Postdoc position in SAT solving at KTH Royal Institute of Technology

The TCS Group at KTH Royal Institute of Technology invites applications for a postdoc position in computer science focused on SAT solving.

KTH Royal Institute of Technology is the leading technical university in Sweden. The Theoretical Computer Science Group at KTH (www.csc.kth.se/tcs) offers a strong research environment spanning a wide range of research topics such as complexity theory and approximation algorithms, computer and network security, cryptography, formal methods and natural language processing. We have one of Europe's most prominent groups in algorithms and complexity theory, and the research conducted here has attracted numerous international awards and grants in recent years.

The postdoctoral researcher will be working in the research group of Jakob Nordstrom. Much of the activities of this research group revolve around the themes of efficient algorithms for satisfiability in propositional logic (SAT solving) and lower bounds on the efficiency of methods for reasoning about SAT (proof complexity). On the practical side, one problem of interest is to gain a better understanding of, and improve, the performance of current state-of-the-art SAT solvers --- in particular, solvers using conflict-driven clause learning (CDCL). We are even more interested in exploring new techniques that hold out the theoretical possibility of exponential improvements over CDCL, but seem hard to implement efficiently in practice, e.g., algebraic methods such as Groebner bases or geometric methods such as pseudo-Boolean solving.

The research project is financed by a Breakthrough Research Grant from the Swedish Research Council and a Starting Independent Researcher Grant from the European Research Council. A more detailed description of the project can be found at www.csc.kth.se/~jakobn/project-proofcplx. The group currently consists of two postdoctoral researchers and four PhD students (in addition to the PI). There are also several other professors, postdocs, and PhD students in the TCS Group working on other aspects of algorithms and computational complexity, and so this is a unique opportunity to explore new connections between theoretical and practical areas of computer science within a vibrant and growing research environment.

Within the overall framework sketched above, the postdoc will be expected and encouraged to contribute to and influence the research agenda. Taking part in teaching graduate seminar courses is encouraged but not required. Travel funding is included, and the group also receives short-term and long-term visitors on a regular basis.

This postdoc position is a full-time employed position for one year with a possible one-year extension. The expected starting date is in August-September 2017, although this is to some extent negotiable.

The application deadline is January 15, 2017. See http://www.csc.kth.se/~jakobn/openings/D-2016-0872-Eng.php for the full announcement with more information and instructions how to apply. Informal enquiries are welcome and may be sent to jakobn@kth.se .