PhD Candidate in Reference Systems for a Cyber-Physical Range

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At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

About the job

Cyber Physical Systems are integral to Critical Infrastructures; however, their architectural and operational features are inadequately represented in current cyber ranges. These ranges are often limited in scope or intentionally focused on specific sections of target systems. The intended utilization of the physical reference environments examined, modeled, and integrated in this study will serve two purposes. These include functioning as educational and outreach demonstrators, as well as serving as experimental platforms for research and training endeavors. The research will be carried out within the context of SFI NORCICS, the research-based innovation Norwegian Center for Cybersecurity in Critical Sectors. These sectors include electricity production and distribution, oil & gas production and distribution, manufacturing, healthcare, industrial production, smart districts. NORCICS follows a holistic, comprehensive and systemic approach addressing people, processes and technology to protect critical sectors throughout the cybersecurity core functions (identify, protect, detect, respond, recover). NORCICS has partners from academia, research, the public sector and the industr

Duties of the position

• The PhD candidate will work on challenging research problems related to developing a configurable and expandable service oriented core architecture for a cyber-physical range that uses real, simulated and emulated components of critical infrastructures and cyber physical systems, integrating both IT and OT components, along with the development of suitable educational and training material.
• The work will also include the development of realistic attack scenarios and the relevant simulation mechanisms with a focus on selected critical infrastructure sectors, as well as relevant education and training material for the use of the proposed system within those scenarios, with the targeted audience being critical infrastructure operators. 
• Undertaking the necessary courses (30 ECTS) as part of the PhD programme. 
• Submitting an application for admission and a research plan no later than 3 months after the employment. 
• Conducting high quality research and report progress on a regular basis and in agreement with the supervisors.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a professionally relevant background in Information security, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and/or Computer Science. 
• Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree program, where 120 credits are obtained at master's level. 
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education. 
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral program.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant 

Preferred selection criteria

• Experience with developing testing and simulation platforms for cyber physical systems. 
• Practical and theoretical experience with Service Oriented Architectures. 
• Background in information/cyber security. 
• Experience with risk and threat modeling. 
• Strong motivation for high quality research. 
• Programming and modeling skills in relevant tools (e.g. MATLAB, LabView). 
• Research background within at least one of the aforementioned fields. 
• Excellent communication skills. 
• Completeness of application. 
• Good written and oral English language skills

Personal characteristics

• Be scientifically curious and open to new research challenges. 
• Demonstrate independence and persistence in addressing technical problems. 
• Be flexible and reliable, with ability to work effectively independently and as part of a team. 
• Commitment and delivery with respect to deadlines Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
employee benefits

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 532 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years. 

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Information Security and Communication Technology within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. 

After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English. 

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above. 

The application must include:

•  CV and certificates. 
• Transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted. 
• A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master's degree must be presented before taking up the position. 
• Project proposal. 
• Name and contact information of three referees. 
• If you have publications or other relevant research work.

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates. 

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality. 

The city of Gjøvik has a population of 30 000 and is a town known for its rich music and cultural life. The beautiful nature surrounding the city is ideal for an active outdoor life! The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world.

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate Professor Vasileios Gkioulos, email Vasileios.gkioulos@ntnu.no.

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.