PhD and postdoc positions in vulnerability detection and prevention

We open two PhD and one postdoc positions to work with Michaël and Sébastien on automatic detection and prevention of advanced software vunerabilities. Start: as soon as possible in 2022. Duration: 3 years (PhD), 2 years (postdoc).

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About us

OUR TEAM - The BINary-level SECurity research group (BINSEC) is a dynamic team of 11 junior and 4 senior researchers. The group has frequent publications in top-tier security, formal methods and software engineering conferences. We work in close collaboration with other French and international research teams, industrial partners and national agencies. The team is part of Université Paris-Saclay, the world’s 13th and European Union’s 1st university, according to the Shanghai ARWU Ranking in 2021.

OUR WORK - The team has high-level expertise in several code analysis approaches, namely abstract interpretation, fuzzing and symbolic execution. We apply these techniques to improve software security, covering notably vulnerability detection, code (de)obfuscation and formal verification. See our website for additional information.

Job offer for Ph.D. position 1

YOUR MISSION - The goal of your doctoral work will be to classify complex software vulnerabilities and design techniques to detect them with greybox or hybrid fuzzing. Under the supervision of our senior researchers, you will be expected to solve research problems, implement your solutions into evaluated prototypes, publish at top conferences and journals, mentor interns and broadly participate in the scientific life of the team. The position comprises both theoretical work and coding. You will be able to dedicate a small fraction of your time to teaching if you want so. Our former team members have been able to secure stimulating positions in academia or industry and we will support you in advancing your career.

JOB REQUIREMENTS - Successful candidates should have (or be close to have) a Master in Computer Science (or equivalent), with strong results in topics related to the doctoral work that they would conduct in our team. They should be proficient in English and have excellent programming skills. Authorship of one or several scientific publications is a plus.

HIRING PROCEDURE - Candidates should send a CV, a cover letter, a transcript of their university results, as well as contact information of two referees to binsec-jobs@saxifrage.saclay.cea.fr as soon as possible (and at the latest by May 2022). Applications will be reviewed immediately as they arrive (first come, first served). The position is expected to start as soon as possible in 2022 (upon completion of all administrative requirements) and will have a duration of 3 years.

Job offer for Ph.D. position 2

YOUR MISSION - The goal of your doctoral work will be to understand how automated symbolic verification can be lifted to the case of speculative micro-architectural attacks, to secure essential cryptographic or system primitives. Under the supervision of our senior researchers, you will be expected to solve research problems, implement your solutions into evaluated prototypes, publish at top conferences and journals, mentor interns and broadly participate in the scientific life of the team. The position comprises both theoretical work and coding. You will be able to dedicate a small fraction of your time to teaching if you want so. Our former team members have been able to secure stimulating positions in academia or industry and we will support you in advancing your career.

JOB REQUIREMENTS - Successful candidates should have (or be close to have) a Master in Computer Science (or equivalent), with strong results in topics related to the doctoral work that they would conduct in our team. They should be proficient in English and have excellent programming skills. Authorship of one or several scientific publications and some coding experience in OCAML are a plus.

HIRING PROCEDURE - Candidates should send a CV, a cover letter, a transcript of their university results, as well as contact information of two referees to binsec-jobs@saxifrage.saclay.cea.fr as soon as possible (and at the latest by May 2022). Applications will be reviewed immediately as they arrive (first come, first served). The position is expected to start as soon as possible in 2022 (upon completion of all administrative requirements) and will have a duration of 3 years.

Job offer for postdoc position

YOUR MISSION - The goal of your postdoc will be to will be to classify complex software vulnerabilities and design techniques to detect them with fuzzing or symbolic execution. You will be expected to solve challenging research problems, implement your solutions into evaluated prototypes, publish at top conferences and journals, mentor students and broadly participate to the scientific life of the team. You will also evaluate your research ideas experimentally within the framework of the EU-funded IRIS project. The position comprises both theoretical work and coding. Our former team members have been able to secure stimulating positions in academia or industry and we will support you in advancing your career.

JOB REQUIREMENTS - Successful candidates should have (or be close to have) a Ph.D. in Computer Science. They should be proficient in English and have excellent programming skills. We are primarily looking for applicants with a good research track record in symbolic execution or fuzzing. However, candidates with a good background in software engineering, information security, programming languages, architecture or systems will also be considered.

HIRING PROCEDURE - Candidates should send a CV, a cover letter, as well as contact information of at least two referees to binsec-jobs@saxifrage.saclay.cea.fr as soon as possible (and at the latest by May 2022). Applications will be reviewed immediately as they arrive (first come, first served). The position is expected to start as soon as possible in 2022 (upon completion of all administrative requirements) and will have a duration of 2 years.

Work environment

WORKING AND LIVING IN PARIS - Our offices are located in Nano-Innov, at the heart of Plateau de Saclay, south of Paris, Europe’s biggest research and industry cluster. Agencies like Science Accueil or Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris are available to help foreign candidates find their home and settle here. Most of us live either in the wooden and quiet southern suburbs of Paris or closer to the bustling historical center of the city. Paris is the capital of France, a metropolis of 12.5 million people and one of the most visited travel destinations in the world.