The CEA List Institute at Université Paris‑Saclay—ranked 13th worldwide (Shanghai Ranking)—is seeking to recruit a postdoctoral researcher for a 24‑month position in software engineering and cybersecurity.
The position is fully funded, hosted by the BINSEC research team, and focused on advanced fuzzing techniques for binary software, targeting the detection of backdoors and other software supply‑chain attacks.
TITLE - Smarter fuzzing to prevent supply-chain attacks.
TOPIC - Modern IoT devices—such as home routers, CCTV systems, or embedded gateways—operate using binary firmware composed of thousands of reused software components, many of which originate from open‑source ecosystems. While this reuse accelerates development, it also introduces major supply‑chain security risks, including 1‑day vulnerabilities and stealthy backdoors (see, e.g., recent ICSE’25 work).
The goal of this postdoctoral project is to design, conceptualize, and experimentally evaluate novel fuzzing‑based approaches to improve the detection of such vulnerabilities.
KEYWORDS - software supply-chain security, backdoors, fuzzing, code analysis
SUPERVISION - The postdoctoral researcher will be supervised by Dr. Michaël Marcozzi and will join the BINSEC team, an internationally recognized group working on program analysis and software security.
The project offers strong opportunities for collaboration, including with:
- Dr. Sébastien Bardin (BINSEC, CEA);
- Members of the Software Heritage UNESCO initiative, such as Prof. Stefano Zacchiroli;
- The High Security Lab at LORIA, including Prof. Jean‑Yves Marion;
and several industrial partners.
HOSTING - The position is based within the Paris‑Saclay research cluster, one of Europe’s leading hubs for science, engineering, and innovation. The environment offers outstanding research infrastructure and close interactions with both academia and industry, while benefiting from the proximity of the Paris metropolitan area—one of the world’s most visited cities—at the heart of Western Europe.
To apply, please check out the detailed application procedure and job info.
When to apply - Apply as soon as possible! Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting mid‑May 2026, until the position is filled.