17 Feb
2018
17 Feb
'18
4:24 p.m.
The prestigious 4-year Belgian Excellence of Science research project SECO-ASSIST
(https://secoassist.github.io) has 4 vacant positions for post-doctoral researchers with
relevant expertise for the project. SECO-ASSIST (Automated Assistance for Developing
Software in Ecosystems of the Future) is a joint project between software engineering labs
in 4 universities in Belgium (UMONS, UAntwerpen, UNamur and VUB), financed by the FWO and
FNRS funding agencies. Belgium is centrally located in Europe, and the labs are
well-connected to other research teams worldwide. A postdoc period in our groups is an
ideal stepping stone for an independent research career in academia or industry. Our teams
host researchers of various nationalities, hence the working language will be English.
SECO-ASSIST will focus on fundamental research on recommendation techniques for software
ecosystems, lead by Tom Mens (UMONS) and partnered by Serge Demeyer (UAntwerpen), Anthony
Cleve (UNamur) and Coen De Roover (VUB, Brussels). Each team has one post-doc and one
pre-doc position available. This announcement invites interested applicants with
exceptional research skills to join the respective teams, and play a key role in one of
the following topics:
• Enhance team interaction (UMONS): Explore new recommendation techniques to attract
newcomers and retain contributors in software ecosystems, identifying “toxic” team
members, predict future abandonment, and find adequate replacements.
• Strengthen software tests (UAntwerpen). Use recommendation techniques to support
test-related activities in software ecosystems, and encourage developers to focus tests on
those parts of the ecosystem with the highest risk.
• Improve database manipulation (UNamur): Improper use of database technologies is a
considerable bottleneck in data-intensive software systems. Recommendation techniques
should improve database manipulation by analysing good and bad database usage in
comparable systems within the same ecosystem.
• Optimise library usage (VUB): Embrace the software ecosystem itself as a source of
already-proven solutions for recommendation techniques that support both providers and
consumers of software libraries in decisions regarding library selection, library
maintenance, and library migration.
Interested applicants should reach out to the respective teams *before officially
applying*. To do so, please contact either Tom Mens (tom.mens(a)umons.ac.be), Serge Demeyer
(serge.demeyer(a)uantwerpen.be), Anthony Cleve (anthony.cleve(a)unamur.be) or Coen De Roover
(coen.de.roover(a)vub.be).
Official applications should be submitted by April, 1st 2018 to info-seco(a)soft.vub.ac.be
and should include:
• Earliest available starting date. The expected starting date is 1 September 2018 but is
negotiable.
• Curriculum vitae with a list of publications and previous positions held. We prefer
terse CVs that focus on quality rather than quantity.
• A one-page research vision in one of the above research domains. We encourage
applicants to to seek for a good match and to reach out to us before applying.
• A digital copy of the Ph.D. dissertation.
• A digital copy of one to three (co-)authored publications demonstrating some of the
expected expertise.
• Contact details (including e-mail address and phone number) of two academic referees
that we may contact.