The IMDEA Software Institute invites applications for one postdoc position to work on the offchain monitoring of smart contract blockchains. Offchain monitoring is the process of analyzing the chain of blocks that are generated during the evolution of the blockchain, and produce verdicts and explanations from the analysis. Miners/bakers create new blocks containing enough information to reproduce all details of the execution of the smart contracts. In turn, indexers collect the information contained in the blocks and compute and index additional information for efficient retrieval. Indexers allow to execute queries efficiently about the history of the blockchain, but they are typically used only to compute execution statistics.
In this project we aim to build a sophisticated system, based on runtime verification, to analyze the execution of the Tezos blockchain to detect attacks, malicious users and their relations and other anomalies. The goal of the project is to build a system consisting of (1) a query monitoring language that allows to describe which information to collect from the history of the blockchain (2) rich data that is computed as a results of queries and serves as explanation and visualization (3) improvements on indexers that allow to runs these queries efficiently.
The ideal candidate should have a strong background on programming languages and formal methods, and excellent programming skills. Experience in Blockchain technologies, particularly smart contracts, and runtime verification is a plus. Functional languages (particularly O-Caml) and ability to learn new programming languages is also a big plus.
Applications are invited to apply for a postdoc position at the IMDEA Software Institute, Madrid, Spain. Selected candidates will work with Prof. César Sánchez and an international team of graduate students, postdocs, programmers and researchers focusing on Blockchain reliability.
Candidates should hold a PhD in computer science or being close to complete one, have an interest in the above area, and a strong commitment to research. Proven top programming skills as well as ability to understand and develop algorithms are required. Good teamwork and communication skills, including excellent spoken and written English are also required.
The position is based in Madrid, Spain, where the IMDEA Software Institute is situated. The institute provides for travel expenses and an internationally competitive stipend. The working language at the IMDEA Software Institute is English.
The duration of the position will be up to 30 months.
Applicants interested in the position should submit their application at https://careers.software.imdea.org/ using reference code 2022-07-postdoc-offchain. Review of applications will begin immediately and close when positions are filled or on August 15th, 2022.
For enquiries about the position, please contact:
