Postdoctoral Fellow (PREP0004792)

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Johns Hopkins University is hosting a PREP Research Associate position focused on assessing the semantic interoperability of V2X communications. The role supports collaboration with NIST CTL to develop software-based methods for interoperability testing, metric design, and results publication.

Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Computer Science or a related field or a Master’s with significant research experience, plus expertise in wireless networks, Wireshark, and C++/Python.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• Master's degree with significant research experience may be considered.
• Background in wireless networks and distributed systems.
• Experience using Wireshark to analyze packet data.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Analyze packet traces from V2X devices to identify semantic interoperability failures.
• Develop software that parses SAE J2735 messages to assess interoperability of V2X devices.
• Design test cases for semantic interoperability failures and execute them to collect data.
• Support ontology-based semantic models and semantic validation methods for V2X systems.
• Prepare technical reports, presentations, and datasets summarizing findings.

Skills

Wireshark

C++

Python

Git

Distributed systems

Education

Ph.D. in computer science or computer engineering

Master's degree with significant research experience

Job description

PREP Research Associate

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience Program (PREP). NIST recognizes that its research staff may want to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest and, therefore, requires those institutions to be recipients of a PREP award. The PREP program involves staff from a wide range of backgrounds conducting scientific research across various fields. Individuals in this position will perform technical work supporting the collaboration's scientific research.

Research Title

Assessing the Semantic Interoperability of V2X Communications

The work will entail

The NIST Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) is developing new metrology to measure the interoperability of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. This project focuses on semantic interoperability, evaluating whether a receiving device can accurately interpret the meaning and intent of an incoming message. For instance, whether a message containing position information should be interpreted as a periodic state vector or prioritized as an emergency notification of an immediate hazard. The goal of this project is to develop a software-based method to assess the semantic interoperability of V2X devices.

Project activities include the identification of metrics to assess semantic interoperability, the design of test cases to expose semantic failures in V2X hardware, the implementation of interoperability testing software, and the analysis and publication of results.

U.S. Citizen Preferred

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to

• Analyze packet traces from V2X devices to identify semantic interoperability failures.
• Develop software that parses SAE J2735 messages to assess the interoperability of V2X devices.
• Design test cases for different semantic interoperability failures and execute them to collect data from V2X hardware and network simulations.
• Support the development of ontology-based semantic models and semantic validation methods for V2X communication systems.
• Prepare technical reports, presentations, and datasets summarizing interoperability findings and semantic failure cases.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field. Candidates with a Master's degree and significant research experience may also be considered.
• Research background in wireless networks and distributed systems that includes experience using network protocol analyzers such as Wireshark to analyze packet data.
• Proficient with software development using C++, Python, or a similar programming language and collaborative workflows using version control such as Git.
• Familiarity with cellular communication technologies such as 4G LTE or 5G NR preferred.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

Application Instructions

Please upload the following with your application:

• CV/Resume
• Self portraits
• Phone number
• Home address/Country
• Citizenship status
• Languages spoken
• Sex/Gender

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Johns Hopkins University is committed to equal opportunity for its faculty, staff, and students. To that end, the university does not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. The university is committed to providing qualified individuals access to all academic and employment programs, benefits and activities on the basis of demonstrated ability, performance and merit without regard to personal factors or demographic characteristics that are irrelevant to the program involved.