Research Associate

Fixed term: 18 months

Full-time: 35 hours per week

The opportunity:

The School of Informatics invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher (Research Associate) in areas including quantum cryptography, cryptanalysis, hardware security and quantum hardware modules, for a QuantERA project: “Hardware Security Module for secure delegated Quantum Cloud Computing” (HSM-QCC, quantera.eu/hsm-qcc). The project aims at developing an independent trusted execution module capable of ensuring secure quantum computing in a cloud environment. The consortium includes several universities and industry partners in Europe, and the University of Edinburgh team, led by PI, Dr. Myrto Arapinis, and CoI, Dr. Mina Doosti, will work mainly on protocol design and security analysis. This role is also part of Quantum Software Lab (QSL, www.quantumsoftwarelab.com), in collaboration with the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC, www.nqcc.co.uk ). QSL, is the leading place for theoretical quantum research in the UK, and currently comprises approximately 50 members, including eight permanent staff, under the leadership of Prof. Elham Kashefi, Personal Chair in Quantum Computing and the Chief Scientist at the NQCC.

This post is full-time and fixed term (18 months, with the potential for extension subject to the availability of additional funding).

The successful candidates will work as part The “Hardware Security Module for secure delegated Quantum Cloud Computing” (HSM-QCC) QuantERA project. The project consortium consists of University of Twente (NL, lead), University of Edinburgh, University of Sorbonne (FR), Eötvös Loránd University (HU), and industry partners including Quixquantum, Veriqloud, and Thales France. As part of this project, the candidate may work on:

• Developing new quantum hardware-based primitives that are provably secure and efficiently implementable on small and medium-scale quantum devices.
• Security analysis of the existing quantum HSM and resources designed and implemented during the project.
• Designing new practical and quantum-secure protocols for the multi-party verifiable secure quantum computing.

The successful candidate is also expected to be actively involved with the collaborators and project partners, attend the consortium meetings, and take part in the communication and reporting of the project. As part of the QuantERA project, the candidate will have the opportunity to engage in an international research environment and a European scale project, as well as engage with experimental labs and industry partners. 

Working at QSL provides a unique opportunity for the successful candidate to work in an international, active and extremely collaborative environment, both within the lab, the School of Informatics, and with NQCC’s research scientists, industry professionals and application engineers

Your skills and attributes for success: 

Essential

• PhD (or near completion) in Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics, or related field.
• Candidates must have a strong background in quantum cryptography, security analysis and quantum information.
• Proven expertise in the techniques needed to undertake the research in question.
• Demonstrated quality of research performance. 
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly, orally and in writing. 

Desirable

• Extensive experience of working with multiple allied partners in research networks. 
• Experience in collaboration with experimental researchers especially in quantum optics.
• A track record of first author and collaborative publication in high-quality journals or conferences, including in quantum computing literature.
• Experience and evidence of effective independent research work within an interdisciplinary team. More broadly, demonstrated ability to design and complete research projects, to solve problems independently and make original contributions to research.

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