Open Positions:

I always look for excellent PhD students interested in model-based and data-driven analysis of cyber-physical systems (e.g., autonomous systems modeled with dynamical equations). The main focus will be on the formal verification and synthesis of (stochastic) hybrid systems, i.e., dynamical systems exhibiting mixed discrete and continuous behaviour under the influence of uncertainty. Depending on the interest and background of candidates, research will include topics from control theory, probabilistic methods, logic, and machine learning.

Candidate profile:

• strong background in Control Theory, Computer Science, Mathematics, or closely related fields

• solid programming skills in Matlab/C++/Python

• should have completed, or are about to complete, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in the above-mentioned areas

Please send me your full application materials (a complete CV, transcripts, and motivation letter)

Fun Stats:

• My Erdös number is 3 (via James Worrell, Michael Makkai, Paul Erdös).

• Honoured to have the following mathematicians in my math family tree: Gauss, Lipschitz, Dirichlet, Poisson, Laplace, Fourier, Lagrange, Euler, Bernoulli, and Leibniz.

• The most famous mathematicians in my family tree and their timelines can be found here.

• My full math genealogy can be found here.

About Me:

I am currently an Associate Professor in Cyber-Physical Systems at Newcastle University, United Kingdom. My research aim is to develop an integrated environment for programming, verifying, and designing high-performance and scalable CPSs perceiving and acting in the uncertain physical world. I have developed and shaped my research vision on formal synthesis, abstraction, and verification (over probabilistic temporal specifications) of complex dynamical systems with application in cyber-physical systems (CPSs) particularly involving energy networks and autonomous systems. I have a BSc in Pure Mathematics, a BSc in Electrical Engineering, an MSc in Control Engineering, and a PhD in Systems & Control, all with distinction. I built my background in Computer Science during my PhD studies and postdoctoral experiences at TU Delft, Oxford University, and the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems.

I have attracted research funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC), UK’s Research Council for Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPSRC), and the UK’s Centre for Doctoral Training. I am the coordinator and PI of the recent € 4 million EIC project to develop a symbolic logic framework for situational awareness in mixed autonomy. I have successfully secured 7 PhD studentships (total value of €728k). I am also supervising 4 PhD students jointly with other institutions (Max Plank Institute and Ludwig Maximillian University, Germany). My prestigious EPSRC New Investigator Award (€570k) received the absolute full mark from the reviews and was ranked first in the evaluation panel.

I have published 70 contributions in total, 46 at conferences and 24 in Journals, including Transactions of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). My publications have attracted 1400+ citations in total with h-index of 21 and an i10-index of 45 according to Google Scholar. My papers are all accepted in A* conferences (CORE ranking) and flagship venues including IEEE TAC, Automatica, IEEE TCST, SIAM, NAHS, European Journal of Control, HSCC, ICCPS, CAV, EMSOFT, TACAS, ICALP, ATVA, QEST, CONCUR, iFM, ACC, CDC, ECC, IFAC, and IEEE Control Systems Letters.

My background and track record are full of awards of certificates for excellence in research and education demonstrating recognition of my scientific activities by the related communities. Two of my recent papers published at TACAS 2022 and HSCC 2020 were nominated for the best paper award (the top three/five papers of these conferences). My research has been very influential and successful in bringing together control theory and formal methods. This is widely recognised by both communities. For instance, I got the best paper award from the flagship International Conference on Quantitative Evaluation of Systems in 2018. My PhD thesis won the DISC Best Thesis Award in the Netherlands for the best PhD thesis in the field of Systems & Control awarded countrywide. I also won multiple silver medals in Mathematics Competitions and Electrical Engineering Olympiads, which shows my strong background in pursuing fundamental research at the intersection of Mathematics and Engineering. I have also received the Newcastle Teaching Award and the DISC Certificate from the Dutch Institute of Systems and Control.

I have successfully organised multiple international workshops co-located with major events (V2CPS 2016 co-located with iFM, SNR 2019 and VARS 2021 co-located with CPS-IoT Week, ARCH 2020-2021 Stochastic Category, co-located with IFAC), and the Demo/Poster sessions of ICCPS 2022. Most notably, the ARCH Workshop has been very successful as the prime international venue for all the researchers working on developing tools for stochastic systems. I have served on Program Committees of many international events (e.g., HSCC2022, FORMATS 2022, HSCC2021, ADHS2021, RTEST2020, NSV 2019, V2CPS 2016, HSCC-RE 2017, HSCC-RE 2016), all at the interface of control theory and computer science. I am a member of the IEEE Technical Committee on Hybrid Systems and a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College and serve regularly as a reviewer for prestigious journals and conferences, as well as grants (e.g. EPSRC, MRC, NWO).

Please feel free to get in touch if you are interested in my research activities.

Highlights:

• Our survey paper on Automated Verification and Synthesis of Stochastic Hybrid Systems has been accepted in Automatica.

• My collaborator Kaushik Mallik completed his PhD with summa cum laude, the highest distinction for a PhD from Max Planck Institute for Software Systems. I had the pleasure of working with Kaushik during his PhD, and two of our papers were nominated for the best paper award in HSCC and TACAS.

• We have a new project called SymAware, which is a € 4 million project awarded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) in the Pathfinder call to perform cutting-edge research and to achieve breakthroughs in the strategic area of “awareness”. This was a competitive call across the whole of Europe with an acceptance rate of 9.7%. Among 403 proposals only 39 projects were successful. Investigators of SymAware include Sadegh Soudjani as the consortium lead, and the Co-Is are from KTH, Uppsala, TU Eindhoven, Siemens, and the Netherlands Aerospace Centre. We will soon advertise multiple positions for this project.

• My paper titled ‘A Direct Symbolic Algorithm for Solving Stochastic Rabin Games’ was presented at TACAS 2022 and is nominated for the Best Paper Award of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS). The article was considered to be in the top five of more than 400 papers, which is a fantastic achievement. You can read the full research article online.

• Best repeatability prize from the 7th IFAC Conference on Analysis and Design of Hybrid Systems (ADHS'21) for the paper "Data-driven safety verification of stochastic systems via barrier certificates"

• EPSRC New Investigator Award, May 2021 (£484k to work on the CodeCPS project: Correct-by-design estimation and control of cyber-physical systems)

  • This proposal was ranked first by the EPSRC panel (it received the absolute full score, three reviews 6 out of 6), comments from the reviewers:“The PI is undoubtedly a rising star in the areas of formal verification and formal methods for dynamical systems" and “The PI is an expert in formal methods and has already, despite his career stage, ground-breaking contributions and farreaching ideas.”

• Newcastle Teaching Award in June 2020

• HSCC Best Paper Nomination (top three papers) in April 2020

• HSCC Best Poster/Demo Award in April 2020

• QEST Best Paper Award in September 2018

• DISC Best PhD Thesis Award in 2015 (Assessed nationwide in the area of Systems and Control in the Netherlands)

Research Interests:

• Formal Synthesis

• Abstraction and Verification (over probabilistic temporal specifications)

• Cyber-Physical Systems

• Stochastic Hybrid Systems

• Smart Grids

• Power and Energy Networks

• Transportation Systems

• Systems Biology

Projects:

• SymAware (2022-2025)

• CodeCPS (2021-2024)

• Safe-CPS (2016-2017)

• AMBI (2014-2015)

• MoVeS (2010-2013)