Salary scale: GBP 26,629 to 29,972 per annum.

     Closing date: 09 Jun 2011

These two posts will support the EPSRC joint research project
PLanCompS: Programming Language Components and Specifications.
The Swansea team led by Professor Mosses at the Department of Computer Science, Swansea University 
will be working with teams from Royal Holloway, University of London and City University London; 
Microsoft Research Cambridge is a project partner. The Department of Computer Science at Swansea 
University has a strong and long-established record in the area of fundamentals of computing.

The project will develop and test a novel component-based framework for design, specification and 
implementation of programming languages. It includes:
  * specification of a collection of highly reusable language
    components called funcons (fundamental constructs);
  * translation of major general-purpose programming languages
    (C#, Java, F#) and domain-specific languages to funcons;
  * validation of funcon and language specifications by
    testing generated prototype implementations;
  * design and implementation of an Integrated Development
    Environment (IDE) for component-based specification; and
  * creation of a digital library of language specifications.
See the preliminary project page at www.plancomps.org for a more detailed overview.

The posts provide an excellent opportunity for researchers interested in the formal specification 
and implementation of programming languages, and in the tools needed to support practical language 
development based on formal semantics. They would particularly suit candidates with a background 
in theoretical computer science who are interested in practical applications; a further post based 
at Royal Holloway focussing on the IDE, frontend and backend tooling is expected to be advertised 
shortly.

Candidates for the posts at Swansea are required to have a first degree in Computer Science (or a 
closely related subject), to have actively engaged in and contributed to writing and publishing 
research papers, to be able to understand and specify formal semantics of programming languages, 
and to be able to program in C# or Java as well as in a functional or logic programming language. 
Candidates who already have (or will soon complete) a PhD in Computer Science (or a closely related
subject) will be preferred.

It is anticipated that interviews will be held on Thursday
23 June 2011.

Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Peter Mosses at P.D.Mosses@swansea.ac.uk.

For details of how to apply, see the vacancy announcement at 
www.swansea.ac.uk/personnel/vacancies/research/posttitle,58343,en.php

The PLanCompS project is currently recruiting also two PhD students - see 
www.plancomps.org for links to the announcements.