PhD Candidate: AI & Hardware Security for AI Chips

1000scholars; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 38,000 - 49,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Amsterdam's Parallel Computing Systems group seeks a motivated researcher to secure AI hardware by studying vulnerabilities across algorithms, software and hardware levels and developing practical countermeasures. The project includes hands-on hardware lab work and close supervision.

You will contribute to designing security evaluations on AI platforms (NPUs, GPUs), publish results at leading venues, and complete a PhD thesis within four years while assisting in teaching

Qualifications

• MSc in computer science or a related field.
• Strong background and interest in AI and hardware security.
• Demonstrated ability to perform research (e.g., publications or Master thesis).
• Willingness to collaborate with other researchers.
• Professional command of English and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Designing and carrying out security evaluations on AI algorithms and hardware, such as model extraction, fault injection, and side-channel analysis, on platforms including NPUs, GPUs and other AI chips;
• Investigating how vulnerabilities arise and how weaknesses at the algorithm, software, and hardware levels interact, and developing models and tools to explain these mechanisms;
• Developing models and tools to explain why these vulnerabilities arise. Designing hardware-aware countermeasures that are robust, low-overhead and practical to deploy;
• Validating your methods experimentally on real device in hardware lab, not only in simulation;
• Publishing your results in leading international conference and journals, and completing a PhD thesis within four years;
• Presenting your work at international venues and helping to build collaborations with academic and industrial partners;
• Contributing to teaching (about 10% of your time), for example as a teaching assistant or by supervising Bachelor and Master students.

Skills

AI security

Hardware security

Research ability

English communication

Education

MSc in computer science or related field

Job description

The University of Amsterdam's Parallel Computing Systems group seeks a motivated researcher to secure AI hardware by studying vulnerabilities across algorithms, software and hardware levels and developing practical countermeasures. The project includes hands-on hardware lab work and close supervision.

You will contribute to designing security evaluations on AI platforms (NPUs, GPUs), publish results at leading venues, and complete a PhD thesis within four years while assisting in teaching