I am currently recruiting PhD candidates to work on software engineering topics. I am particularly interested in model-based software engineering, software quality and testing, software analytics, and mining of software repositories.

Required background

You need to have a good first degree in Computer Science, or Software Engineering. You should have strong object-oriented design and development skills, good ideas of your own, and the desire to work independently. You also need to be able to demonstrate accomplishment: what have you done in the past? What have you completed? This might be a project that you have finished, software that you have built, a paper that you've had published, etc.

Who will I be working with?

You will be working with an international world-class team of academics, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students. Our research group has a strong track record of collaboration with industry and we are leading the development of one of the most widely-adopted open-source model-based software engineering platforms, Epsilon, which is used in organisations and companies such as NASA, BAE Systems, IBM, Thales and Siemens. In the last national research assessment (REF 2014), the Department of Computer Science ranked joint 7th with Oxford (among 89 CS departments in the country) for the quality of our research.

How can I apply for a PhD?

You can apply for a PhD through the University's online system. Please note that the most important part of your application will be your research proposal, where you are expected to explain the topic you wish to investigate in your PhD.

There is a lot of good advice on the web on how to write a good research proposal, including:

Before you start writing your proposal, it is usually a good idea to contact me first so that we can discuss whether the topic you have in mind is in line with my research interests. In your introductory email, please:

  • attach copies of your CV
  • briefly explain how you plan to fund your PhD studies (i.e. are you applying for / have you already secured a scholarship? do you require funding from the University of York?)

If you don't have a specific topic in mind, I am happy to suggest a few topics that are aligned with my current research.

What is the typical duration of a PhD in the group?

The typical duration of a PhD is 3-4 years. Being in a world-leading position in the field of model-driven engineering means that we will be able to help you select a cutting-edge topic for your PhD project so that you can engage in productive and fruitful research from the first year of the programme. In fact, many of our PhD students start publishing novel results from as early as the second year of their project.

What about scholarships?

Please have a look at this page for information regarding available scholarships and funding.