The Cyber Technology Institute (CTI) at DMU is looking to appoint two professors. They will join a dynamic established research institute with very strong industry connections, with an opportunity to shape and lead its future directions.

Cyber Technology Institute

In 2019, the CTI was recognised as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research by EPSRC and the NCSC, the only such centre in the East Midlands and one of the only two in post-1992 universities. The CTI continues a long history of research at DMU in cyber security and software engineering, together with more recent developments in smart and automotive systems and IoT. Its cyber security specialisation areas include sociotechnical aspects including privacy, incident response, and industrial control system security. In the latter area, it is Airbus’ only Centre of Excellence in SCADA Security. Besides Airbus, its Industrial Advisory group consists of BT, Rolls Royce, and Deloitte UK. Deloitte has jointly set up a training SOC (Security Operations Centre) with DMU to extend the10 existing specialist laboratories for cyber security research and education, which also include a Smart Systems lab.

De Montfort University

De Montfort University (DMU) is a vibrant, ambitious institution. Characterised by strong leadership and an international outlook, DMU achieved a TEF Gold ranking for its teaching quality and prestigious awards for its #DMUGlobal initiative. Located within Leicester's cosmopolitan city centre, DMU's £136 million campus transformation is creating the modern, inspiring environments our students and staff deserve.

At DMU, we believe that everyone should have the freedom to be, the freedom to inspire and the freedom to succeed. In 2016, we launched our game-changing charter ‘DMUfreedom’, with the premise that all our staff and students be afforded the respect, inspiration, space and support to reach their full potential. Through DMUfreedom, we seek to advance equality and diversity at DMU through our ambitious set of game-changers and equality objectives, to ensure DMU is a diverse and friendly place to study and work, where everybody feels the freedom to be, to inspire and to succeed.

Faculty / Directorate

The School of Computer Science and Informatics is based within the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media. It offers a wide range of courses to undergraduates and postgraduates in line with emergent demand and the nature of these fast-moving, competitive disciplines, including an NCSC accredited MSc in Cyber Security as well as CPD, undergraduate and apprenticeship programmes in this area. The School will submit 5 impact case studies to REF 2021, including two from CTI. Due in the first place to the international nature and high influence of the school’s academic research, which attracted over 5,000 new citations in 2019, Computer Science at DMU is ranked in positions 151-200 in the Shanghai Ranking of Universities (joint 13th in UK) and in position 201-250 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Alongside the university as a whole, we have huge ambitions for the future in terms of our offering to students and the quality and scale of our research.

The research in the School is concentrated in three Research Institutes, of which the CTI is one. There are strong synergies and potentials for future developments with the other Research Institutes in the School. The Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility is a world leader in responsible research and innovation and ethics of computing. The Institute for Artificial Intelligence is a world leader in fuzzy logic, grey systems, and optimisation.

Role

There are two posts available.

Dependant on individual experience and expertise matched against the university's professorial criteria, the starting salary for this role is between £66,824 - £75,447.

You will be expected to play a significant leadership role within the CTI and work with the research leaders in the School of Computer Science, to develop the strategic view of the CTI. In synergy with the existing specialisations and the applied industrial focus of the CTI, we have identified two areas for future development in which we would be very interested in appointing research leaders – though we also invite candidates to define and advocate other areas that would provide comparable strategic potential under their leadership.

Digital Twins is one such area. Cyber security in Industry 4.0 and critical national infrastructure depends critically on its development for opportunities for realistic simulation that allows stakeholders to engage with, and learn from “digital twins” in the cyber security sphere. This theme would build on our existing research and infrastructure in this area, such as the CyRan cyber range, the training SOC, and research in gamification of cyber security investment. Secure Commerce is the second area for development, aiming at the NSCS target of making “the UK the safest place to […] do business online” (Ciaran Martin, 2016). Our existing expertise on impact assessment and cryptography-based security services will provide a technical basis for this, with a view to developing this for practical impact through innovation and enterprise, including via KTPs and SMEs. This should be a prime area for achieving results to contribute to the School’s KEF ambitions. You will also be expected to provide leadership to the external income generation and teaching of the CTI.

Ideal Candidate

To excel in this role, you will need strong leadership skills, strength in building links with internal and external stakeholders (such as industry, government, and other academic institutions), with a track record in income generation and academic publications or comparable industry-based research, and you must demonstrate initiative and entrepreneurial attributes.

We particularly welcome applications for this role from female and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals as both are currently under-represented at this level within the CTI and the School of Computer Science and Informatics.

What's next?

If this role interests you please visit the DMU careers site to submit a full application. To ensure you are successful, please detail how you meet the criteria specified within the job description and person specification.

** Please note CV submitted via a job board will not be considered as an application**

Closing date: December 6th 2020