MacMi- A Machine Learning Approach for Migrating to Microservices

We are recruiting new Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships starting 1 October 2023. Applications are invited for the project MacMi- A Machine Learning Approach for Migrating to Microservices

Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) of approximately £19,668, including inner London weighting, plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of 42 months (3.5 years).

You should be eligible for home (UK) tuition fees there are a very limited number (no more than three) of studentships available to overseas applicants, including EU nationals, who meet the academic entry criteria including English Language proficiency.

You will join the internationally recognised researchers in the Department of Computer Science

The Project

This exciting research project is focused on developing an approach that uses machine learning techniques to automate the migration of monolithic software into microservice architecture. The purpose is to aid software engineers in identifying candidate microservices from existing software systems by using features and metrics of the code. Microservices are in the top 10 technologies that IT leaders are planning to invest to achieve Digital Transformation. However, many organisations find it difficult to perform this architectural shift.

Please contact Dr Nour Ali at nour.ali@brunel.ac.uk for an informal discussion about the studentships.

Eligibility

Applicants will have or be expected to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in an Engineering, Computer Science, Design, Mathematics, Physics or a similar discipline. A Postgraduate Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage.

Skills and Experience

Applicants will be required to demonstrate their knowledge in:

Object-Oriented Analysis and Design 
Software Architecture

Microservices

Machine Learning

Familiarity with software repositories such as GitHub.

Ability to conduct Critical Background and Literature Reviews

You should be highly motivated, able to work independently as well as in a team, collaborate with others and have good communication skills.

How to apply

There are two stages of the application:

1.Applicants must submit the pre-application form via the following link https://brunel.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/epsrc-dtp-23-24-pre-application-form-brunel-university-lon-3 by 16.00 on Friday 26th May 2023.

2.If you are shortlisted for the interview, you will be asked to email the following documentation in a single PDF file to cedps-studentships@brunel.ac.uk within 24hrs.

Your up-to-date CV;
Your Undergraduate degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) essential;
Your Postgraduate Masters degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) if applicable;
Your English Language qualification of IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each section) or equivalent, if applicable;
Contact details for TWO referees, one of which can be an academic member of staff in the College.

Applicants should therefore ensure that they have all of this information in case they are shortlisted.

Interviews will take place in June 2023.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Nour Ali - Dr Nour Ali is a Reader in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University London since June 2017. She currently co-heads the Brunel Software Engineering Lab (http://www.brunel-sweng.org/) and is the co-Director of Teaching and Learning. She received her PhD in Software Engineering from Universidad Politecnica de Valencia – Spain and has a Major in Computer Science from Bir-Zeit University- Palestine. Before moving to Brunel, she was a Principal Lecturer in Software Engineering at University of Brighton and held research fellowships at Lero, the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre and the Politecnico di Milano. She also has been a visiting researcher at Leicester University and Free University of Bolzen. She has been Principal Investigator and member of several research and knowledge transfer projects. Her research focuses on developing software architecture techniques, methods and tools and applying them to different challenging systems and situations such as distributed, mobile and adaptive. She has over 70 publications in journals, books and conferences. Here are links to her publications on dblp and google scholar . She also is a reviewer for top journals and national funding bodies such as EPSRC. She serves in several Programme and Organization Committees of conferences and workshops in her area and has co-edited 4 books. Dr Ali has experience of Higher Education teaching, from undergraduate to MSc level. She has a PG Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from the University of Brighton. She is also Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Related Research Group(s)

Brunel Software Engineering Lab - Promoting all sides of empirical and formal investigations of software artefacts – code, formal models and human aspects.

Modelling and Simulation - Investigating how modelling and simulation can be supported by research into high-performance computing, e-infrastructures, cyberinfrastructures, cloud computing and web-based simulation.