PhD student positions in wireless sensor networks and the Internet of Things at
University of Trento, Italy
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Applications are invited from those interested in pursuing a PhD on wireless
sensor networks (WSNs) and the Internet of Things (IoT) at the University of
Trento, Italy, in the D3S group. D3S is a cross-institution research group
focusing on dynamic, decentralized, distributed systems.
Wireless sensor networks are considered one of the key technologies enabling
the Internet of Things vision. In this context, the D3S group has been
particularly successful in bringing research results into real-world,
long-term, operational deployments. Examples include the structural health
monitoring of a medieval tower, the closed-loop control of lighting in a road
tunnel, and geo-referenced proximity monitoring of wildlife. The scientific
results of these projects received numerous awards, e.g., at IPSN (2009, 2011,
2015) and PerCom (2012).
Although we emphasize real-world applications as a motivation and a concrete
opportunity for the validation of our research, the latter is not limited to
the immediate needs of deployments. We perform a mix of curiosity-driven and
application-driven research. The research challenges tackled by D3S span a
broad set of topics, ranging from low-layer issues concerned with the
characterization and design of communication protocols to higher-layer issues
related with programming platforms and software architectures.
New PhD students are invited to participate in ongoing projects to gain
experience and insight into real systems, and to identify novel, challenging
problems whose solutions break new grounds. Examples of potential research
topics, broadly defined, include:
* communication protocols and abstractions for new wireless technologies that
are disrupting the current landscape of WSNs and IoT, e.g., by enabling
long-range communication (LoRa), low-power ranging (UWB), or commonplace
proximity detection (BLE);
* programming models, middleware, and protocols to efficiently disseminate,
store, and retrieve information in a context-aware fashion in a smart city
IoT scenario;
* exploiting synchronous wireless transmissions for efficient and predictable
actuation in large-scale control infrastructures.
The language of the research group is English.
The D3S group, and Trento at large, provide a fertile environment for
high-quality research: two of our PhD students received the Best Ph.D. Thesis
Award at the European Conference on Wireless Sensor Networks (EWSN) in 2009
and 2012.
The Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science (DISI) is a
leading and fast-growing research institution, characterized by a young and
international faculty and by a large, international student population.
Indicators for scientific production place the department among the top in
Europe. The department and the PhD school closely collaborate with – and
operate in – a rapidly growing research and innovation environment
characterized by top class research centers and an increasing number of
industrial research labs.
Trento is a vibrant city with a beautifully preserved historic center,
consistently ranked among the best cities for quality of life in Italy. It
offers a variety of cultural and sports opportunities all year around, as well
as excellent food and wine.
Applications must be filed online before May 26, 2016 (at 16:00, Italy time)
at the link below.
IMPORTANT:
In the application, under “Research areas of Interest” you must select BOTH
“area B (Computer Science)” AND “area D (Telecommunications)” as your
preferred ones.
**Failure to do so may result in ineligibility for these positions**
It does not matter which one you chose as first and second choice, and you can
use the same statement of purpose for both. The keyword of reference for area
B is “Systems and Networks”, while for area D is “Distributed Sensing”.
It is strongly advised to contact Prof. Gian Pietro Picco
(gianpietro.picco@unitn.it) well before submitting the application, by
providing a curriculum vitae including three references.
Links:
Call for application: http://ict.unitn.it/
Online PhD Application: http://www.unitn.it/en/apply/
Prof. Gian Pietro Picco: http://disi.unitn.it/~picco
D3S Group and Projects: http://d3s.disi.unitn.it
PhD School: http://ict.unitn.it/
DISI: http://disi.unitn.it