ONE research grant for candidates enrolled in a BSc or MSc program, with reference number BII|2023/381 is now available under the scope of project ToarCloak - SGR-IN-XZ21132FD-103 m00 , funded by INTERNEWS

Public notice for research grant

ToarCloak - SGR-IN-XZ21132FD-103 m00

BII|2023/381

INESC-ID - Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Lisboa is a R&D institute dedicated to advanced research and development in the fields of Information Technologies, Electronics, Communications, and Energy. INESC-ID has participated in more than 50 research projects funded by the European Union and more than 190 funded by national entities. Until today, our researchers have published more than 700 papers in international journal papers, more than 3000 papers in international conferences, and have registered 15 patents and/or brands.

1 | RESEARCH GRANT TYPE

ONEresearch grant for candidates enrolled in a BSc or MSc program,   with reference number BII|2023/381  is now available under the scope of project ToarCloak - SGR-IN-XZ21132FD-103 m00 , funded byInternews and under the following conditions:

2 | DURATION

Three months, starting in April 2023

-      Renewable, if the candidate is enrolled in a enrolled in a BSc or MSc program program -  art. 5º, nº1, nº 3

https://files.dre.pt/2s/2019/12/241000000/0009100105.pdf

subject to suitable performance within the period of the project, not exceeding the maximum period set by FCT for such grants – 1 years (included contract renewals)

-      Renewable, if the candidate is enrolled in a non-degree programme – art. 5º, nº2, nº3

https://files.dre.pt/2s/2019/12/241000000/0009100105.pdf  

subject to suitable performance within the period of the project, not exceeding the maximum period set by FCT for such grants – 1 year (included contract renewals)

3 | LEGISLATION

A fellowship contract will be celebrated according to:

1. Law 40/2004 of 18^th of August (Scientific Research Fellow Status) and its successive amendments, including the amendments introduced by the Decree Law n. 123/2019 of 28 ^th of August 
   https://dre.pt/web/guest/legislacao-consolidada/-/lc/124281176/201912061112/73740605/diploma/indice?lcq=estatuto+do+bolseiro,
    
2. Regulations for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology in force

https://www.fct.pt/financiamento/programas-de-financiamento/bolsas/

https://dre.pt/dre/legislacao-consolidada/lei/2004-58216179

1. INESC-ID Lisboa Grant Regulations

https://www.inesc-id.pt/scholarship-regulations/

The fellowship contract is awarded on an exclusive dedication basis – art. 5 of Scientific Research Fellow Status and art. 16 of Regulations for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology.

4 | MONTHLY AMOUNT

The monthly amount of the grant 541.12€  is in accordance with the values stipulated in the “Regulations for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology” in force https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM_2023.pdf and shall be rendered through a monthly bank transfer to an account held by the grantee.

5 | OBJECTIVES/WORKPLAN

The goal of this project is to contribute to the development of TorCloak, a new pluggable transport (PT) for the Tor anonymity network. TorCloak will enable censorship-resistant tunneling of Tor traffic through WebRTC-based covert channels. It will provide strong resistance against traffic analysis attacks based on state-of-the-art machine learning techniques. Specifically, this project will be focused on building a web and mobile frontend for the current TorCloak prototype. Concretely, this involves a) designing a web and mobile US, b) implementing a web application and equivalent mobile, and c) producing documentation and tutorials of the developed applications.

6 | SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

The activity will be supervised by Nuno Miguel Carvalho Santos, Associate Professor at instituto Superior Técnico and Researcher at INESC-ID.

INESC ID will integrate the grantee in the research team of the scientific advisor.

7 | ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The candidates should have BSc or a master’s degree in Computer Engineering or Computer Science (or in the process of acquiring that degree)

By the grant start date, the candidate must be enrolled in

1. a BSc or MSC programme – art. 5 nº1

https://files.dre.pt/2s/2019/12/241000000/0009100105.pdf

or

1. a non-degree programme – art. 5º, n. 2

https://files.dre.pt/2s/2019/12/241000000/0009100105.pdf

Preferential factors:

The candidate must be willing to :

1. - learn how to design and implement web and mobile applications
2. - receive specific training in traffic analysis techniques.

- Portuguese, full professional proficiency

- English, full professional proficiency

8 | EVALUATION CRITERIA AND COMMITEE

The selection will be according to the following criteria:

1. 40% proficiency in at least one programming language for the web (e.g., JavaScript, PHP, or Python),
2. 40% track record in computer science/engineering courses,
3. 20% experience in developing web and mobile applications.

The Jury may interview the first three (3) candidates with higher classification.

In order to perform a more objective evaluation of some of the criteria, the interview will count for 50% of the evaluation of each criteria above.

9 | COMPLAIN AND APPEAL DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES

The jury has the faculty not to select a candidate who does not prove the requirements mentioned in required education Level and research experience

The admitted and excluded candidates will be notified by email of the final ranking list, including the copy of the Preliminary Report of the jury.

Prior Hearing and Deadline for Final Decision: After being notified, candidates have 10 working days to submit, if applicable, a formal rebuttal.

After that period, the jury notifies the candidates of the Final Report.

Excluded applicants may complain about the jury's final report for 15 working days after notification or appeal the jury's decision to the INESC ID Board of Directors for 30 working days after notification.

According to the Portuguese Law, a disabled candidate has a preference when in equal classification, which prevails over any other legal preference. Candidates must declare their respective degree of disability, the type of disability and the means of communication / expression to be used in the selection process, under the law.

10 | FORMALISATION OF APPLICATIONS

11 | Application Dates