The Centre for Formal Methods and Future Computing (FORM) at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark (SDU, Campus Odense or Vejle) invites applications for 3-year PhD positions in computer science with emphasis on formal methods. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) computational complexity, distributed systems, human factors, logic, programming languages, and security. The targeted starting period is late autumn 2026, with room for flexibility.
The application requirements are detailed at the end of this advertisement.
About FORM
FORM pursues the formalisation of computing in an open access, universal repository. Our vision is to unlock the combined potential of humans and artificial intelligence (AI) for the rapid and reliable construction of digital systems guided by rigorous mathematical foundations. Towards which, our current main instrument is the Computer Science Library (CSLib) in the Lean programming technology. CSLib is a global initiative carried out in collaboration with stakeholders around the world, and FORM is a key founding player in CSLib's steering and technical leadership.
Whom we are looking for
The ideal candidate has an MSc in Computer Science and is interested in theory, development, or usage of formal methods.
Fluency in English is required.
Hosting environment
FORM is embedded in the Section of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Programming Languages (ACP), an elite cluster of research groups that fosters collaboration, research excellence, and quality education. FORM and ACP offer ample opportunities for collaboration, personal growth, and mentoring. The section's current research covers a wide range of areas and topics that include symbolic AI and formal methods (logic, theorem provers, type systems, categories, etc.), concurrent programming languages (choreographic programming, session types, etc.), distributed computing (cloud computing, microservices, etc.), Dev(Sec)Ops, software engineering (software product lines), human factors in security and privacy, post-quantum and embedded cryptography, and quantum programming languages.
The section is part of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, and other research sections at the department are
Our department offers an inclusive and international working environment with state-of-the-art facilities and strong traditions for collaboration across research groups, departments and faculties, and with other organisations like educational institutions, municipalities, and companies. The degrees offered by the department include BSc and MSc degrees in Computer Science, a BSc degree in Artificial Intelligence, and an MSc degree in Data Science. More information about the department can be found at https://imada.sdu.dk/.
The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) was founded in 1966 and now has more than 27.000 students, almost 20% of whom are from abroad. It has 3,800+ employees, and 115 different study programs in the fields of the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, and engineering. Its main campus is located in Odense, the third largest city in Denmark. Odense provides family-friendly living conditions, with the perfect combination of a historic city centre with an urban and vibrant feel and yet close proximity to beaches and recreational areas. Its location on the island of Funen is ideal with easy access to the larger cities and airports in Aarhus and Copenhagen.
Conditions of employment
Appointment as a PhD fellow is a 3-year salaried position.
Employment of a PhD fellow can only happen after the PhD School has approved the candidate for admission.
Employment as a PhD fellow is governed by the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for PhD fellows as described herein as well as the Protocol on PhD fellows signed by the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).
The person employed in the position may, based on a specific individual managerial assessment, be exempted from time registration, also known as a self-organiser.
Application deadline is 16 August 2026. We are not permitted to directly contact your academic references under any circumstances, so please ensure their letters have reached us by the deadline.
We recommend that as an international applicant, you take the time to visit Work in Denmark where you will find information and facts about moving to, working and living in Denmark, as well as the International Staff Office at SDU.
Contact information
Questions? Curious to learn more about the position and environment? Please feel free to reach out to FORM (< email slettet af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager >) for general enquiries, or directly to FORM's Director Fabrizio Montesi (< email slettet af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager >) or any of the FORM Investigators for other information (including possible research topics).
If you experience technical problems, please contact < email slettet af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager >.
Conditions of employment
Appointment as a PhD fellow is a 3-year salaried position.
Employment of a PhD fellow can only happen after the PhD School has approved the candidate for admission.
Employment as a PhD fellow is governed by the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for PhD fellows as described herein as well as the Protocol on PhD fellows signed by the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).
Further information about salary and conditions of employment.
The person employed in the position may, based on a specific individual managerial assessment, be exempted from time registration, also known as a self-organiser.
The assessment and evaluation process
Shortlisting may be used in the assessment process. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will receive an assessment. Read about shortlisting at SDU.
Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee and the shortlisted applicants will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns them. The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicants to provide the necessary material.
Interviews and tests may be part of the overall evaluation.
The application
Applicants are encouraged to read the information "How to apply" before applying.
To qualify for the position as PhD fellow you must have obtained a master's degree (equivalent to a Danish master's degree) by the enrollment/employment date.
Assessment of the candidates is based on the application material, and the application must include:
The application and all appendices must be in English. We request files in pdf-format no more than 5 MB per file. All pdf-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected.
Documents should not contain a CPR number (civil registration number) - in this case, the CPR number must be crossed out.
UPLOAD GUIDE: Motivated application shall be uploaded as 'Cover letter', Curriculum Vitae shall be uploaded as 'Resume'. All other documents shall be uploaded as 'Miscellaneous documents'.
If the application does not meet the requirements mentioned above, the faculty may reject your application without further notice. Applications received after the deadline will neither be considered nor evaluated.
The University of Southern Denmark wishes to reflect the surrounding community and therefore encourages everyone, regardless of personal background, to apply for the position.
About SDU
The University of Southern Denmark was established to create value for and with society. Whether our contributions come in the form of excellent research, innovative solutions, education or learning, we must make a positive difference to society and contribute to a sustainable future. We do this by cultivating talents and creating the best environments for research and learning. It is therefore crucial that SDU retains, develops and recruits talent. At the same time, we need to ensure consistently high quality in all our activities - and we can only do that with the right people. The University's researchers, lecturers, students, managers and technical/administrative staff are the foundation of our success.
The application requirements are detailed at the end of this advertisement.
About FORM
FORM pursues the formalisation of computing in an open access, universal repository. Our vision is to unlock the combined potential of humans and artificial intelligence (AI) for the rapid and reliable construction of digital systems guided by rigorous mathematical foundations. Towards which, our current main instrument is the Computer Science Library (CSLib) in the Lean programming technology. CSLib is a global initiative carried out in collaboration with stakeholders around the world, and FORM is a key founding player in CSLib's steering and technical leadership.
Whom we are looking for
The ideal candidate has an MSc in Computer Science and is interested in theory, development, or usage of formal methods.
Fluency in English is required.
Hosting environment
FORM is embedded in the Section of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Programming Languages (ACP), an elite cluster of research groups that fosters collaboration, research excellence, and quality education. FORM and ACP offer ample opportunities for collaboration, personal growth, and mentoring. The section's current research covers a wide range of areas and topics that include symbolic AI and formal methods (logic, theorem provers, type systems, categories, etc.), concurrent programming languages (choreographic programming, session types, etc.), distributed computing (cloud computing, microservices, etc.), Dev(Sec)Ops, software engineering (software product lines), human factors in security and privacy, post-quantum and embedded cryptography, and quantum programming languages.
The section is part of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, and other research sections at the department are
- Algorithms
- Computational Science
- Data Science and Statistics
- Geometry, Topology and Algebra
- Learning Experience Design
Our department offers an inclusive and international working environment with state-of-the-art facilities and strong traditions for collaboration across research groups, departments and faculties, and with other organisations like educational institutions, municipalities, and companies. The degrees offered by the department include BSc and MSc degrees in Computer Science, a BSc degree in Artificial Intelligence, and an MSc degree in Data Science. More information about the department can be found at https://imada.sdu.dk/.
The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) was founded in 1966 and now has more than 27.000 students, almost 20% of whom are from abroad. It has 3,800+ employees, and 115 different study programs in the fields of the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, and engineering. Its main campus is located in Odense, the third largest city in Denmark. Odense provides family-friendly living conditions, with the perfect combination of a historic city centre with an urban and vibrant feel and yet close proximity to beaches and recreational areas. Its location on the island of Funen is ideal with easy access to the larger cities and airports in Aarhus and Copenhagen.
Conditions of employment
Appointment as a PhD fellow is a 3-year salaried position.
Employment of a PhD fellow can only happen after the PhD School has approved the candidate for admission.
Employment as a PhD fellow is governed by the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for PhD fellows as described herein as well as the Protocol on PhD fellows signed by the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).
The person employed in the position may, based on a specific individual managerial assessment, be exempted from time registration, also known as a self-organiser.
Application deadline is 16 August 2026. We are not permitted to directly contact your academic references under any circumstances, so please ensure their letters have reached us by the deadline.
We recommend that as an international applicant, you take the time to visit Work in Denmark where you will find information and facts about moving to, working and living in Denmark, as well as the International Staff Office at SDU.
Contact information
Questions? Curious to learn more about the position and environment? Please feel free to reach out to FORM (< email slettet af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager >) for general enquiries, or directly to FORM's Director Fabrizio Montesi (< email slettet af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager >) or any of the FORM Investigators for other information (including possible research topics).
If you experience technical problems, please contact < email slettet af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager >.
Conditions of employment
Appointment as a PhD fellow is a 3-year salaried position.
Employment of a PhD fellow can only happen after the PhD School has approved the candidate for admission.
Employment as a PhD fellow is governed by the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for PhD fellows as described herein as well as the Protocol on PhD fellows signed by the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).
Further information about salary and conditions of employment.
The person employed in the position may, based on a specific individual managerial assessment, be exempted from time registration, also known as a self-organiser.
The assessment and evaluation process
Shortlisting may be used in the assessment process. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will receive an assessment. Read about shortlisting at SDU.
Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee and the shortlisted applicants will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns them. The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicants to provide the necessary material.
Interviews and tests may be part of the overall evaluation.
The application
Applicants are encouraged to read the information "How to apply" before applying.
To qualify for the position as PhD fellow you must have obtained a master's degree (equivalent to a Danish master's degree) by the enrollment/employment date.
Assessment of the candidates is based on the application material, and the application must include:
- Motivated application letter, including a description of the candidate's research interests in connection to FORM.
- Curriculum vitae
- Bachelor's and Master's degree, including transcript of grades (copy of original + verified English translation)
- A complete list of publications if you have any (the candidate is welcome to accompany each publication with a line explaining their contribution)
- A recommendation letter, if available. Letters of recommendation should be sent directly to < email slettet af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager > mentioning your name and the title of the position in the subject line. Please note that these need to reach us before the deadline.
The application and all appendices must be in English. We request files in pdf-format no more than 5 MB per file. All pdf-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected.
Documents should not contain a CPR number (civil registration number) - in this case, the CPR number must be crossed out.
UPLOAD GUIDE: Motivated application shall be uploaded as 'Cover letter', Curriculum Vitae shall be uploaded as 'Resume'. All other documents shall be uploaded as 'Miscellaneous documents'.
If the application does not meet the requirements mentioned above, the faculty may reject your application without further notice. Applications received after the deadline will neither be considered nor evaluated.
The University of Southern Denmark wishes to reflect the surrounding community and therefore encourages everyone, regardless of personal background, to apply for the position.
About SDU
The University of Southern Denmark was established to create value for and with society. Whether our contributions come in the form of excellent research, innovative solutions, education or learning, we must make a positive difference to society and contribute to a sustainable future. We do this by cultivating talents and creating the best environments for research and learning. It is therefore crucial that SDU retains, develops and recruits talent. At the same time, we need to ensure consistently high quality in all our activities - and we can only do that with the right people. The University's researchers, lecturers, students, managers and technical/administrative staff are the foundation of our success.