Network Design Optimisation

The School of Engineering and Materials Science and the Operational Research Lab (http://or.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/) within the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), invite applications for a fully-funded PhD Studentship to undertake research in the area of Network Design Optimisation in collaboration with BT University Research. The studentship will be based at the School of Engineering and Materials at QMUL and will be supervised by Dr Jun Chen (Primary Supervisor), Dr John Drake (Second Supervisor) and Prof Edmund Burke (External Supervisor at the University of Leicester).

The studentship will investigate applications for network design, e.g. a town’s fibre network. The goal of the project is to explore software solutions to find optimal solutions to a graph problem described in a human readable declarative constraint language. It has two parts.
· Design a declarative language for representing constraints on a graph, and the costs of the graph.
· Implement a heuristic search engine which combines heuristic search techniques with constraint satisfaction methods to limit the search space. It is expected that the students will work in close collaboration with other researchers, both in QMUL, the University of Leicester and BT University Research.

Candidates should have the ability to demonstrate mathematical and analytical skills. Strong programming skills and background in heuristics, metaheuristics, constraint handling and graph theory are also desirable. Successful applicants should have a clear commitment to research and should enjoy working at the intersection of theory and practice.

QMUL Research Studentship Details
• Available to Home/EU & International applicants.
• Full Time programme only.
• Applicant required to start by October 2019.
• The studentship arrangement will cover tuition fees and provide an (tax free) annual stipend for up to three years (Set as £17,009 for
2019/20). Additionally the industrial partner will provide a fund to cover travel expenses.
• The minimum requirement for this studentship opportunity is a good Honours degree (minimum 2(i) honours or equivalent) or
MSc/MRes in a relevant discipline, such as Computer Science, Intelligent systems, Control Engineering, Communications and
Networks.
• If English is not your first language then you will require a valid English certificate equivalent to IELTS 6.5+ overall with a minimum
score of 6 in Writing 5.5 in all sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking).
• International applicants should refer to the following website at https://www.qmul.ac.uk/international-students/

Supervisor Contact Details:
For informal enquiries about this position, please contact Dr Jun Chen
Tel: 020 7882 8873
E-mail: [Email Address Removed]

Application Method
To apply for this studentship and for entry on to the Aerospace Engineering programme (Full Time) please follow the instructions detailed on the following webpage:

Research degrees in Engineering:
http://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/subjects/engineering.html

Further Guidance: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/

Please be sure to include a reference to ‘2019 SEMS EPSRC ICASE JC’ to associate your application with this studentship opportunity.