UK : PhD Studentships Trustworthy Voting Systems from the Department of Computing.

University of Surrey

Stipend: £13,290 per annum (tax free)

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship on an EPSRC-funded project on Trustworthy Voting Systems, a collaborative project involving the University of Surrey and the University of Birmingham, and working closely with the University of Luxembourg.

Electronic voting is a large and fruitful area of current research. Much of the effort has been focused on using state-of-the-art systems such as Prêt à Voter for supervised voting (in polling stations). Providing voters with the ability to vote remotely brings fresh challenges because of the lack of control over the voting ceremony and the additional threats that arise as a result of the necessary communication. This PhD studentship will investigate and propose approaches to incorporating remote voting into Prêt à Voter with appropriate adaptations, and will pay particular consideration to the security issues that emerge. Possible approaches include fully electronic mechanisms (voting over the internet), physical approaches based on postal voting, and hybrids of these.

The student will spend most of the time in the academic setting at the University of Surrey, but it is likely that there will be opportunities to spend some time in Luxembourg working with Professor Peter Ryan.

The studentship will cover tuition fees and a tax-free maintenance grant of £13,290 per annum, adjusted annually in line with the maintenance allowances of the UK research councils.

The studentships are open to all UK and EU nationals. Non-EU nationals are welcome to apply, but may need additional funding to cover the difference between EU tuition fees and overseas tuition fees.

We seek a student with at least an upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science or Mathematics. A good masters degree would be an advantage. Good communication and team-working skills are essential.

Informal enquires can be made to Dr James Heather (j.heather@surrey.ac.uk) or Professor Steve Schneider (s.schneider@surrey.ac.uk).

To apply, please send a CV with copies of academic qualifications and transcripts (BSc, MSc) to Maggie Burton (M.Burton@surrey.ac.uk) or by post to:

Attn. Mrs Maggie Burton Department of Computing (H3) University of Surrey Guildford GU2 7XH

If your degree is not complete at the time of application, please include a recommendation letter from your dissertation supervisor or equivalent.

The studentship is available from 1st January 2010.