Opportunities

Why join ReFLEX Lab?

  • Cutting-edge research: Work on impactful problems at the intersection of real-time systems, robotics, AI, and cyber-physical systems
  • Collaborative environment: Join a supportive team of researchers working on interdisciplinary projects
  • Strong track record: Our lab has published in top-tier conferences and journals (RTSS, RTAS, EMSOFT, TC, TCAD, etc.)
  • Industry connections: Opportunities to collaborate with industry partners and apply research to real-world problems
  • Resources and facilities: Access to state-of-the-art computing facilities, robotic platforms, and experimental setups
  • Professional development: Opportunities to present at international conferences, participate in summer schools, and build your academic network

For prospective PhD students

A PhD programme is a rewarding 3-4 year journey that offers the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research, develop expertise in your field, and contribute to advancing knowledge in real-time systems and cyber-physical systems. While it requires dedication and perseverance, the experience provides invaluable skills, international collaborations, and career opportunities in both academia and industry.

Research directions:

I am happy to supervise the following research directions with some example topics:

  • (R.1) Scheduling and allocation of real-time systems
    • Novel scheduling and allocation methods for real-time systems
    • Interference and contention modelling and analysis on multi- and many-cores
    • Scheduling on complex architectures, including many-cores and CPU-GPU heterogeneous platforms
  • (R.2) Digital Twins for real-time embedded systems
    • Dynamic modelling and verification of real-time systems
    • Use digital twins to improve scheduling and allocation of real-time systems
    • Fault and hazard identification using digital twins
  • (R.3) Addressing timing problems in Robotics and AI
    • Timing assurance of robotic and autonomous systems using, for example, probabilistic models and formal methods
    • Multi-robot systems scheduling, management and coordination
    • Timing analysis of ROS 2 executors
  • (R.4) Design and verification of Long-lived Cyber-Physical Systems
    • Using digital twin to develop and improve CPS
    • Formal verification of CPS
  • (R.5) Hardware for real-time systems and internet-of-things
    • Efficient, safe, secure hardware for RTS and IoT applications.
    • Instruction set architecture (ISA) for real-time systems.

Please drop me an email (xiaotian.dai (at) york.ac.uk) if you want to discuss this further. I am happy to discuss early-stage ideas and would appreciate it if a more detailed proposal (details are here) could be provided to facilitate a more productive discussion. The standard entry time for PhDs is normally in October and April, but other starting dates can be settled.

About funding:

Guide for PhD/Professor visitors

If you are a PhD student, or a Professor from a UK or non-UK university,

  • Please check this information page for more details on visiting our lab.
  • Information on visa can be found here.
  • Note that you do need an ATAS in order to conduct research in the UK.

For more information, please contact me via email (xiaotian.dai (at) york.ac.uk).

Guide for UG/MSc students

ReFLEX lab is open for supervising UG/MSc projects related to real-time and cyber-physical systems. All of our projects are research-informed and most have a connection with real-world systems.

Some example projects are:

  • Scheduling of large groups of robots in warehouse
  • Traffic scheduling for smart transportation
  • Discrete simulation of Routerless Network-on-Chips
  • Real-time task scheduling and resource allocation algorithms
  • Timing analysis and verification tools for embedded systems
  • Digital twin development for cyber-physical systems

For more details, please look at the departmental project lists. We also accept self-defined projects if they align with the lab research objectives.