PhD-TA on Mathematical Foundations of Databases

Are you interested in developing theory to help solve practical problems in the fields of databases and data science? We have an opening for a fully funded 5-year PhD project where query languages arising from linear algebra operations are studied, to let data scientists experience the power of database technology.

This is a 5-years fully funded PhD position within the Database group of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). You will join a vibrant team of 5 permanent researchers/academics and 8 PhD students, and have the ability to collaborate with other top research institutes across Europe. You will participate in cutting-edge research and target leading conferences and journals in database theory (e.g., ICDT, PODS, TODS). You will travel to present your work in international conferences and meet world-class academics.

You will be supervised by dr. Robert Brijder and work on foundations for scalable and principled data management systems for data science and machine learning. Data scientists and AI researchers currently often miss out on many of the advances in the field of databases because the data that they use is not tabular but in the form of matrices or higher-dimensional arrays (tensors), and because the accompanying operations are very different. In this project, you will study query languages resulting from basic linear algebra or tensor operations and programming constructs. Natural questions arise, such as expressivity, links and compatibility with existing query languages like SQL, scalability, query optimization, etc. Solving these questions establishes foundations for data management systems aimed at data scientists and AI researchers that are both scalable and principled.

This is a Teaching PhD position (PhD-TA). Throughout your PhD you will also spend some time helping with the teaching of some relevant courses (e.g., by running instruction sessions, and by correcting students' homework). You will also have the opportunity to obtain teaching qualifications.

Requirements:

• BSc and MSc degree in Mathematics, Computer Science, or a closely related field.
• Good knowledge of linear algebra, graph theory, and logic.
• Programming experience.
• English language proficiency (C1 level).
• Affinity with contributing to teaching.
• Ability to read scientific papers.
• Ability to write mathematical proofs in a clear and understandable way.

Will be considered an advantage:

• Past experience as a teaching assistant or student assistant.
• Experience in research.

Salary Benefits:

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months. You will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. €2,770 max. €3,539).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates. 

38 hours per week

De Rondom 70