Trustworthy Voting Systems

We invite applications for a funded PhD student to work on the EPSRC-funded project "Trustworthy Voting Systems", which is a collaborative project between the Universities of Birmingham, Surrey and Luxembourg.

Aim

The aim of the project is to develop and implement robust voter-verifiable electronic voting systems that are usable in small committees and on-line communities as well as full-scale national elections.

User trials will also be carried out, and extended techniques will be developed for analysis and verification of voting systems.

Candidate

The successful candidate is expected to have a good first degree and/or Master degree in Computer Science or a related area. S/he must have outstanding logical and analytical skills. Good communication (both oral and written) skills, people skills, the ability to work independently and as a team member and the ability to take the initiative and be proactive are essential. Experience with protocols, cryptography, verification, logic, and/or in the use of specification languages is desirable.  Candidates should also have practical experience of computing.

Funding

The PhD studentship includes funding for living expenses (£13,590 per year for three years) and for payment of tuition fees at the UK/EU rate (£3,466 per year).  Unfortunately, it does not cover fees at the Overseas rate (£12,250 per year). In the case of an outstanding overseas student, we will try to fund the difference from other sources.

You are invited to send the following information to Prof Mark Ryan (M.D.Ryan at cs.bham.ac.uk):

• Your CV
• A statement of your research interests in relation to the project.  The statement is expected to be up to two pages long, and should explain your thoughts about the project and the contribution you could make.
• Some evidence of mathematical and computational thinking skills. We invite you to complete three or more of the exercises mentioned below.

The closing date for this stage is 20th July 2010 but it is helpful if you send me an email before then to inform me that you are interested in applying. There will be interviews (in person or by telephone) on (approx.) 2nd August and and a selection will be made by (approx.) 10th August 2010.

After your successful application, you will also be asked to complete the University formalities about applying for a PhD place.

Informal enquiries may be made to Prof Mark Ryan (M.D.Ryan at cs.bham.ac.uk).

1. A document outlining the project.
2. Some exercises you can complete to demonstrate that you have the right mathematical and computational thinking skills.