University of Adelaide and Swordfish Computing Industry PhD (UAiPhD)

The UAiPhD is an innovative 4-year program, which includes completion of a 6-month industry placement.

As a PhD student you will have the opportunity to work on an industry problem, while being supported by a University of Adelaide supervisor and an industry supervisor for the duration of the program.

In addition, you will undertake selected professional development activities offered through the University’s Career and Research Skills Training (CaRST) program or as directed by the industry partner. During your placement, you will gain valuable understanding on how organisations innovate and solve real world problems, and how you can make an impact with your research, while gaining a significant employment advantage.

Detailed information about the program can be found on the UAiPhD (iPhD) website.

Please see below for more information about this exciting project with Swordfish Computing

Industry Partner:

Swordfish Computing

Research Project Title:

Methods of automatic discovery and documentation of dynamic application topology of microservice based systems.

Research Project Details: 

Following a microservice architecture, an application is broken down into many microservices, each one potentially running its own programming language and database, each one independently deployed, scaled and upgraded.

Systems consisting of networked microservices distributed across many computational assets are becoming ever larger and more complicated. When the topology of microservices and computational assets running them are both dynamic then monitoring the system’s operation for purposes such as: performance, security, testing, debugging, and understanding the system, becomes a huge challenge.

This project aims to investigate methodologies that would enable a system with dynamic topologies of distributed computational assets and microsystems to automatically self-report, collate and present information describing the structure and behavior of its topologies.

• Given a topographically dynamic system, what information and metrics best describe its structure and behaviour for purposes such as: operational performance, security assurance, development of new services, testing, debugging, and understanding the system?
• What architecture will best support the system’s self reporting, collation and presentation of information and metrics while minimising the impact on the performance of the system’s primary purposes?
• What is the relationship between the degree of topographic dynamism and accuracy of system wide representations at any given point in time?

The aim of this project is the investigation of methodologies that would enable the automated discovery and documentation of dynamic topologies of distributed computational assets and microsystems in terms of structure and behaviour.

The project will be structured around the following objectives:

• Identify the information needs of developers when trying to understand the dynamic behaviour of microservice based systems
• Extract the required information from a dynamic system
• Develop approaches for effectively representing and visualising the structure and behaviour of a system
• Evaluate the developed solution in an industry setting

Eligibility:

Applicants must be Australian citizens who are acceptable as candidates for a PhD degree at the University of Adelaide, Faculty of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences, School of Computer Science, and would be able to commence in 2022.

Stipend:

The scholarship will be for 4 years and has a stipend of $28,597 p/a (RTP Stipend) & $10,000 p/a (Supplementary Scholarship) (indexed annually) per annum.  It is likely to be tax exempt, subject to Taxation Office approval.  Details of any terms and/or benefits can be found in the Conditions of Award/Rules.

Application Instructions:

Applications for this UAiPhD project should be submitted to Associate Professor Markus Wagner at [email protected] by no later than COB Wednesday November 3, 2021, with the title of the program and project in the subject heading. Please ensure that you include all of the following documents:

• Evidence of Australian citizenship
• Degree certificates (testamurs)
• Academic transcripts
• Curriculum vitae

Registration website

Applications openSeptember 3 2021 Applications close November 3 2021 Payment per year $28,597.00 p.a (RTP Stipend) and $10,000 p.a. (Supplementary Scholarship) Duration 4 years Program PhD Degree Postgraduate Research Citizenship Australian Citizens Type of Scholarship Academic Available In Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences Available ToFuture

For further information about the UAiPhD Program, please visit the UAiPhD (iPhD) website in the first instance, and for further enquiries please contact [email protected] or phone: 8313 6091.