PhD Candidate in Advanced Physical Security of Embedded Systems

This is NTNU NTNU is a broad-based university with a technical-scientific profile and a focus in professional education. The university is located in three cities with headquarters in Trondheim. At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world. You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.Video: https://youtu.be/Xt-yHCN5QS0 About the position Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia. Department of Information Security and Communication Technology (IIK) at NTNU Gjøvik is seeking a highly motivated candidate for a full-time PhD position in Advanced Physical Security of Embedded Systems. You will become part of an active and interdisciplinary cybersecurity research environment and have the opportunity to collaborate with researchers working across hardware security, embedded systems, cybersecurity, and digital forensics. A significant part of the research will be carried out in the Hardware security and Reverse Engineering Laboratory (HRE Lab), providing the candidate with access to advanced experimental infrastructure and opportunities to contribute to the further development of the laboratory’s research and educational activities. You will work in a collaborative research environment with opportunities for scientific publications, international collaboration, conference participation, and development of hands-on experimental expertise. Your immediate leader will be the Head of Discipline. About the project Modern embedded systems increasingly rely on cryptographic implementations and hardware-supported security mechanisms to protect sensitive information, trusted operations, and critical functionality. While cryptographic algorithms and software-level protections may be theoretically secure, their physical implementation can introduce vulnerabilities that are not visible at the algorithmic level. Sensitive information may leak through power consumption, electromagnetic emissions, timing behaviour, memory or bus activity, while manipulation of voltage, clock, or electromagnetic conditions can cause security mechanisms to behave in unintended ways. At the same time, modern embedded architectures increasingly integrate processors, memories, peripherals, hardware accelerators, security components, and multiple clock and power domains. Interactions between these elements may introduce new and insufficiently understood physical attack surfaces, creating a need for more systematic methods to evaluate and assure the physical security of embedded systems. This PhD project aims to advance physical security evaluation and hardware security assurance for embedded systems by combining advanced side-channel analysis, fault-injection techniques, AI- and machine-learning-assisted analysis, robustness evaluation, and quantitative security assessment. The research will investigate how physical vulnerabilities arise, how to systematically discover and characterise them, and how to evaluate their practical security impact. This will include established and emerging physical attack mechanisms such as power and electromagnetic side channels, voltage/clock/EM fault injection, and combined attacks, as well as leakage and fault behaviour associated with timing and clock mechanisms, memory and buses, peripherals, hardware accelerators, cryptographic implementations, and interactions between architectural domains. AI and machine learning will be explored as enabling technologies for automated leakage detection and localization, analysis of complex measurements, fault-response characterization, intelligent exploration of large experimental spaces, and adaptive selection of security experiments. The research will be strongly experimental and will utilize the advanced side-channel analysis and fault-injection infrastructure available in the Hardware Reverse Engineering Laboratory (HRE Lab) at NTNU, together with its hardware analysis and reverse-engineering capabilities. The candidate will design and conduct controlled experiments to investigate vulnerability mechanisms, validate physical attacks, evaluate security countermeasures, and study whether security observations remain valid across different devices, implementations, operating conditions, and experimental configurations. Classical and emerging cryptographic implementations, secure embedded platforms, hardware accelerators, and post-quantum cryptographic implementations may be used as representative experimental targets where relevant. The candidate will also contribute to developing automated measurement and analysis workflows, benchmark implementations and datasets, reproducible experimental procedures, and reusable physical-security testbeds. This will strengthen the HRE Lab as a sustainable experimental platform for advanced hardware security research, future PhD and master’s projects, education, and collaborative research. The overall ambition is to move beyond individual demonstrations of whether a particular physical attack succeeds or fails toward robust, quantitative, and evidence-based hardware security assurance. The project will investigate how experimental evidence generated through side-channel analysis, fault injection, implementation analysis, robustness testing, and countermeasure evaluation can be transformed into measurable, reproducible, and traceable indicators of hardware security. Such evidence may characterise information leakage, attack effort and complexity, fault susceptibility, countermeasure effectiveness, robustness across devices and operating conditions, reproducibility, and the uncertainty and confidence associated with security conclusions. The longer-term goal is to establish scientific methods and experimental foundations that enable the security of hardware implementations to be systematically measured, compared, and supported by defensible evidence, thereby providing a foundation for future automated hardware security evaluation and quantitative assurance, as well as continued research, laboratory development, industry collaboration, and innovation in trustworthy embedded and cyber-physical systems. Duties of the position Complete the doctoral education leading to a PhD degree, including required academic training corresponding to a minimum of 30 ECTS.Conduct high-quality experimental research in advanced physical security of embedded systems, including the design, implementation, and evaluation of side-channel analysis, fault-injection methods, emerging physical attack mechanisms, combined attacks, and relevant countermeasures.Develop AI/ML-assisted and quantitative approaches for hardware security evaluation and assurance, including automated experimentation and analysis, robustness and reproducibility assessment, and the development of reusable experimental platforms, datasets, methodologies, and testbeds within the HRE Lab.Publish research results in high-quality international peer-reviewed journals and conferences and contribute to relevant scientific and popular-science dissemination.Participate actively in the research group and department and engage in relevant international activities, including conferences, research collaboration, and research stays abroad.Contribute to teaching, supervision, assessment, and academic development activities according to the requirements of the position.Required selection criteria You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's Doctoral Programme, see Section 6-1 of the PhD regulations for more information.You must have a relevant Master's degree in in information security, cybersecurity, electronics engineering, electrical engineering, embedded systems, computer science, or a closely related discipline. Your degree must include a major independent project (minimum 30 ECTS) equivalent to a master’s thesis.Master students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position. You must have a strong and relevant academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master's degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker academic background, you may be considered if you can document that you are exceptionally suited for a PhD education, for example through relevant work experience and/or peer-reviewed academic works.Excellent oral and written presentation skills in English (C1-C2 level). The appointment is to be made in accordance with NTNUs guidelines for recruitment positions for general criteria for the position. Preferred selection criteria Experience with side-channel analysis and/or fault-injection techniques.Hands-on experience with embedded systems, microcontrollers, FPGAs, or hardware-security platforms.Knowledge of cryptographic implementations and hardware-security countermeasures.Experience with hardware reverse engineering, debugging interfaces, or firmware analysis.Experience with machine learning, deep learning, signal processing, or data-driven security analysis.Previous research or experimental experience in hardware/embedded-system security, demonstrated through a thesis, project, publication, or relevant work.Norwegian/Scandinavian language (please state your level).Personal characteristics To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you can: be highly motivated, scientifically curious, and interested in research with practical relevance.demonstrate independence, initiative, persistence, and strong problem-solving skills.be well-organised and systematic, particularly in experimental and laboratory-based research.be flexible, reliable, and able to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.communicate effectively and be motivated to disseminate research through scientific publications and international conferences.demonstrate integrity, responsibility, and openness to new research challenges.Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities. We offer An exciting job with an important mission in societyDeveloping tasks in a strong and international professional environmentCareer guidance and follow-up during the PhD periodOpen and inclusive working environment with committed colleaguesWorking capital that can be used to implement the projectMentor programme as a new employee at NTNUFavorable terms as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK)Free Norwegian language training at a basic level (A2)As a PhD Candidate at NTNU, you will have access to employee benefits. Diversity Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population's collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values ​​are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education. If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time. At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality. Salary and conditions In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK 580 000,- per annum depending on qualifications and seniority. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. The employment period is 3 years for the doctoral work in addition to 12 months of career promotion work. A minimum of three work years of the total term period must be dedicated to the doctoral work. For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in Information Security and Communication Technology within three months of your employment contract start date, and that you participate in an organized doctoral programme through out the period of employment. As an employee at NTNU, it is important that you keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and adapt to them. For the necessary professional and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis. The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to be in conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed. About the application The attachments (including a description of your scientific work) must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in Norwegian/a Scandinavian language or English. Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have received by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above. The application and all attachments must be sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. If you are invited to an interview, you must bring certified copies of certificates and diplomas upon request. The application must include: A cover letter describing your motivation for the position, relevant experience, research interests, and how your background fits the PhD project.CV Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor's and Master's degrees. If you have not completed the master’s degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master’s thesis has been submitted.Copy of Master's thesis. If you have recently submitted your Master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed Master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.Project outline containing proposals for an overall description of research questions, theoretical perspectives, methodological design for the project and progress plan (maximum 1500 words/4 pages) Short letter of motivation (400 words/1 page)Possibly publications etc. other relevant research workPossibly certificatesNames and contact information of three relevant refereesIf all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both Bachelor's and Master's education, in addition to other higher education. If your institution uses “diploma supplement” (normal for most European institutions), you must attach this. A description of the documentation required can also be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well. Joint work will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint work, you must attach a brief description of your participation. When assessing the best qualified, we emphasize necessary qualifications such as education, experience and personal suitability. Motivation for the position, ambitions, and potential for research will also count when assessing the candidates. NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and has committed itself to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU's social mission). General information A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you wish to be exempt from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the exemption is not granted. If you think this position looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, you are welcome to apply. If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate Professor Dr Arvind Sharma, telephone +[phone], email: arvind.sharma@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR Katrine Rennan, e-mail: katrine.rennan@ntnu.no. Application deadline: 1. October 2026. For practical information about working at NTNU, please visit this webpage.  Gjøvik, a charming town by the shores of Lake Mjøsa, is known for its beautiful nature and rich cultural offerings. The town boasts a vibrant community with excellent schools, modern healthcare services, and a variety of recreational activities. With its strategic location, just a short drive from Oslo, Gjøvik combines the best of urban life and natural experiences. Here, you'll find a dynamic business environment and exciting career opportunities in a setting that values work-life balance.