An automatic simulation development approach for agent-based (migration) modelling

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 An automatic simulation development approach for agent-based (migration) modelling

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

Agent-based modelling is widely used, e.g. in the context of conflict-driven migration. However, simulations take time to develop, and long construction times detract from the societal value provided by simulations, as many of the most serious humanitarian and public health crises require forecasting insights on a timescale of a few days.

The focus of this project is to establish a development approach that can automatically construct meaningful forecasting simulations in a day or less

Please contact Dr Derek Groen at derek.groen@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 expertise in Python programming and familiarity with principles of good software engineering, simulation and/or modelling, and basic algorithms. In addition, the applicant is expected to have experience with academic writing (e.g. in the form of a clear and concisely-written BSc. dissertation).

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 valid 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)

Derek Groen - I am a Lecturer in Simulation and Modelling at Brunel University. I'm also an Emeritus Fellow for the EPSRC-funded 2020 Science Network, a Fellow of the Software Sustainability Institute, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Centre for Computational Science at University College London. I completed an MSc in Grid Computing at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in 2006, and a PhD in Computational Astrophysics both at the UvA and Leiden University in November 2010. After my PhD I worked as a post-doctoral researcher on EU projects about distributed multiscale computing (MAPPER) and high-performance computing towards the Exascale (CRESTA). I received a 1-year position as a Fellow of 2020 Science in January 2015, and funded myself for two months through an EPSRC eCSE to work on new approaches for domain decomposition. I joined Brunel University in September 2015 to become a Lecturer and I currently collaborate in the EU ComPat project about multiscale computing towards the Exascale. I have published >20 peer-reviewed journal papers in venues such as IEEE Computer, IEEE CiSE, Journal of Computational Science, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A., Physics Review E., the Astrophysical Journal and eLife. In addition, I was second author of the first ever feature article in Advanced Materials, which was on multiscale modelling of clay-polymer nanocomposites and received news coverage from the Daily Telegraph and the BBC. I currently run Science Hackathons to efficiently establish new interdisciplinary collaborations.