, e.g., controller synthesis, planning, model checking, etc. Moreover, we are open to techniques that leverage the use of formal verification in machine learning.

Currently, we are actively developing specialized tools for reconfigurable concurrent systems (the ReCiPe formalism, the R-CHECK Model-Checker, and the SynTM synthesis engine). We also support an end-to-end verified code generation to ROS2- Robot Operating System.

Our lab is equipped with robots that we use to deploy and validate our results. Concrete tasks may involve (but not limited to) further developing existing theories and tools, developing case studies that showcase the practical impact of existing theories. However, there may be opportunities to broaden the reach of activities based on mutual interests.

Eligibility

Doctoral education requires general eligibility and, where appropriate, specific eligibility as set out in the general syllabus for the subject.

The general eligibility requirements for doctoral studies are:

1. having completed a degree at second-cycle level, or
2. the fulfilment of course requirements totalling at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits must be at second-cycle level, or
3. the acquisition of equivalent knowledge in some other way, either in Sweden or abroad.

Knowledge in Formal Verification, Concurrency, Supervisory Control, Spatial logics is advantageous.

Assessment criteria

The selection of applicants who meet the basic and specific eligibility requirements will be based on the ability to assimilate the doctoral studies.

Fluency in English (both verbal and in writing) is mandatory. Swedish is not a requirement, but the department offers Swedish courses.

Competitive candidates are expected to have a background, and experience of working with one (or more) of the following:

• Formal methods (e.g., concurrency, automata, or temporal/spatial logics, etc) or discrete control (e.g., planning, supervisory control, or controller synthesis, etc.)
• Verification tools such as Model Checkers, Synthesis Engines, etc.
• Prior experience in combining reinforcement learning with reactive synthesis and/or control is a plus.

However, we also welcome candidates working on nearby areas who would be interested in getting into the field.

The applicant should be able to work both independently and as part of a team. The abilities to cooperate and to take own initiatives are important qualities together with accuracy and interest in research.

When evaluating the applicants, particular emphasis will be put on research skills in the relevant research field.

Admission and employment

Once you have been admitted to doctoral studies, you will be employed as a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg.

The provisions for employment as a doctoral student can be found in ordinance SFS 1993:100.

Initial employment as a doctoral student may apply for a maximum of one year, and may be renewed by a maximum of two years at a time.

A doctoral student may be employed as a doctoral student for a maximum of eight years, but the total period of employment may not be longer than the equivalent of full-time education at doctoral level for four years.

The University applies a local agreement on salaries for doctoral students.

Please note, doctoral studies at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering require physical presence to conduct the studies. If the admitted applicant needs a residence permit for higher education to pursue studies in Sweden, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering has the right to revoke the admission decision if the applicant cannot present a valid residence permit no later than at the start of the studies.

Type of employment: Fixed-term employment, HF 5 kap 7§
Extent: 100% full-time
Location: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, division of Computing Science
First day of employment: 2026-03-01 or according to agreement

Contact information

Information regarding the project, please contact Yehia Abd Alrahman yehiaa@chalmers.se
Information regarding the position, please contact Carl-Johan Seger secarl@chalmers.se
Regarding the appointment procedure, please contact Sanna Staf sanna.staf@cse.gu.se

Unions

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here:
https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/hjalp-for-sokande

Application

You can apply to be admitted to doctoral education via the University of Gothenburg's recruitment portal.

It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per this notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.

The application is to be written in English.

Applications must be received by:2026-01-29

Information for International Applicants

Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit:

https://www.gu.se/en/about-the-university/welcome-services
https://www.movetogothenburg.com/

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden's regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.