3 PhD Positions on "Wireless Communications for Drone Networks" with focus on Mesh Networking, UWB... (# of pos: 3)

3 PhDPositions on "Wireless Communications for Drone Networks" with focus on Mesh Networking, UWB Localization, and Jamming Detection (m/f/d)

The Institute of Technical Informatics at Graz University of Technology, Austria, is looking for motivated PhD students to fill three open positions in the area of "Wireless Communications for Drone Networks" starting from November 1, 2021.

The open positions are linked to an international project focusing on the latest advances in wireless networking, localization, collaborative awareness, and machine learning, towards the development of secure, resilient, and highly-performant wireless mesh networks of unmanned aerial vehicles. The research activities will encompass three main topics, as briefly discussed next.

Research topic 1: Dependable mesh networking

• Performance analysis of Wi-Fi and BLE mesh networking solutions;
• Design of dependable Wi-Fi / BLE mesh communication protocols;
• Improving mesh performance by exploiting the availability of multiple RF interfaces and different physical layers;
• Secure and low-latency communication over mesh-cloud environments;
• Design of trusted network fallback mechanisms despite network failures/disruptions.

Research topic 2: Autonomous detection of jamming attacks

• Leveraging RF spectrum analysis and machine learning tools to reveal malicious behavior and detect jamming attacks;
• Design of solutions enriching UAVs with the ability to autonomously detect and mitigate malicious attacks, network anomalies, and coexistence issues;
• Implementation of such solutions on software-defined radios and/or off-the-shelf embedded devices;
• Development of RF-cognitive wireless systems where devices can either autonomously detect anomalies and attacks, or cooperatively infer such conditions in an efficient and reliable way.

Research topic 3: UWB-based localization of UAVs

• Real-time localization and tracking of UAV swarms using UWB technology;
• Collaborative localization across several UAVs;
• Scalable, secure, and privacy-preserving UWB localization;
• Increasing the performance of UWB communication and localization solutions in real-world scenarios;
• Use of location information to optimize the communication performance of drone mesh networks.

We expect candidates to have interest in (and, ideally, prior experience with) some of the aforementioned topics.

Knowledge on wirelessly-networked embedded systems (such as Internet of Things, Cyber-Physical Systems, Wireless Sensor Networks) is a must, as well as hands-on experience with the programming of networked embedded systems.

Applicants for the PhD position must hold a Master degree in computer science, information/computer/software engineering, information science, telematics, electrical engineering, or related studies (note: a Bachelor degree is insufficient).

Good candidates have:

• Solid C programming skills and Linux experience (fluency in Python/Matlab is considered an asset);
• Very good proficiency in written and spoken English, which is the language of the research group and of external collaborators (knowledge of German is not required, and Graz University of Technology offers German language courses for all its employees);
• High motivation, self-initiative, as well as strong passion and commitment to research;
• Ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary and international team with both senior and junior people;
• Willingness to publish research results and to complete a dissertation at Graz University of Technology.

TU Graz aims to increase the number of female employees and therefore specifically invites qualified women to apply.

Applicants at TU Graz are not discriminated in personnel selection procedures on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation.

The PhD positions will reinforce and extend the research activities of the "Networked Embedded Systems" group at the Institute of Technical Informatics.

The group has a long-standing track record in the area of networked embedded systems, and is one of the leading European groups on low-power wireless networking and IoT research. The high quality of the research output is supported by several awards and by numerous conference papers at prestigious venues such as SenSys, IPSN, NDSS, ICDCS, INFOCOM, ICNP, EWSN, and RTSS. Group members have also chaired many of such leading conferences.

The group also leads the "Dependable Internet of Things in Adverse Environments" research excellence center, and is internationally renowned for its benchmarking infrastructure used to organize a dependability competition quantitatively comparing the performance of low-power wireless protocols (https://iti-testbed.tugraz.at ). This infrastructure will also play a crucial role in the international project targeted by this call.

The team's activities can be broadly characterized as "systems and application-driven research" at the intersection of wireless networking, embedded systems, and IoT applications. To get a better idea of the type of applied research performed in the group, please browse the publications listed at http://www.carloalbertoboano.com .

Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), with more than 16.000 students and 7 faculties, is a leading technical university which is ranked among the top 25 continental European universities according to the Shanghai subject ranking. Graz is one of a handful of European research hotspots on electronic-based and vehicular systems with numerous leading research centers and companies. Graz is the capital of the federal state of Styria, which is one of the European top research regions with about 5% of the gross regional product being invested in R&D. Graz is also the second largest city in Austria, it is a young and lively city with more than 50.000 students situated at the south-eastern foot of the Alps. It enjoys an almost Mediterranean climate & lifestyle and its medieval old town (one of the largest and best-preserved in central Europe) is a UNESCO world heritage site. The city itself has a very high quality of life, and offers plentiful recreation opportunities.

The positions are remunerated according to the collective contract (Kollektivvertrag) for Austrian Universities. The salary amounts to roughly 41.601€/year before taxes. This corresponds to approximately 29k€ per year after taxes, health insurance, and social security deductions (see https://bruttonetto.arbeiterkammer.at/ ). The annual salary may increase in case of relevant prior work experience. Note that, compared to other major central-European cities, cost of housing and living in Graz is relatively low. The initial appointment for the positions will be of 24 months and can be renewed for another year, available from November 1, 2021.

To apply for the available positions, please prepare a single PDF file (max. 15 MB) containing:

• Motivation letter;
• Curriculum vitae;
• A recent certificate about the level of proficiency in English;
• A copy of your Master degree;
• A link to the online version or a copy of your Master thesis;
• Any recommendation letters of your former advisor(s);
• Additional documents such as a list of publications, transcript of records, and other relevant certificates.

Applications must be submitted electronically using http://lampz.tugraz.at/~dependablethings/ .

Please follow the instructions provided on the site and note that this is the only way to apply: applications sent via e-mail or through other portals will be ignored.

Please also ensure that your application makes a direct reference to one of the three research topics: generic applications will be desk-rejected. The deadline for submitting an application is 31.10.2021.

Candidates interested in either positions can contact Prof. Carlo Alberto Boano <[email protected] > or Prof. Kay Römer <roemer(at)tugraz(dot)at > for further information.