Research Associate in Formal Modelling and Verification

Job description:

Are you interested in working for a world top 100 university, performing cutting edge research in formal verification?

We are inviting applications for a postdoctoral research associate on the project “Co-Pilots for Isabelle: Learning Logical Structure for a Better Proving Experience”. The post is based in the verification group of the School of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield, under the supervision of Dr Andrei Popescu (andreipopescu.uk) and Prof Nikos Aletras (https://sheffield.ac.uk/cs/people/academic/nikos-aletras).

This post obviously requires an ability to conduct high-quality research. It also requires excellent skills on developing software for theorem proving and AI integration. Familiarity with a proof assistant is a plus. Familiarity with the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant and AI models is a big plus.

The project aims to conduct research into next-generation formal reasoning mechanisms by combining AI with more traditional "structural" methods. Isabelle is one of the most popular proof assistants and has hosted landmark verification results in both mathematics and computer science. The system will be extended with intelligent copilots that will take advantage of the substantial amount of highly structured information that is acquired through human interaction. Isabelle will “pay more attention” to data coming from its highly intelligent users and developers and will itself become more intelligent. This will lead to the formulation of new AI problems relevant for theorem proving beyond Isabelle. The project is a close collaboration between the University of Sheffield, University of Copenhagen and King's College London.

We’re one of the best not-for-profit organisations to work for in the UK. The University’s Total Reward Package includes a competitive salary, a generous Pension Scheme and annual leave entitlement, as well as access to a range of learning and development courses to support your personal and professional development.

To find out what makes the University of Sheffield a remarkable place to work, watch this short film: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LblLk18zmo, and follow @sheffielduni on X (formerly Twitter) for more information.

We are committed to exploring flexible working opportunities which benefit the individual and University.

We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles from across the world, whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.

Advert information