Job Reference
227_25_CS_CAOS_R1
Position
PhD on System Software Optimization for Critical Embedded Systems (R1)
Fecha de cierre
Sábado, 22 Marzo, 2025
Reference: 227_25_CS_CAOS_R1
Job title: PhD on System Software Optimization for Critical Embedded Systems (R1)
About BSC
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.
Look at the BSC experience:
BSC-CNS YouTube Channel
Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!
We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.
If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Look at the BSC experience:
BSC-CNS YouTube Channel
Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!
We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.
If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Context And Mission
The Computer Architecture and Operating System group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center carries out research on system-level software for critical embedded systems in charge of controlling critical application software in domains like automotive, avionics, and space. Our work is mainly carried out in the context of bilateral projects with several companies in the embedded world as well as several European-funded projects. For a complete list of publications of the group in the last years, please visit: www.bsc.es/caos
The deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions to deliver advanced software functionalities is consolidating as a key competitive factor in several industrial domains. In the automotive industry, for instance, autonomous driving (AD) software is meant to support autonomous operation and decision-making for all aspects in a vehicle, by processing a massive amount of data coming from multiple sensors like cameras and LiDARs. The entailed computational requirements can only be matched by complex MPSoCs (Multi-Processor System on Chip) with generic and ad-hoc hardware accelerators. Moreover, the increasing complexity of AI-based software functionalities encourages the use of highly modular middleware frameworks such as ROS2, CyberRT, or Autoware, running on top of general-purpose and/or real-time operating systems. Performance, resilience to hardware faults, and (timing) analyzability are fundamental (and sometimes conflicting) requirements for this type of system, where extensive guarantees must be provided on the capability to deliver correct results in a timely manner, as dictated by domain-specific Functional Safety (FuSa) standards.
We are seeking for highly-motivated, brilliant candidates to enroll in a PhD position in the area of performance optimization, fault-tolerance, and analysability of system software for AI-driven critical systems. System software, including (Real-time)OS and hypervisors, low-level run-time and AI libraries, play a key role in ensuring that those hardware and software functionalities that can concur in achieving those (possibly conflicting) requirements are properly and consistently configured, and not jeopardized by the system software at operation. The candidate is expected to master at the end of the PhD existing approaches and elaborate novel solutions to extend and improve software level support to achieve high performance, analysability, and FuSa compliance in general. The PhD will particularly focus on the requirements stemming from complex, functionally rich AI-based applications, characterized by tight interaction and strong dependences between hardware layer, system software, AI libraries, and (user-level) functions. The candiate at the end of the PhD is meant to understand and model those interactions aiming to maximize performance, timing analyzability, and FuSA aspects, including resilience to hardware faults. Hence, the candidate is expected to combine software analysis, applied investigation, and hands-on implementation of system software to analyze, model, and optimize the complex interaction between hardware, low-level software, AI modules, and other elements in the software stack.
The deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions to deliver advanced software functionalities is consolidating as a key competitive factor in several industrial domains. In the automotive industry, for instance, autonomous driving (AD) software is meant to support autonomous operation and decision-making for all aspects in a vehicle, by processing a massive amount of data coming from multiple sensors like cameras and LiDARs. The entailed computational requirements can only be matched by complex MPSoCs (Multi-Processor System on Chip) with generic and ad-hoc hardware accelerators. Moreover, the increasing complexity of AI-based software functionalities encourages the use of highly modular middleware frameworks such as ROS2, CyberRT, or Autoware, running on top of general-purpose and/or real-time operating systems. Performance, resilience to hardware faults, and (timing) analyzability are fundamental (and sometimes conflicting) requirements for this type of system, where extensive guarantees must be provided on the capability to deliver correct results in a timely manner, as dictated by domain-specific Functional Safety (FuSa) standards.
We are seeking for highly-motivated, brilliant candidates to enroll in a PhD position in the area of performance optimization, fault-tolerance, and analysability of system software for AI-driven critical systems. System software, including (Real-time)OS and hypervisors, low-level run-time and AI libraries, play a key role in ensuring that those hardware and software functionalities that can concur in achieving those (possibly conflicting) requirements are properly and consistently configured, and not jeopardized by the system software at operation. The candidate is expected to master at the end of the PhD existing approaches and elaborate novel solutions to extend and improve software level support to achieve high performance, analysability, and FuSa compliance in general. The PhD will particularly focus on the requirements stemming from complex, functionally rich AI-based applications, characterized by tight interaction and strong dependences between hardware layer, system software, AI libraries, and (user-level) functions. The candiate at the end of the PhD is meant to understand and model those interactions aiming to maximize performance, timing analyzability, and FuSA aspects, including resilience to hardware faults. Hence, the candidate is expected to combine software analysis, applied investigation, and hands-on implementation of system software to analyze, model, and optimize the complex interaction between hardware, low-level software, AI modules, and other elements in the software stack.
Key Duties
- Familiarization with existing system software solutions and research proposals in critical embedded systems to improve time analyzability, resilience to hardware faults, and performance
- Design or tailor application software/system software design to support AI-based autonomous driving functionalities achieving the required levels of performance, timing analyzability, and resilience to hardware faults
- Familiarization with representative AI-based autonomous driving setup and simulation
- Identify and explore opportunities for optimization of application and system software configuration, platform configurations and AI-models to meet performance requirements
Requirements
-
Education
- Master’s Degree on Computer Science or Electrical and Computer Engineering meeting the requirements for enrolling a PhD program in Spain
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Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Practical experience in generic programming (C, C++, etc.)
- Familiarity with scripting languages (e.g. Python)
- Familiarity with Operating System and/or firmware development (e.g., firmware and drivers)
-
Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Experience on analysis and hands on testing with embedded targets is a plus
- Minimal experience with AI models and hardware architecture is appreciated
-
Competences
- Problem-solving, proactive, collaborative, and result-oriented work attitude
- Ability to deliver under pressure and against strict deadlines
- Good communication skills including proficiency in English (both written and spoken)
Conditions
- The position will be located at BSC within the Computer Sciences Department
- We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
- Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
- Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
- Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
- Starting date: 01/05/2025
Applications procedure and process
All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:
The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:
- A full CV in English including contact details
- A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.
Development of the recruitment process
The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:
- Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
- Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.
The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.
In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.
The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.
At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.
For more information, please follow this link.
Deadline
The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.
OTM-R principles for selection processes
BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link