PhD Student Positions in Wireless Sensor Networks at University of Trento, Italy ================================================================================ The D3S group (http://d3s.disi.unitn.it) invites applications for two PhD positions in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). D3S is a cross-institution research group focusing on dynamic, decentralized, distributed systems. In the context of WSNs, the D3S group has been particularly successful in bringing research results into real-world, long-term, operational deployments. Examples are the structural health monitoring of a medieval tower, and the closed-loop control of lighting in a road tunnel. The scientific results of these projects received the Best Paper Award at IPSN (both in 2009 and 2011) and the Mark Weiser Best Paper Award at PerCom 2012. Other ongoing projects include: i) a project aimed at large-scale monitoring of the environment and the wildlife dwelling in it; ii) a cross-disciplinary project on smart spaces; iii) a follow-up project of the road tunnel deployment, investigating energy-harvesting devices and wireless actuation. Although we emphasize real-world applications as a motivation and a concrete opportunity for the validation of our research, the latter is not limited to the immediate needs of WSN deployments. We perform a mix of curiosity-driven and application-driven research. The research challenges tackled by D3S span a broad set of topics, ranging from low-layer issues concerned with the characterization and design of communication protocols to higher-layer issues related with programming platforms and software architectures for WSNs. New PhD students are invited to participate in ongoing projects to gain experience and insight into real systems, and to identify novel, challenging problems whose solutions break new grounds. The D3S group, and Trento at large, provide a fertile environment for high-quality research: two of our PhD students received the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award at the European Conference on Wireless Sensor Networks (EWSN) in 2009 and 2012. The language of the research group is English. The Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science (DISI) is a leading and fast-growing research institution, characterized by a young and international faculty and by a large, international student population. Indicators for scientific production place the department among the top in Europe. The department and the PhD school closely collaborate with - and operate in - a fertile and rapidly growing research and innovation environment characterized by top class research centers and an increasing number of industrial research labs. The Bruno Kessler Foundation - Center for Information and Communication Technology (FBK-ICT), providing funding for one of the PhD positions, focuses on high quality research with impact to market and society. Its key assets are i) people: their competences, their scientific excellence, ii) impact: projects with companies, new territorial labs and iii) sustainability: fund raising from agencies and public/private bodies, long term economic sustainability. Trento is a vibrant city with a beautifully preserved historic center, consistently ranked among the best cities for quality of life in Italy. It offers a variety of cultural and sports opportunities all year around, as well as excellent food and wine. Applications must be filed online before June 16, 2014 (at 16:00, Italy time) at the link below. IMPORTANT: In the application, under "Curricula and research area/s of interest" do ALL of the following: a. indicate "CS", then b. check "CS5: Remote and Distributed Sensing (RDS)" c. select "yes" under "Project-specific grants CS" d. select "CSTV5 - Distributed wireless networking for smart spaces" from the dropdown "CSTV-1st choice" Failure to do so may result in ineligibility for these positions. It is strongly advised to get in contact with Dr. Amy L. Murphy (murphy@fbk.eu) and Prof. Gian Pietro Picco (gianpietro.picco@unitn.it) before submitting the application, by providing a curriculum vitae including three references. Links: Online PhD Application: http://web.unitn.it/en/ateneo/29219/announcement-of-selection Dr. Amy L. Murphy: http://es.fbk.eu/people/murphy Prof. Gian Pietro Picco: http://disi.unitn.it/~picco D3S Group and Projects: http://d3s.disi.unitn.it FBK-ICT: http://ict.fbk.eu/ DISI: http://disi.unitn.it PhD School: http://ict.unitn.it/