This is an overview of the environment for a job connected to the Programming Theory Group (PUT) and associated Bergen Language Design Laboratory (BLDL) at the Department of informatics, University of Bergen, Norway. Vacancies related to PUT are announced from time to time by the university.
We will try to keep a link to such announcements at the top of https://put.ii.uib.no/ — otherwise you will find them in the OPEN POSITIONS column at the bottom of the department's home page https://www.uib.no/en/ii.
Programming theory is the study of Computer Programming. At the University of Bergen we focus on the use of formal theory in understanding programming concepts. The concepts may be from specification or programming languages, or be more general software structuring mechanisms and patterns. The activity ranges from theoretical studies via building of support tools to practical software development.
Language provides us with means of expressing ideas, as well as a vehicle through which ideas evolve.
The Bergen Language Design Laboratory is dedicated to experimenting with software concepts and providing these as tool-supported language constructs. The constructs can be in the form of targeted domain specific languages or embedded in full-fledged modelling, specification or programming languages. Such experiments requires both language tools and a formal basis for the constructs. The latter may significantly simplify the former.
Language experimentation is important in nailing down ideas for software concepts, and it also provides the means for gaining experience with these ideas in practice. New ideas in this direction are needed to meet current challenges, e.g., safety issues for internet applications, clarity of business logic embedded in code, efficiency for high-performance applications, portability of software between multi-core and other architectures, quality of autonomous computing devices, and power consumption for computer game consoles. The laboratory fosters an interaction between software development activities and language experimentation, in order to get feedback on how constructs function in practice - and also to get inspiration for new ideas.
BLDL's purpose is to do basic research and training of researchers in the design, implementation, description and specification of programming languages. Research areas include parsing, analysis, transformation, optimisation, and the design of novel language features. To achieve these goals, BLDL will educate students (bachelor, masters and PhD) in the areas of language engineering and use of modern language implementation and transformation technology, cooperate with industry in solving engineering problems through the use of language technology and domain-specific languages, and coordinate closely with international research partners through projects and exchange of staff and students.
The Department of Informatics has seven units that deliver education and research at a high international level in algorithms, bioinformatics, machine learning, optimization, visualization, security and programming theory. All established groups are successfully co-funded by research grants, including two from the European Research Council (ERC). The department was rated top in Norway with respect to quality of science by the Research Council of Norway in 2012.
All faculty members are expected to contribute to excellence in teaching and to further increase international visibility and reputation through high quality research. The department offers state of art education at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels. The Programming Theory Group's joint master program in software engineering with the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is consistently rated as the best ICT master program by students in Norway.
The University of Bergen (UiB) is an internationally recognised research university. Academic diversity and high quality are fundamental. UiB is the most cited university in Norway.
There are seven faculties at UiB. There are a total of 3600 staff and 16 900 students at the university, of which about 1900 are international students. PhD candidates are paid employees of staff, making the doctoral degree at UiB particularly attractive. About 30% of these are from outside Norway.
The University of Bergen has most of its premises concentrated in two areas. Mathematics and natural sciences, social sciences, psychology, the humanities and arts and law are taught at Nygårdshøyden, a mixture of houses, shops and seats of learning close to the city centre. Årstadvollen is the University's "health campus", where dentistry, medicine and health-care lie close to the Haukeland and Haraldsplass university clinics, while the nearby Møllendal is the location for the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and design.
Bergen is a city and municipality in Hordaland on the west coast of Norway. At the end of the first quarter of 2017, the municipality's population was 280,221, and the Bergen metropolitan region has about 420,000 inhabitants. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The city centre and northern neighbourhoods are on Byfjorden, 'the city fjord', and the city is surrounded by mountains; Bergen is known as the 'city of seven mountains'. Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands. Bergen has a mild winter climate, though with a lot of precipitation.
Trading in Bergen may have started as early as the 1020s. According to tradition, the city was founded in 1070 by king Olav Kyrre. It served as Norway's capital in the 13th century, and from the end of the 13th century became a bureau city of the Hanseatic League. Bergen's old quayside, Bryggen, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Bergen Port is Norway's busiest in terms of both freight and passengers with over 300 cruise ship calls a year bringing nearly a half a million passengers to Bergen.
The 1,500-seat Grieg Hall is the home of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1765. The city also features Carte Blanche, the Norwegian national company of contemporary dance. The annual Bergen International Festival is the main cultural festival, which is supplemented by the Bergen International Film Festival. From the 1990s to the present Bergen has produced a series of successful rock, black metal and pop artists, e.g., Röyksopp, Aurora and Kygo. Den Nationale Scene is Bergen's main theatre. Founded in 1850, it had Henrik Ibsen as one of its first in-house playwrights and art directors. Bergen's contemporary art scene is centred on BIT Teatergarasjen, Bergen Kunsthall, United Sardines Factory (USF) and Bergen Center for Electronic Arts (BEK).
Norway has a population of 5,258,317 (as of January 2017). The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden (1,619 km or 1,006 mi long). Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, and the Skagerrak strait to the south, with Denmark on the other side. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution.
Norway maintains the Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system, and Norwegian Society's values are rooted in egalitarian ideals. It has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, and fresh water. The country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. It has the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, with a value of USD 1 trillion. Norway has had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world since 2009. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking. Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity, and the Democracy Index. Norway also has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.