PhD in Computational Combinatorial Optimization with Julia

The University of Tartu, Estonia, solicits expressions of interest for a PhD position in computational combinatorial optimization with Julia.

Starting date: Oct 1, 2022

The PhD project involves

  • The design of novel (in particular, quantum-inspired) approaches and algorithms for concrete problems provided by industrial project partners;
  • Highly-parallel (multi-core, GPU, cluster) implementations of these algorithms in Julia;
  • Evaluation of the performance of the methods relative to quantum algorithms on near-term quantum computers;
  • Publishing the results in high-ranked journals and conferences in optimization and/or quantum computing.

Remuneration and benefits

  • Monthly after-tax remuneration, depending on qualifications: Without teaching ≥€1500, or with teaching (courses on Julia) ≥€1800 (=150% of avg. Estonian net income);
  • Opportunity for the candidate to start his/her research career from within an international project of several European (NO, DE, EE) universities, research institutions, and industrial partners;
  • If desired, opportunity to extend her/his career options to include near-term quantum computing (hybrid quantum-classical algorithms);
  • Being part of a diverse, international, multi-cultural community at the Institute of Computer Science of UTartu, including loads of PhD students from all over the world.

The position requires from the candidate

  1. Strong background in Julia;
  2. Strong background in mathematical optimization (combinatorial/discrete or continuous) as well as basic mathematics (linear algebra / matrix theory);
  3. Master’s degree in math/science/engineering;
  4. Ability to express him-/herself effortlessly in English.

Background in quantum computing is not required. (If it is not present, the candidate is expected to take UTartu’s courses on the subject matter as part of his/her PhD training; the opportunity is given to learn beyond that and to contribute to near-term quantum computing, if desired.)

The ideal candidate will have

  1. Made significant contributions to several source coding projects in Julia;
  2. Used packages in the JuMP-ecosystem;
  3. Experience in writing highly performant code in Julia;
  4. Familiarity with GPU programming (any programming language).

Contact

The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found; starting date is Oct 1, 2022.

Direct your expression of interest (with CV) or informal inquiries to:

Dirk Oliver Theis
Assoc. Prof. Theoretical Computer Science
University of Tartu, Estonia
dotheis at ut dot ee

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