PhD-TA on Evaluation of Threat Assessment using AI

Introduction

Are you passionate about finding out how well the security techniques using AI really work?

Then, the Software Engineering and Technology (SET) cluster at TU/e has a vacancy for a PhD project to study how to automate threat assessment with AI and how to empirically evaluate it as a complex system with social aspects.

Job Description

Threat analysis and risk assessment are routinely performed in organizations to identify and mitigate security risks to software. In a bid to scale such assessments, experts are using multi-agent systems based on LLMs. In this new context, there are also social aspects at play, such as the influence of ethical values or cognitive biases on the perception of security risks. The goal of this project is to improve these techniques by finding more reliable ways of evaluating and validating them. As a PhD student in this topic, you will:

• Build a prototype LLM pipeline for threat assessment.
• Design and conduct experiments to evaluate pipelines.
• Design and conduct surveys and interviews with practitioners and academic researchers.
• Collect and statistically analyze quantitative and qualitative data.
• Write scientific publications, attend international conferences and workshops to present own work and maintain up-to date with latest research findings.

Throughout the project you will gain a good understanding of security risks on the design level, and code-level vulnerabilities and attacks. This birds-eye perspective is invaluable to industry. By investigating this topic, you will have the opportunity to engage with researchers and practitioners from different disciplines, and a chance to impact the state of practice.

The interesting aspect of this project is its interdisciplinary flavor: Security & AI, risk analysis, and empirical software engineering. The quest for novel evaluation methods will be the narrative backbone of your research.

The position is located within the Social Software Engineering Group, where the candidate will be supervised by Dr. Katja Tuma and Prof. Dr. Alexander Serebrenik. You will be joining the team as PhD-TA, which means up to 25% of your time will be dedicated to teaching. Specifically, you will contribute to a master-level course on threat assessment, support bachelor-level Computer Science courses, and supervise Bachelor and Master level students.

Job Requirements

• A master’s degree (or an equivalent university degree) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science or related field.
• A research-oriented attitude and solid analytical skills.
• Passionate interest in software security (preferably threat analysis and risk assessment) and empirical research.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team and interested in collaborating with industrial partners.
• Motivated to develop your teaching skills and coach students.
• Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level).

Conditions of Employment

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 five years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your five-year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment. 
• 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. € 2,901 max. € 3,707).  
• 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. 

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact the hiring manager Katja Tuma, Assistant Professor (k.tuma@tue.nl).

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. You can also contact HRServices@tue.nl.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application by using the apply button. The application should include a:

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
• Grade transcripts of your bachelor’s and master’s studies.
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications (if available) and the contact information of three references (for example, your master’s thesis supervisor).

We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled.