[kepler-dev] Off-topic: Computational Science Thesis Opportunities

[Wibke Sudholt]

Hi Kepler developers,

I know that this is off-topic, and I don't want to spam the mailing list,
but Ilkay told me it would be ok if I advertise this here:

I am urgently looking for students for a research project I am currently
working on, which has some relation to technology used in Kepler. For a
description, please see below, the attachment, or my home page. Please
contact me directly for further information. So if you know somebody who
might be interested in this offer, I would be very happy if you could
forward this email.

Thank you very much for your attention and your help,

Wibke


Dr. Wibke Sudholt
Institute of Organic Chemistry
University of Zurich
Winterthurerstrasse 190
CH-8057 Zurich
Switzerland
Phone: +41 44 635 4222
Email: wibke at oci.unizh.ch
Web:   http://www.baldridge.unizh.ch/~wibke/


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Computational Science Thesis Opportunities

In the Research Group of Prof. Dr. Kim Baldridge,
Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Distributed Computing for Reinsurance Related Calculations ­ Design,
Algorithms and Runtime Experience

About our group
We are a dynamic and international research group with an excellent
scientific record and international collaborations. Our main areas of
research are Computational Chemistry and High Performance Computing. We
build and utilize large-scale compute infrastructure, primarily Linux- and
Mac-based, with up-to-date workstations, clusters, grids and visualization
equipment.

About the collaboration
We are working together with a reinsurance company. The objective of these
studies is the advancement of a computational application that estimates the
financial loss from natural disasters such as earthquakes, storms, and
floods. In the production environment, this application is currently only
running on single machines. The goal of the collaboration is to distribute
the calculations onto a cluster or grid of resources to increase
performance, scalability, fairness and stability.

About your project
In the first stage of this project, the application code was distributed
with the aid of grid middleware tools. However, the test results of the
current solution are not yet fully satisfying. Reasons for this can be found
in the computational algorithm and the data processing. The goal of this
project is thus to optimize the current distribution scheme. Initial
strategies for success of this goal exist.

Whom we seek
We are seeking Diploma, Masters, or PhD students from local or foreign
universities who wish to carry out thesis studies within our collaboration
team (for a PhD thesis, this project would need to be combined with related
topics). This job opening has to be filled as soon as possible, and the work
should be completed within 2006. The length of the thesis is variable,
depending on requirements. The background of study can be Computer Science,
Natural Sciences, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Business or similar. We
require solid knowledge of Unix operating systems (preferably Linux) and
relevant skills in object oriented programming (preferably Java) and
relational databases (preferably Oracle). Experience with distributed,
parallel, cluster or grid computing is desired, but not necessary.
Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.

What we offer
You will perform your thesis on an exciting project as part of an
interdisciplinary collaborative team with a true team spirit. This research
opportunity will provide insight into both academic and commercial
environments simultaneously. We offer direct support and supervision by the
team leader, and employment at the University of Zurich for the duration of
the thesis, with a salary dependent on education level and project
involvement.

For more information or to submit your CV, please contact
Dr. Wibke Sudholt
Institute of Organic Chemistry
University of Zurich
Winterthurerstrasse 190
CH-8057 Zurich
Switzerland
Room:  Y11-G-16
Phone: +41 44 635 4222
Fax:   +41 44 635 6888
Email: wibke at oci.unizh.ch
Web:   http://www.baldridge.unizh.ch/~wibke/  

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