Senior Research Associate: SCULI: Security in Ultra-Large Scale Systems - 2 posts

Lancaster University; Lancaster; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK university in Lancaster is seeking two full-time post-doctoral research associates to explore security in future interconnected systems. The successful candidates will conduct original research, develop impactful publications, and collaborate with industry partners. Applicants should possess a PhD in Computer Science with experience in cyber security and distributed systems.

Benefits

Flexible working policy

Support networks

Family-friendly policies

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science or related field.
• Experience in cyber security and distributed systems.
• Familiarity with assurance techniques.

Responsibilities

• Conduct original research on security in distributed systems.
• Develop high-quality publications.
• Collaborate with academic and industry partners.

Skills

Cyber security

Distributed systems

Assurance techniques

Education

PhD in Computer Science or equivalent

Job description

Overview

Lancaster University is part of a 5-year £6.8 million EPSRC Programme Grant on “Securing Convergent Ultra-large Scale Infrastructures (SCULI)” conducted jointly with Bristol and Oxford Universities, international collaborators CMU/Duke, RISE-Sweden, and industry partners BT, HP, Airbus, BAE and Vodafone.

In future interconnected distributed systems, there is a need for new approaches to provide and assess security at runtime which complement existing security-by-design approaches. We need to consider the reality of dynamically changing systems, their evolving attack surfaces, and the new threats they are exposed to.

We seek to appoint 2 full-time post-doctoral research associates (starting Spring 2026) to complete a team of 4 post-doctoral researchers who are exploring fundamental new concepts to either:

1. a) provide guarantees of the application of security controls under limited visibility,
2. b) dynamically assess runtime security for continual assurance in complex distributed systems.

We target conceptual research along with experimental methods. As a Programme Grant there is considerable flexibility in the research agenda to allow the right candidate to have significant leeway in scoping the research activities. This is a great opportunity for an individual to build a research career.

Responsibilities

• Conducting original research to provision security in future complex distributed systems.
• Developing high‑quality and impactful publications.
• Developing collaborations with academic, industry partners and EPSRC projects.

Qualifications

You will have a PhD in Computer Science or equivalent with experience in cyber security, distributed systems and assurance techniques.

The School of Computing and Communications at Lancaster University offers a highly inclusive and stimulating environment for career development, and you will be exposed to a range of further opportunities over the course of this post. We are committed to family-friendly and flexible working policies, as well as the Athena SWAN Charter, which recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address gender equality in higher education and research.

You will join us on an indefinite contract; however, the role remains contingent on external funding, which for these roles initially ends after 24 months (with the possibility to extend further).

Supervision

You will be working under the direct supervision of Prof. Neeraj Suri ([e-mail]) and Dr. Matthew Bradbury ([e-mail]). Enquiries are welcome!

Further Details

Person Specification
Job Description

Note

Please note: unless specified otherwise in the advert, all advertised roles are UK based.

Equal Opportunity

Find out what it's like to work at Lancaster University, including information on our wide range of employee benefits, support networks and our policies and facilities for a family-friendly workplace.

The University recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address all inequality in higher education whilst promoting the importance and wellbeing for all our colleagues.

We warmly welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of their age, religion, gender identity or expression, race, disability or sexual orientation, and are committed to promoting diversity, and equality of opportunity.