Research Assistant/Associate in Compiler-Directed Parallelism (Fixed Term)

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 6^th July 2025.

The project

Applications are invited for a Research Associate (PostDoc) to work on compilation for extracting program parallelism for novel computer architectures.

Our research group has developed a number of approaches for increasing the performance of applications through parallelisation.  Building on the success of the HELIX automatic parallelising compiler, and the more recent Janus binary parallelisation framework, we seek to develop compiler analyses and transformations within the LLVM toolset to extract parallelism for future microprocessors.  We wish to identify opportunities for task-level parallelism during compilation, extracting parallelism for the most beneficial parts of the code, and dealing with cross-task data dependences via speculation or synchronisation.  The successful candidate will develop new analyses and transformations that can realise this system, working closely with a team of PostDocs and PhD students, as well as project partner, Arm.

Research group

Our group consists of PostDocs and PhD students investigating performance, reliability and security in future many-core systems. The position is within the Computer Architecture Research Group at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory in a joint project with Arm; there will be frequent interaction with Arm and the ability to work in Arm's offices in Cambridge for durations of the project.  Collaboration with researchers at other universities and industry around the world is encouraged and there are strong links within the group with other local companies.

Candidates

We seek candidates with a strong background in Computer Science with a particular interest in compilers. It is essential to have experience writing compiler optimisations in LLVM or another tool, and to have familiarity with working in teams with robust engineering practices (version control, continuous integration, automated testing). An awareness of the challenges and potential solutions to parallelism extraction would be useful.

Applicants should hold a PhD or have equivalent experience, though those who are close to submitting a PhD will be considered. Knowledge of a related area would be advantageous but not essential. Candidates should provide evidence of relevant work, where possible, and must demonstrate a desire to perform internationally-leading research and to publish in the top conferences in the area.

Please provide a Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a covering letter outlining your relevant past experience, drawing particular attention to relevant compiler experience and published papers, and linking to one or more examples of code written (e.g. a GitHub handle). If there are specific areas you would like to research, please indicate these in the letter.

More information

The funds are available for a start date of the 1^st July 2023 but some flexibility on this can be arranged.

Further details may be obtained from Prof. Timothy Jones, email timothy.jones@cl.cam.ac.uk

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please visit: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/40168.

Please upload a CV and covering letter. If you upload any additional documents, which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.

Please quote reference NR36016 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

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