PhD student in information and coding theory for federated learning

Project description

Research education subject: Electrical and systems engineering

The project deals with information and coding theoretic methods to analyze and improve the robustness and efficiency of federated machine learning methods in situations where communication bandwidth is limited and nodes are unreliable.

The project is funded by KTH as part of a joint initiative to strengthen relations between KTH and certain partner universities. The project is conducted in collaboration with Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) in Lyngby, Denmark. The doctoral student will be supervised by two supervisors at KTH and two supervisors at DTU. Mobility is a requirement for the doctoral student; the doctoral student shall spend a total of at least one year at our partner university DTU. The period does not need to be continuous but will be planned in consultation between the doctoral student and the supervisors.

Supervision: Prof. Ragnar Thobaben and Prof. Mikael Skoglund (KTH) as well as Prof. Søren Forchhammer and Assistant Prof. Stanislav Kruglik at DTU. Decisions will be made upon admission.

Eligibility for admission

To be admitted to doctoral studies (Chapter 7, Section 39 of the Higher Education Ordinance) the applicant must have basic eligibility:

• having completed a degree at an advanced level, or
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits are at an advanced level, or
• having acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way, within or outside the country.

The applicant needs to have a good background in theoretical analysis of stochastic phenomena, as well as general skills in and demonstrated talent for mathematical analysis of technical systems.

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to Engelska B/6.

Selection

To succeed in your doctoral studies at KTH, you need to be goal-oriented and persistent in your work. During the selection of applicants, the ability to:

• independently drive your work forward,
• collaborate with others,
• maintain a professional approach, and
• analyze and work with complex issues,

will be assessed.

Previous knowledge in information and coding theory is meritorious.

After the eligibility requirements, great importance will be placed on personal qualities.

Target degree: PhD

Information about admission and employment

Only those admitted to doctoral studies may be employed as a doctoral student. The total period of employment may not exceed what corresponds to full-time doctoral studies for four years. An employed doctoral student may, to a limited extent (at most 20%), perform certain tasks within, e.g., education and administration. A new employment as a doctoral student is valid for at most one year; the employment may thereafter be renewed for at most two years at a time. For studies intended to be completed with a licentiate degree, the total period of employment may not exceed what corresponds to full-time doctoral studies for two years.

As a doctoral student, you will benefit from KTH's employment benefits and have a monthly salary according to KTH's agreement for doctoral salaries. Read more about Forskarstudier vid KTH | KTH | Sweden.

Trade union representatives

Contact details for trade union representatives.

Doktorandsektionen (Tekniska högskolans studentkår)

Contact details for the doctoral section.

Application

You apply via KTH's recruitment system. As an applicant, you are primarily responsible for ensuring that your application is complete when submitted.

The application shall contain the following:

• Copies of degree certificates and transcripts 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. Copies of originals must be certified.
• CV with relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Cover letter with a concise account of why you want to pursue doctoral studies, about your academic interests and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Max 2 pages)
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please attach a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

The application must reach KTH no later than the last application date at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

Other

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An employment at KTH may be subject to security clearance. If this is the case for this specific employment, a security clearance of the applicant will be conducted in accordance with the Security Protection Act (2018:585) after consent. In these cases, a prerequisite for employment is that the applicant is approved after security clearance.

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