Newsgroups: comp.parallel
From: prc@dcs.shef.ac.uk (Peter Croll)
Subject: Postgraduate Research Studentships in Parallel Processing
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, UK
Date: 29 May 1995 15:16:16 GMT
Message-ID: <3qcog0$217@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu>

Two fully funded PhD research studentships are available within 
the Parallel Processing Research Group at Sheffield University, UK
for EC (European Community) students, as follows:

1) An EPSRC award in one of the areas of interest to the Parallel
Processing Research Group as listed in section 1 below.

2) An award offered jointly between the institutes of Sheffield Hallam
University and Sheffield University as stated in section 2 below.

Please contact the persons listed for further information.

SECTION 1 
========= 

This section list the areas of interest to the Parallel Processing 
Research Group at Sheffield. If you are an EC student interested in 
an EPSRC award please contact the research leader shown for more 
details or apply directly to Phil Green, the postgraduate research 
admissions officer (see section 3) stating your specific area of interest.

a) Design Methods 
----------------- 

A new methodology call Parallel Communicating Sequential Code (PCSC) 
has been developed in the department. Most of the work so far has 
concentrated on the design and automatic code generation. we are now 
considering how to incorporate specification and requirements capture 
into the methodology. We believe that this will require cognitive 
engineering skills and are looking for a new PhD student in this area.

We are also working on the control robots using a number of 
distributer co-operating neural nets and we are looking for a 
PhD student to work in this area.

If you require more information on Design Methods, contact Dr. Gordon
Manson on Tel. 0114 282 5595 or e-mail: G.Manson@dcs.sheffield.ac.uk


b) SAfety-CRitical Engineering Division (SACRED)
------------------------------------------------
The Safety Critical Engineering Division is interested in many issues 
relating to the software engineering of dependable, real-time 
embedded systems. The increasing and diverse use of software in 
the control of safety-critical and related systems is a justifiable 
cause for concern. This is compounded when considering that many 
such embedded systems are inherently complex and need to satisfy 
hard real-time constraints. Parallel processing can offer flexible 
solutions yet meet the stringent demands in obtaining high 
reliability. This is achieved by reducing design complexities, 
providing more analysis and closing some of the semantic gaps in 
the software life-cycle.

At present we have a particular interest in safe parallel processing, 
the analysis of real-time consistencies in high level specifications, 
safe state analysis (e.g. deadlock), software fault tolerance and 
scheduling. Approaches to these problems have included the use of 
the function specification languages ML and PAISLey, formal languages 
such as CSP, CCS, Z and visual semi-formal approaches such as Timed 
Hierarchical Coloured Petri-nets. The application of neural nets and
genetic algorithms to fault-tolerance is currently being investigated. 
PhD students are currently being sought with interests in formal 
methods applied to parallel processing, CASE technology, real-time 
systems and dependable computing.

If you require more information on the above, contact Dr. Peter Croll 
on Tel. 0114 282 5567 or e-mail: P.Croll@dcs.sheffield.ac.uk, or 
see WWW: http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~prc/


c) Data Management and Traffic Modelling
----------------------------------------
The Parallel Data Management Group is interested in the application 
of parallel processing technology to the problem of large data 
stores involving many hundreds of gigabytes of data. Applications 
include commercial, engineering and scientific databases and 
involves in collaborations with TSB plc, Shell Research Limited, 
Olivetti Research, CERN, and the European Microbiology Laboratory. 
In particular, investigating the problems of query optimisation 
in highly parallel database machines and in developing approaches 
which integrate storage placement, resource allocation and an 
associated parallel abstract database machine are addressed.

The Transportation Modelling Group is developing a model which 
utilises highly parallel processing techniques to simulate the 
movement of individual vehicles within an urban traffic network. 
The model comprises slots which can hold a single vehicle which 
are connected together to form the lanes which make a road transport
system. The features which connect these lanes together, e.g., 
traffic light, priority controlled junctions, roundabouts, etc. 
are implemented as individual parallel processes. Models have been 
built to represent part of the Leicester City network but the aim 
is to increase our modelling capabilities to larger networks. This 
work is in collaboration with the University of Nottingham 
Transport Research Group and Leicestershire County Council. We wish 
to recruit research students who have a background either in 
parallel processing or transportation. 

If you require more information on Data Management and Traffic 
Modelling, contact Dr. Jon Kerridge on Tel. 0114 282 5593 or 
e-mail: J.Kerridge@dcs.sheffield.ac.uk


d) Database Languages
---------------------

There is an interest in the development of database languages, for 
example, the translation and semantic equivalence of SQL queries 
in parallel databases. SQL query semantics are intricate and ill 
defined, making the validity of translations and transformations 
dubious. A technique based on CCS (referred to as semantic
observation) has been developed for examining the semantics of 
languages such as SQL. Using semantic observation translations 
and transformations can be validated, leading to the identification 
of a subset of SQL which is suitable for translation to a suitable 
language for parallel execution. Here, we wish to recruit research 
students who have a background either in Databases, Language theory
or Parallel Processing.

If you require more information on Database Languages, contact 
Dr. Siobhan North on Tel. 0114 282 55567 or e-mail: 
S.North@dcs.sheffield.ac.uk


SECTION 2
=========

University of Sheffield 	Sheffield Hallam University

Joint PhD Studentship

Project:

Software Design for High Performance Distributed Systems

Supervisory Team:

Dr Peter Croll Dr Innes Jelly Department of Computer Science 
School of Computing and Management Sciences University of 
Sheffield Sheffield Hallam University

Background:

This project addresses issues of system development within 
the field of parallel and distributed systems. Co-operation 
between the universities in this area was established with 
the setting up of the National Transputer Centre in 1988 and 
parallel processing research is now a major contributor to 
the research profile of both institutions. The proposed project 
integrates current work undertaken at the School of Computing 
and Management Sciences (CMS) and the Department of Computer 
Science (DCS) in the area of parallel and distributed software 
engineering. The two departments have developed different but 
complementary approaches to this area of computer science, and 
the work is supported by a range of software systems. This 
project will act as a catalyst for the integration of these 
tools and techniques when applied to a strategically important 
area, ie the development of high performance distributed systems.

Industrial collaboration has been established by Dr Croll and 
Dr Jelly with industrial partners ranging from manufacturers 
of high performance parallel machines and developers of 
distributed real time systems to users of safety critical 
software systems. This project will encompass the experience 
of the industrial collaborators and close links with industry 
will be encouraged.

Project Overview:

The aim of this project is the development of techniques and 
tools to support the construction of high quality software for 
the new generation of distributed systems. Preliminary work 
on the development of these systems has identified the concept 
of client-server behaviour modelling as a potentially useful 
approach to system construction. We now wish to extend this 
work to provide a generalised design framework for a wide range 
of parallel and distributed software based on client-server 
templates. This will involve research into design techniques for
multi threaded dynamically configured distributed software.

The management of the project will involve close interaction 
between CMS and DCS. Because of the availability of different 
computing facilities at both universities, it is anticipated 
that the student will spend time working at both institutions. 
CMS will provide standard computing facilities, including access 
to PCs, UNIX network, and DCS will support the project by the use 
of a portable Sun workstation thus facilitating the integration 
of the project.

For further information, please contact: Dr Peter Croll, Dept 
of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 
Portobello Street, Sheffield S1 4DP.Email: p.croll@dcs.shef.ac.uk 
(http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~prc/) or Dr Innes Jelly, Computing 
Research Centre, School of Computing and Management Sciences, 
Sheffield Hallam University, Napier Street, Sheffield S11 8HD. 
Email: i.jelly@shu.ac.uk.


SECTION 3
=========

This section give a brief overview of Sheffield city and the 
Computer Science Department within the University of Sheffield.

SHEFFIELD
---------
Sheffield is one of the friendliest cities in Britain and is situated 
well having the best and closest surrounding countryside of any major 
city in the UK. The Peak District National Park is only minutes
away. It is a good city for walkers, runners, and climbers. It has
two theatres, the Crucible and Lyceum. The Lyceum, a beautiful
Victorian theatre, has recently been renovated. Also, the city has
three 10 screen cinemas. There is a library theatre which shows more
artistic films. The city has a large number of museums many of which
demonstrate Sheffield's industrial past, and there are a number of
Galleries in the City, including the Mapping Gallery and Ruskin. A
number of important ancient houses are close to Sheffield such as
Chatsworth House. The Peak District National Park is a beautiful site
for visiting and rambling upon. There are large shopping areas in the
City Sheffield is served by a 'supertram' system: the line from the
University to the Meadowhall shopping and leisure complex is already open.

See also: http://www.shef.ac.uk/city/index.html

COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
---------------------------
The Department is a rapidly expanding and lively centre of 
excellence in research and teaching involving all the main 
areas of modern Computer Science and Software Engineering, 
including specialised work in formal methods, parallel processing, 
connectionism, speech and hearing, natural language processing, 
computer graphics, medical artificial intelligence, knowledge 
representation and multi-media systems.

There is a portfolio of innovative non-research degrees, each 
carrying accreditation by the Engineering Council for the status 
of Chartered Software Engineer (C.Eng), at both undergraduate 
and postgraduate (Masters) level. These degrees are widely 
acclaimed and have established a reputation for quality, 
modernity and relevance. They all involve project work, both 
theoretical and practical, often involving industrial clients 
and are carried out individually and in groups.

The Department's four research laboratories are highly active and
attract visiting research workers from all parts of the world. They
also work in close collaboration with industry in research and
development, in the UK and overseas. Associated with the Department is
the National Transputer Support Centre, a national centre of excellence
in research and development in parallel computing founded by the
government. The Department also participates actively (by providing its
Director and Deputy Director) in ILASH, The Institute for Language,
Speech and Hearing, which co-ordinates research across ten university
departments.

There are approximately 70 overseas students in the Department studying
for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and research degrees. In
October 1992 the Department moved into Regent Court, a new, 
purpose-built accommodation in the centre of Sheffield, adjacent to the
new Applied Science Library.

Further information on research in the Department can be obtained
from the Director of Research:

	Professor Yorick Wilks
	Department of Computer Science
	University of Sheffield
	Regent Court
	211 Portobello Street
	SHEFFIELD
	S1 4DP

	Telephone: (0114) 282 5571	International: +44 114 282 5571
	email: yorick@dcs.shef.ac.uk.

For more information on becoming a research student in the 
Department, contact:

	Dr. Phil Green
	Telephone: (0114) 282 5578 	International: +44 114 282 5578
	email: p.green@dcs.shef.ac.uk


See also: http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/ and http://www.shef.ac.uk/
---------------------------------------------------------------

