Doctoral student in Hardware Security - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Project description

Third-cycle subject: ICT

The Division of Electronics and embedded systems invites applications for a doctoral student position in the area of hardware security with focus on ML-based side-channel attacks. Side-channel attacks are one of the most efficient attacks against implementations of cryptographic algorithms at present. They exploit the correlation between the physical measurements (power consumption, electromagnetic emissions, timing) taken at different points during the computation and the secret key. Side-channel attacks are several orders of magnitude more effective than the conventional mathematical cryptanalysis and are much more practical to mount. Furthermore, with advances in Machine Learning (ML), side-channel attacks got a powerful ally. Since ML techniques are good at finding correlations in raw data, they enable the adversary to bypass many existing countermeasures and break protected implementations. Given huge investments in artificial intelligence, we are likely see an explosion of ML-based security breaches. Therefore, it is important to increase knowledge about MLbased side-channel attacks, which is the goal of this project. 

The successful applicants are expected to work on investigating possibilities and limitations of ML in the contexts of side-channel attacks and designing appropriate countermeasures against ML-based side channel attacks.

Supervision: Elena Dubrova

What we offer

• The possibility to study in a dynamic and international research environment in collaboration with industries and prominent universities from all over the world.Read more
• A workplace with many employee benefits and monthly salary according to KTH’s Doctoral student salary agreement.
• A postgraduate education at an institution that is active and supportive in matters pertaining to working conditions, gender equality and diversity as well as study environment.
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH.

Eligibility

To be admitted to postgraduate education (Chapter 7, 39 § Swedish Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility in accordance with either of the following:

• passed a degree at advanced level,
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at advanced level, or
• in any other way acquired within or outside the country acquired essentially equivalent knowledge.
• Requirements for English equivalent to English B/6, read more here.

Selection

In order to succeed as a doctoral student at KTH you need to be goal oriented and persevering in your work. During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon their ability to:

• independently pursue his or her work
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach and
• analyse and work with complex issues.

The ideal candidate should have knowledge in one or more of the following areas: Hardware Security, ASIC and FPGA design, Machine Learning, Cryptography, and Cryptanalysis. Besides strong technical, analytical and problem solving skills, the candidate is expected to be curious, ambitious and strongly motivated to conduct research.

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal qualities and personal suitability.

Target degree: Doctoral Degree

Information regarding admission and employment

Only those admitted to postgraduate education may be employed as a doctoral student. The total length of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education in four years ' time. An employed doctoral student can, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within their role, e.g. training and administration. A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

Application

Apply for the position and admission through KTH's recruitment system. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the advertisement.

Applications must be received at the last closing date at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/entral European Summer Time).

Applications must include the following elements:

• CV including your relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Application letter with a brief description of why you want to pursue research studies, about what your academic interests are and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Maximum 2 pages long)
• Copies of diplomas and grades from previous university studies and certificates of fulfilled language requirements (see above). Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages.
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please provide a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

Other information

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process please read here.

We firmly decline all contact with staffing and recruitment agencies and job ad salespersons.

Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.