Orchestrated, Spontaneous Agentic AI Systems for Large-Scale Infrastructure

About the Project

This project may close early if a suitable candidate is found. Please apply as soon as you can to avoid disappointment.

Project Summary

Aston’ CyberHub is offering a fully funded studentship in the field Orchestrated, Spontaneous Multi Agent Agentic Systems. By leveraging advances in agentic LLMs and AI, the project will develop collaborative agentic AI agents who will autonomously allocate resources, compose services, monitor and optimise, and secure the underlying infrastructure and service delivery.

Project Details

Aston University’s Centre for Cybersecurity, Privacy and Trust (CyberHub) is offering a fully funded studentship (tuition and stipend) in the field Orchestrated, Spontaneous Multi Agent Agentic Systems.

By leveraging recent advances in Large Language Models (LLM) and other key agentic tools (such as MCP or Agento2Agent, and frameworks such as LangChain, CrewAI), the project will conduct research in collaborative agentic AI agents who will autonomously allocate resources, compose services, monitor and optimise, and secure the underlying infrastructure and service delivery.

The work will be developed in a rapidly growing research environment and collaborate with leading industry and academic partners in the UK and Europe. The applicant will also be involved in international projects which may involve travelling to workshops and meetings.

It is expected that the post holder will support students and contribute to the preparation of reports and scientific publications. Contributing to teaching activities and student supervision will be encouraged.

This is an invaluable opportunity to develop research in an exciting area, gain experience in international research projects, and join a leading University in the top 200 in Europe.

• Conduct the research and development of novel approaches to systems based on Multi-Agent Agentic AI architectures.
• Develop applications using agentic AI and other software components collaboratively.
• Build, maintain and operate a cloud/local testbed primarily based on open-source software.
• Conduct experiments/trials, and collect, process and analyse data.
• Collaboratively create demonstrable proof-of-concepts, integrate with other subsystems, and conduct demonstrations in different events.
• Represent the research team in project meetings, which may include travelling.
• Contribute or lead internal project reports and deliverables.
• Write, publish and/or present research papers in conferences, seminars, workshops and peer-reviewed journals.
• Develop further novel research ideas and contribute to grants applications.
• Support the team in other related research projects.
• Contribute to the wider academic activities at Aston University.

International Applicants

International applicants are welcome to apply for this position.

Person Specification

The successful applicant should hold the equivalent of a UK First or Upper Second Class Honours undergraduate degree from an approved university or higher education institution. If the applicant has a Masters degree, it should have the equivalent of a UK Merit or higher. The degree(s) should be in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, Networks, or other related areas. The successful applicant will be skilled in software development and systems administration.

Submitting an application

We can only consider applications that are complete and have all supporting documents. Applications that do not provide all the relevant documents will be automatically rejected.Your application must include:

1. English language copies of the transcripts and certificates for all your higher education degrees, including any Bachelor degrees.
2. A Research Statement detailing your understanding of the research area, how you would approach the project, and a brief review of relevant literature. Be sure to use the title of the research project you are applying for. There is no set format or word count.
3. A personal statement which outlines any further information which you think is relevant to your application, such as your personal suitability for research, career aspirations, possible future research interests, and further description of relevant employment experience.
4. A Curriculum Vitae (Resume) which details your education and work history.
5. Two academic refereeswho can discuss your suitability for independent research. References must be on headed paper, signed and dated no more than 2 years old. At least one reference should be from your most recent University. You can submit your references at a later date if necessary.
6. Evidence that you meet the English Language requirements. If you do not currently meet the language requirements, you can submit this at a later stage.
7. A copy of your passport. Where relevant, include evidence of settled or pre-settled status.

Location

This position will be based on the Aston Campus in Birmingham, UK. The successful candidate will need to be located within a reasonable distance of the campus, and will be expected to visit in person regularly.

Interviews

Interviews will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. If you are shortlisted, you will be contacted directly with details of the interview.

Key words

Agentic, AI, LLM, security, networks

Funding Notes

This project covers all tuition fees and includes an annual stipend of £21,805.

Please note that the successful candidate will be responsible for any costs relating to moving to Birmingham and/or visiting the Aston campus. International students must meet the financial requirements for the visa, flights, and NHS Surcharge. Applicants should be confident that they can meet these costs before applying.

Project supervisors

Prof Jose Alcaraz Calero

Prof Jose Alcaraz Calero's profile is coming soon

Dr Vitor Jesus

Dr Vitor Jesus's profile is coming soon