项目介绍

2026年9月17日

About the position

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia. 

The Software Engineering group conducts research in a wide range of topics related to design, development, verification, and operation of complex software systems, including emerging technologies and their relation to Software Engineering. You will join a diverse research environment and an exciting Doctoral Programme.

Your immediate leader will be the Leader of the Software Engineering unit.

About the project

Software is today prominent in many critical systems and infrastructures, such as power distribution systems, railway infrastructure, or flight control systems. These systems are subject to complex development and verification processes, including certification and audits, and in general different activities that span the Software Engineering and the Systems Engineering disciplines.

Generative AI and AI agents are rapidly changing how software-based systems are being designed, developed, and evaluated. While AI agents have become common in certain Software Engineering tasks, such as programming, documentation, and vulnerability detection, their adoption for other tasks such as software architecture design, or safety and hazard analysis, is still limited. 

The objective of this position is to investigate and evaluate solutions for software engineering and systems engineering tasks in critical systems and infrastructures. Within this context, the project can be tailored to the interests and background of the successful candidate.

Duties of the position

• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate
• Carry out research of good quality within the framework described above
• Author academic publications and popular science dissemination material
• Participate in the Software Engineering research group
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions
• Support to education activities in courses within the Software Engineering area
• Other career-promoting work, such as learning grant preparation fundamentals

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• You must meet the requirements for admission to the Doctoral Programme in Computer Science, see Section 6-1 of the PhD regulations for more information.
• You must have a relevant Master’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent. Your degree must include a major independent project (minimum 30 ECTS) equivalent to a master’s thesis.
• Master students can apply, but the master’s degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position and no later than 30.10.2026.
• You must have a strong and relevant academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master’s degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker academic background, you may be considered if you can document that you are exceptionally suited for a PhD education, for example through relevant work experience and/or peer-reviewed academic works.
• Good programming skills.
• Good oral and written presentation skills in English.
   

The appointment is to be made in accordance with NTNUs guidelines for recruitment positions for general criteria for the position.

Preferred selection criteria

The following characteristics will be considered an advantage during the selection process:

• Good understanding of Software Engineering or Systems Engineering fundamentals
• Experience with modeling of software and/or system architecture
• Experience with agentic frameworks (e.g., LangChain, Microsoft Agent Framework)
• Good knowledge of AI concepts, particularly Generative AI
• Knowledge of aspects related to critical systems and infrastructures

Personal characteristics

To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you are able to: 

• Work in a structured way, set goals and make plans to achieve them
• Present and discuss your research with other professionals
• Work constructively under pressure or in the face of adversity 
• Be good at anticipating problems and identifying logical solutions as well as contradictions and inconsistencies  
• Be flexible and open to adjusting the plan for the project as needed
   

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.