Context

IRIF (CNRS and Université Paris Cité), Paris, France, is seeking excellent candidates for postdoctoral positions in all areas of the Foundations of Computer Science. Every year, about 5-10 new postdocs join IRIF.

IRIF (Institute for Research in Foundations of Computer Science) is a joint laboratory of the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research) and Université Paris Cité. Currently, it hosts about 90 permanent faculty members, 40 non-permanent full-time researchers, and 50 Ph.D. students.

The research conducted at IRIF is focused on the study and understanding of the foundations of all areas of computer science. Such research work relies on mathematical concepts developed and studied within it, but also contributes directly to mathematics. Typical areas include, but are not limited to: algorithms, their design and analysis, automata theory and applications, combinatorics, complex systems, complexity, computational formalisms, distributed computation, foundations of programming languages, interactive proof assistants, graph theory and its algorithms, logic, networks, quantum computing, software development, systems modeling and verification. For further information about IRIF please see our presentation of IRIF.


How to Apply

The starting date of the positions is usually in September-October, but this may sometimes vary. The postdoc positions at IRIF are financed either by IRIF research grants, or by joint applications of IRIF members and the candidate to outside funding agencies with which IRIF is affiliated. These are, for example,

  • The FSMP Postdoctoral programme grants around 10 post-doctoral positions annually in mathematics and in theoretical computer science, with a deadline of November 30, 2023.
  • The MathInGreaterParis fellowship programme, cofunded by Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, grants around 12-13 post-doctoral positions annually in mathematics and in theoretical computer science, with a deadline of November 30, 2023.

An application through the Marie Curie Individual Fellowships program is also possible for individual fellowships (Please contact us about six months before the intended application date).

Candidates must hold a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science or a related area before the starting date of the position. Knowledge of French is not required, and applications can be sent either in French or in English.

Applications to outside funding agencies such as those listed above should be made directly to the relevant program. However, it is strongly recommended to contact by November 15th one or more of the permanent members of IRIF, those closest to the potential candidate's area, in order to coordinate the application.

Applications to the openings listed below should include a CV with list of publications, a summary of research and names and emails of at least three references. They should be sent by December 15th, 2023 to the relevant email listed below for each opening (late applications may be considered if positions are not filled). It is recommended, prior to applying, to contact one or more of the permanent members of IRIF, those closest to the potential candidate's area, in order to get more information.

Note that one may apply to more than one postdoc position at IRIF. Potential candidates who consider applying for a postdoctoral position at IRIF, but are not sure to which position(s) to apply, are invited to get advice on this issue by sending, by December 1st, 2023, a draft of their application to postdoc-advice@irif.fr.


Openings

  • Please note that members of IRIF may publish additional calls for postdoc openings which are not part of this joint call.
  • In addition to the openings listed below and the outside funding agencies listed above, one may contact the head(s) of the team(s) of IRIF closest to the potential candidate's area, in order to inquire about possible additional options, adding one's CV to the email.
  • To add an opening, please contact direction@irif.fr.

Algorithms and Complexity

Several openings are available in the Algorithms and Complexity group. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: algorithms, streaming algorithms, approximation algorithms, online algorithms, distributed algorithms, communication complexity, cryptography, computational game theory, quantum computing, computational applications of logic, randomness in computing.
Apply at: algocomp-apply@irif.fr. Contact: adi.rosen@irif.fr.

Cyberphysical systems, verification, artificial intelligence

This post-doc is part of CyPhAI project (France-Japan). The project is dedicated to modeling, identification, design, and verification of cyber-physical systems with artificial intelligence components. It involves researchers from Grenoble, Paris, Toulouse, Kyoto and Osaka.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are computer-based systems where the computer software and the physical world (of both the system and its environment) are tightly. CPS are omnipresent in everyday's life and their applications continue to proliferate ­­– in robotics, industry, home appliances etc. Elegant and powerful mathematical models, such as hybrid and timed automata are used to represent CPS, design them and verify their properties. In recent years, more and more CPS are equipped with components from the domain of artificial intelligence – AI (computer vision systems with neural networks, and even controllers based on reinforcement learning), it suffices to mention self-driving cars and other autonomous systems.

The post-doc will address a couple of aspects of modeling, learning and verification of such CPS-AI systems, among the following:

  • Formalizing and solving problems of quantitative verification of CPS based on the notion of distance in off-line (model-checking) and on-line (monitoring) setting.
  • Learning/identifying models of CPS from observational data. Combining in a pragmatic way ideas from automata theory with model identification from control science, and with machine learning with neural networks. Using active and passive, black-box and white-box settings. Special attention will be brought to the complexity of learning approximate models
  • Defining mathematical models of CPS-AI, based on hybrid, timed and/or probabilistic automata. Validating their relevance by modeling real-life systems. The challenge is to have several levels, from very precise models (suitable for simulation) to more abstract (e.g., for verification) to very abstract ones (for human-understandable explanation)
  • The perfect candidate should have research experience in at least two areas among {cyberphysical or timed systems, verification, AI or automata-based learning}. Excellent and open-minded candidates in the verification area are also invited to apply.

Duration: 12 months. Information and applications: Eugene.Asarin@irif.fr

Programming Languages and Systems

Applications for postdoc positions are welcome in the ACS group. Topics of interest include programming languages, ranging from their meta-theory to their implementation, as well as networked and concurrent systems, ranging from their formal models to their implementation.

In particular, the ANR project ASESYC is looking for a postdoc to work on the Usuba programming language and compiler. This project tackles both the development of machine-checked semantics to code generation for ARM processors and GPU cards.

Application & Contact: dagand@irif.fr.

Quantum computing

The Algorithms & Complexity group at IRIF (CNRS, Université Paris-Cité) in Paris (France) invites applications for multiple fully funded postdoc positions (1-3yrs) to work on the theory of quantum computing. Candidates with expertise in quantum computing or theoretical computer science more broadly are encouraged to apply.
The group has expertise in quantum algorithms and quantum complexity theory, and includes permanent members such as Simon Apers, Geoffroy Couteau, Pierre Fraigniaud, Iordanis Kerenidis, Sophie Laplante, Frédéric Magniez, Claire Mathieu, Miklos Santha and Adrian Vladu.
Open call. Apply at: algocomp-apply@irif.fr. Contact simon.apers@irif.fr.

Replaceability of software components

Testing preorders help ensuring that a software component can be replaced with another one, without breaking any of the functionalities offered to users.

Giovanni Bernardi supervises the development in Coq of a theory for these preorders. While a publication is under preparation, the code can be found here, and a series of simple open problems can be found here.
Much work remains to be done, and deeper questions, connected also with session types, lurk under the hood. For that we would like to receive post-doc applications.

Contact: gio@irif.fr

Types for the Elixir Programming Language

Elixir is a dynamic functional programming language that runs on the Erlang Virtual Machine. The language has been gaining adoption over the last years in areas such as web applications, embedded systems, data processing, distributed systems, and more. It is used by companies such as PagerDuty, Discord, and Pinterest.
The Research Institute on the Foundations of Computer Science (IRIF) in Paris has started a collaboration with Dashbit and José Valim, the author of Elixir, to define and implement a type system for the language. The system we are currently implementing in the language compiler is a polymorphic type system featuring union and intersection types, occurrence typing, and gradual typing. There are however several aspects that are not taken into account, yet, such as the typing of modules, of processes, and behavioral types. To develop them we are going to apply for funding, according to the candidates. An example of research program on these topics can be found at Typing Modules for Elixir

Application & Contact: Giuseppe.Castagna@irif.fr