The Department of Computer Science at the University of Hull ( http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/ ) has 
Three University (DCS) full PhD scholarship available for the forthcoming academic session. 

Each Scholarship amounts to (per annum) Home/EU Fees plus a stipend of £13290, for a period of 
three years. Non-EU students may also apply.

If you are looking to pursue a PhD and can start no later than September 2012, consider the PhD 
project outlines below  Further details are available at: 

                http://www2.hull.ac.uk/science/computer_science/research.aspx 

and 

                http://www2.hull.ac.uk/science/computer_science/vacancies.aspx 

Interactive Computer Graphics (to be supervised by Dr Jan Springer:  j.springer@hull.ac.uk ).

This PhD project will undertake research that investigates ways of how to separate the image 
creation for important and not so important parts of an interactive scene. It will build upon 
existing work (e.g., Multi-Frame Rate Rendering) for user-interaction-oriented asynchronous 
methods and concentrate on the support of asynchronous rendering of time-multiplexed user view 
ports. It is also aimed at practical solutions that employ current and anticipated hardware 
without imposing new hardware paradigms and/or designs.

Scalable allocation of safety integrity levels in automotive systems (to be supervised Dr David 
Parker: d.j.parker@hull.ac.uk  ).

One of the most important developments in the area of safety for the automotive industry is the 
introduction of a new safety standard, ISO 26262. A great deal of effort has been devoted to 
ensuring that current automotive practices either are or can be made compatible with this new 
standard. One major feature of the standard is the notion of an ASIL - an automotive safety 
integrity level, which indicates a minimum required level of safety for a system element. The 
standard makes provision for ASILs to be decomposed over a system (such that two components 
working together can meet a given ASIL, even if they do not do so individually). This gives rise 
to an allocation problem - given limited budgets and time, where should the designer allocate his 
resources (in the form of ASILs) to provide the maximum level of safety?  This PhD project would 
focus on investigating this area, building on existing preliminary research undertaken as part of 
the MAENAD project (EU FP7 project on automotive safety for electric vehicles). In particular, 
the PhD researcher may want to look at how multi-objective optimisation algorithms, such as 
genetic algorithms and Tabu search, may be applied in this situation to achieve a scalable 
solution that can identify optimal (or near-optimal) allocation strategies even in large, complex 
systems. This work would ultimately be linked with the HiP-HOPS tool, providing additional 
functionality for this successful commercial tool and improving its support for a major new 
safety standard.

Safety Analysis (to be supervised Dr Martin Walker: martin.walker@hull.ac.uk ).

HiP-HOPS (Hierarchically Performed Hazard Origin and Propagation Studies) is a methodology 
and associated toolset, which enables compositional model-based safety analysis of complex 
engineering systems to be undertaken automatically. The application of HiP-HOPS to a system 
presently yields models such as fault trees, which capture the interaction and propagation of 
failures in the system and that — with appropriate modifications — could be used for monitoring 
and diagnosis. Other technologies suitable for diagnosis, such as Bayesian networks, would also 
be investigated. Bayesian networks can model the uncertainty often inherent in the diagnosis 
process and which fault trees are currently unable to capture. One problem with Bayesian 
networks is that presently these models are built manually, which is a laborious and error 
prone process.  This PhD project would investigate the advantages of combining Bayesian networks 
with the existing compositional analysis approaches used in HiP-HOPS, helping to overcome 
shortcomings in both approaches and enhancing the capabilities of the tool. It would also 
involve developing an approach to safety monitoring to deliver a wide range of monitoring functions
based on HiP-HOPS technology. There may be opportunities to work on case studies with industrial 
collaborators including Volvo and Embraer as well as other educational and research institutes 
across Europe, such as the Flanders Mechatronics Technology Centre.

Prospective projects that are near variations on these themes are also welcome; although we 
suggest you contact the supervisor ahead of applying to discuss.

Procedure may be found at: 
http://www2.hull.ac.uk/science/computer_science/prospective_students/postgraduate_research.aspx 

It is suggested that applications be lodged no later than 1st July 2012.

An application form can be completed online please see the link below

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Apply_online_for_postgrad_courses/University_of_Hull/p!efbXpmi

Applications will be considered for postgraduate study once this form has been received.

Enquiries may also be made via email to 

                Dr Darryl N. Davis (Director of Research, Director of Postgraduate Research Studies),

                Email     d.n.davis@hull.ac.uk