POST-DOC Position available in Nancy (France)

POST-DOC Position available in Nancy (France)
Period: October 2009 – September 2010

Research Director: Prof. Hervé Panetto (Herve.Panetto@cran.uhp-nancy.fr)

Title: Models and Semantics for product-centric systems interoperability

The objective of this work is to test the scientific interest of making the product, beyond
the whole process, interactive (this means that the product information may participate to
the decision process), to organize then a more collaborative interoperability of different
heterogeneous systems (APS, ERP, MES, SCM). Companies are interested as much in
the design of systems (production, information, decision-making ...), and their
interoperations even their integration in a given context. This problem only makes sense
in the context of evolution of organizations and their environment, or when a company
provides engineering methods and tools that facilitate the decision making of complex
processes. Given this context, an approach for the engineering of these interoperable
systems with a particular view of their product information, possibly embedded into the
product itself, is to rely on different types and levels of abstraction or model of information
systems, centred on the information related to the products or the services to be
produced.

Job description: These models must express not only the "structural" components of the
products but also their behaviour, which may be constrained by the specific requirements
to the systems itself (business rules). The candidate will study this problem, both at a
technological and a semantic level, through their information systems. The particular
objective is to propose mechanisms and modelling invariants restricting or at least
identifying the semantic loss that may arise when interoperation between these systems,
including the product information, takes place.

This research proposal, involving both theoretical and applied research, is strongly
related with the research focused on interoperability of heterogeneous distributed
systems that fall within the themes, at the international level, of the Virtual International
Laboratory in Enterprise Interoperability (INTEROP-VLab1
) whose members "cover" a
large part of Europe and China.

Candidate profile : A Ph.D. thesis in Computer Science or Production Engineering with
solid background in Mathematics is required. The candidate to this Post-Doctoral position
must have knowledge in information systems modelling (using languages such as UML)
and some knowledge in product information modelling and production planning by means
of an ERP system. The theoretical part of the formalisation will apply 1st
order logics and
set theory. Experience in modelling concepts with Description Logic would be a great
advantage.

Deposit of candidature: Please send your CV and a cover letter by e-mail to:
Herve.Panetto@cran.uhp-nancy.fr. For more information regarding the CRAN:
www.cran.uhp-nancy.fr. Applications will be considered from now until this position is
filled. Employer: Université Henri Poincaré – Nancy I, duration: 12 months fixed-term.
From now the annual salary is: 22 000 Euro Net. Working language is English.

This 12-month position is open only to candidates with no French Ph.D.