PhD Studentship: COP-PILOT: Collaborative Open Platform for Piloting services across emerging smart IoT and Edge computing environments

Project Supervisors: Prof Sankar Sivarajah and Prof Youngseok Choi

Project Description:

The integration of edge computing, advanced 5G, and decentralized processing is driving private edge ecosystems with potential to transform industries. To fully leverage edge-level intelligent management, platform development and cross-sector collaboration are essential. COP-PILOT aims to provide this with its Collaborative Open Platform, designed to orchestrate services across industries with robust security, automation, and intelligence features. COP-PILOT's framework ensures interoperability by integrating seamlessly with technologies like IoT platforms and core infrastructure, fostering collaboration across the compute continuum. It supports advanced cross-sector applications by enhancing security, resource management, and automation. The platform's implementation follows two main paths: platform enablement and real-environment integration. The platform uses a modular orchestration approach, with a user-friendly generative AI interface that simplifies onboarding of complex applications. For real-world deployment, COP-PILOT is tested across four large pilot clusters in diverse sectors like energy, smart cities, agriculture, and manufacturing, enabling applications in mobility, logistics, and resource management.

The successful PhD candidate will be required to undertake research for a doctoral thesis while assisting the R&D in the COP-PILOT project which is a large multi-partner European Commission-funded project on the development and experimentation of edge computing technology. The candidate will assist the Kingston University London research team in developing the validation and evaluation framework for the COP-PILOT activities, including the requirements for the COP-PILOT experimentation environment. While doing this, the candidate will be expected to align the R&D work in the project to their PhD research and thesis. This will include developing a systematic approach and framework to assess the validity and reliability of the COP-PILOT architecture, platform, technical components, testbeds, and trials and pilots’ experiments. It involves defining the criteria and standards, and the Key Performance and Value Indicators for evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the edge computing pilot and collecting and analysing data to assess how well the experiments meet these criteria. Therefore, the role will involve leading the development of the validation and evaluation goals and objectives ensuring they are specific, measurable, achievable, and financially viable; determining the criteria and standards for the evaluation; and defining the methods to collect data for the evaluation, including surveys, interviews, workshops, focus groups, metrics, technical and financial measurements.

Funding notes: This project has full funding for UK and International students, which will cover tuition fees, a tax-free stipend of £21,237 per year for living costs, and Research expenses relating to the project.

Funding for: UK and International Students

Enquiries email name and address:  For informal inquiries, please contact Prof Sankar Sivarajah (Sankar.Sivarajah@kingston.ac.uk) and Prof Youngseok Choi (Y.Choi@kingston.ac.uk).

How to apply: Potential candidates should apply directly through the online application portal. Any application queries should be directed to the Research Student Coordinator k.geary@kingston.ac.uk

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