Ph.D. student position in Software Engineering (Trustworthy AI-assisted software development)

Om jobbet

Blekinge Institute of Technology is a place of curiosity and ingenuity with a campus in the middle of the Blekinge archipelago. Here we offer education from undergraduate to doctoral level and conduct world-class applied research. We change and make a difference. Do you want to become one of us?

The Department of Software Engineeringconsists of about 50 researchers and teachers from 20 countries. Our tradition in software engineering traces back to 1990 when we pioneered Sweden's first academic education in the area in cooperation with Ericsson. The department's research and education environment, SERL Sweden - the Software Engineering Research and Education Lab, has since then expanded into a world-leading research environment in empirical software engineering. The department is responsible for education programs in software engineering from Bachelor to Ph.D. levels.

Work description

You are expected to conduct research in the area of trustworthy AI-assisted software engineering, with a particular focus on traceability, verification, and reproducibility of AI-assisted software development processes.

Modern software development increasingly relies on AI-based tools (e.g., large language models and autonomous agents) to generate, modify, and evaluate code. While these tools significantly improve productivity, they also introduce new challenges related to:

• Lack of transparency in how code is generated or modified
• Difficulty in reproducing results across evolving tools, models, and environments
• Limited support for verifying the correctness and long-term impact of AI-assisted changes
• AI-based tools themself are agentic software which needs to be verified for security and reliability

This project aims to investigate how software engineering practices can be adapted to address these challenges and ensure that AI-assisted development remains explainable, testable, and reproducible over time. The research will involve:

• Developing structured and machine-checkable ways to relate requirements, code changes, tests, and AI-generated artifacts
• Designing evaluation approaches to assess the robustness and reproducibility of AI-assisted development workflows
• Conducting empirical studies on real-world software repositories and development processes
• Exploring techniques for improving the reliability and trustworthiness of AI-assisted software changes

The work combines methods from software engineering, data analysis, and AI, and includes both conceptual development and empirical validation.

We are looking for a candidate with a background in machine learning or data science and strong software engineering skills.

The Ph.D. position is a part of the strategic research area in IT and mobile communication ELLIIT, which is a partnership between Linköping University, Lund University, Halmstad University, and Blekinge Institute of Technology.

Rules and benefits for Ph.D. students in Sweden apply to this position. The Ph.D. student will develop an individual study plan in software engineering together with his/her supervisors. The position may include up to 20% of other services, e.g., teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Eligibility requirements

To be employed as a Ph.D. student, it is required that the applicant is or will be admitted to postgraduate education.

Eligible for admission to postgraduate education is a person who has completed a degree at an advanced level in a technical, mathematical, or scientific field or who has otherwise acquired knowledge to be able to benefit from postgraduate education in the subject.

Meriting competencies and experience

In addition to the requirements described in the work description and the eligibility requirements for the position, the following degrees, competencies, and experiences are considered a merit:

• Master or Master of Science degree in software engineering, data science, AI, or computer science.
• Documented experience in professional software development.
• Experience with programming and AI (e.g., Python, RAG, Agent System).
• Experience in GenAI, natural language processing, machine learning, and deep learning
• Experience with software development tools and workflows (e.g., Git, CI/CD).
• Proficiency in written and oral communication in English.

Place of employment: Karlskrona.

Employment level:100%.

Commencement: To be agreed.

Duration:Temporary employment for up to 4 years of full-time research. The position may contain up to 20% other services, e.g., teaching, whereby the employment period can be extended to a maximum of 5 years.

Application deadline:May 5, 2026.

Your application should contain the following:

• A statement of your background, knowledge, and experience in the area(s) relevant to the position.
• A CV.
• Certified degree certificates and transcripts that are officially issued by your university.
  See universityadmissions.se for official recommendations.
• Contact information for two references (reference letters are not required at this point).
• The earliest date you can start to work.
• An appendix with current publications (if applicable).
• A link to your thesis (latest/highest degree).

You apply online through our recruitment system by clicking on the "apply" button below.

If you have protected personal data, you should not register your application in our recruitment system. Instead, contact the HR Partner listed as the contact person in the advertisement for further instructions.

Instructions to applicants can be found at https://www.bth.se/english/about-bth/work-at-bth/vacancies. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the advertisement and instructions.

In case of different interpretations of the English and Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

Blekinge Institute of Technology, BTH, embraces diversity and welcomes applicants with varying backgrounds and experiences.
We work actively to take advantage of the qualities that diversity and an even gender distribution contribute to our operations.

We have chosen media for this recruitment and therefore we reject contact with advertisers or sellers of recruitment services.

Contact person

Nauman bin Ali

Professor

0455385541

nauman.ali@bth.se

Lina Göransson

HR-partner

+46455385029

lina.goransson@bth.se

Mikael Åsman

Union representative (SACO)

+46455385720

mikael.asman@bth.se

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