PhD student in Computer and Systems Sciences, with focus on AI assisted programming

The Department of Computer and Systems Sciences. With over 200 employees and 4,500 students, the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) is a strong and dynamic research and educational environment. The discipline of computer and systems sciences bridges the gap between technology and the humanities, social sciences, and behavioral sciences, with great relevance to our lives today and in the future. Our research addresses how new information and communication technology should be designed to benefit people, organizations and entire societies.

DSV offers a stimulating research community in an international environment. As a doctoral student at DSV, you study together with many other doctoral students, collaborate with senior research colleagues and get connected to other researchers in Sweden and abroad. DSV’s current location is Stockholm University's campus in Kista, north of central Stockholm, and we will move to the main Frescati campus within a couple of years.

More information about us, please visit: the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences.

Project description

The development of large language models has had a major impact on AI-assisted software development, enabling new levels of productivity in code synthesis, completion, and review. However, the opaque decision-making processes of these models pose challenges for developers aiming to comprehend, validate, and effectively leverage AI-generated code. Building transparent, interpretable AI-driven programming tools is important for developer trust, to facilitate debugging, and ensure software quality.

This PhD project seeks to advance explainability approaches for AI-based coding assistants. The successful candidate will design and evaluate techniques that reveal the model’s rationale in generating or suggesting code, with potential research areas including (but not limited to) counterfactual analysis and/or mechanistic interpretability as a way of linking the model’s internal representations to programming constructs or program logic. In addition to algorithmic and methodological development, the role could also involve implementing explanation components into real-world developer tools, and conducting empirical studies to assess how these enhancements affect user trust, debugging efficiency, and code quality.

Depending on the candidates scientific interests and expertise, the project can emphasize theoretical underpinnings, algorithmic innovation, system integration or other relevant and interesting research questions in explainable AI.

Qualification requirements

In order to be admitted to postgraduate education, the applicant must have the general and specific entry requirements. The qualification requirements must be met by the deadline for applications.

You meet general entry requirements if you have completed a second-cycle degree, or completed courses equivalent to at least 240 higher education credits, of which 60 credits must be in the second cycle, or have otherwise acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or elsewhere.

Specific entry requirements are described in the general syllabus for doctoral studies in the field of Computer and Systems Sciences and state that the applicant must have completed courses at second- cycle level in Computer and Systems Sciences with a minimum of 60 higher education credits, or equivalent, including a thesis with a minimum of 15 higher education credits. In addition, the applicant is required to have English language skills equivalent of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Level B2.

Selection

The selection among the eligible candidates will be based on their capacity to benefit from the training. The following criteria will be used to assess this capacity:

• Independence in the analysis and organization of the earlier work
• Problem formulation and rigor in previous work and in the research plan
• Previously shown ability to keep the specified time limits
• Methodological and scientific maturity
• Communication and cooperation skills
• Subject specific knowledge relevant to education.

Admission Regulations for Doctoral Studies at Stockholm University.

About the employment

We offer a fixed-term employment as a doctoral student according to Chapter 5 of the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100). The period of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education for four years. As a doctoral student, you should primarily devote yourself to your own doctoral education, but the employment may include work with education, research and administration to a limited extent (maximum 20 %).

A new employment as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, the employment is then renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

Stockholm University strives to be a workplace free from discrimination and with equal opportunities for all.

Contact

For more information, please contact Isak Samsten, samsten@dsv.su.se, och Peter Idestam-Almquist, pi@dsv.su.se, or Director of PhD studies, Åsa Smedberg, studierektorF@dsv.su.se. 

Application

Apply for the PhD student position at Stockholm University's recruitment system. Attach a personal letter and CV as well as the attachments requested in the application form. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the job advertisement, and that it is submitted before the deadline. We recommend that the application, with associated documents, be written in English.

The instructions for applicants are available at: How to apply for a position.