Ph.D. opportunity on REsilient CONtrol SYstems in Distributed EneRgy Systems at Royal Holloway, U. of London

A funded Ph.D. position to be filled immediately is available in
the School of Mathematics and Information Security in the area
of 'REsilient CONtrol SYstems in Distributed EneRgy Systems':
The security of control systems, particularly in critical infrastructure
such as the electric power grid has gained significant attention of
late, but this is more than matched by new challenges arising from the
transition to a smart grid introducing extensive automation and the need
to operate closer to safety margins to achieve desired levels of efficiency.
The studentship will seek to enhance an understanding of the likely
effects and ability to detect malicious activities originating in or
traversing control networks in electric power networks with emphasis on
timing-related attacks. To this end, selected protocols and models of
electrical power systems' network infrastructure will be studied along
with a systematic analysis of possible attacks. Based on such an
enhanced understanding, mechanisms for enhancing control network
resilience through rapid detection of malicious activity and dynamic
re-configuration in the presence of such activities are then to be studied.
Applicants should have or be expecting to obtain a first class honours
degree or M.Sc. in Mathematics, Computer Science, Electrical
Engineering, or a similar subject; a M.Sc. degree in a related field is
beneficial. Ideally, applicants would also have interest in control
systems theory and information security.
The Information Security Group (ISG) at Royal Holloway, University of
London is one of the largest academic security research groups in the
world. As a result, the student will benefit from a thriving and dynamic
research environment, and may collaborate with PhD students and
researchers with interest in the field as well as with government and
industrial collaboration partners.
Funding Notes: Applicants MUST hold UK citizenship and satisfy
nationality, residency, and security constraints equivalent to those
pertinent to employment by GCHQ.
The College is committed to equality and diversity, and encourages
applications from all sections of the community. Applications will be
evaluated continuously until a suitable candidate is identified.