Ph.D. student position in Software Design and Architecture in the era of AI (AI4SA, SA4AI)

We are one of Sweden’s most distinctly profiled institutes of technology, with a focus on IT and innovation for a sustainable future. A key word at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) is closeness – close cooperation with industry and society, and closeness to our students and to our management.
Our closeness to the sea is also very apparent at both campuses, as well as being a comfortable bike ride away from the city and residential areas. BTH stands for quality and new approaches and strives to be recognised as an open, exciting and creative higher education institution.
We develop new knowledge through our research, which often takes place in collaboration with wider society and with a specific application in mind. The research contributes to a sustainable future, directly through our research results as well as indirectly, through our PhD graduates and research-based undergraduate studies. To reach our goals, we need motivated and committed staff who are provided with the conditions to deliver research and education of the highest quality. Work environment and equal opportunities are consistently on the agenda and we strive for continuous improvements. Does this sound like your future?

The Department of Software Engineering consists of about 50 researchers and teachers from 20 countries. Our tradition in software engineering traces back to 1990 when we pioneered Sweden’s first academic education in the software engineering area in cooperation with Ericsson. The department’s research and education environment, SERL Sweden – the Software Engineering Research and Education Lab, has since then expanded into a world-leading research environment in empirical software engineering. The department is responsible for education programs in software engineering from Bachelor to Ph.D. levels.

You are expected to explore both software architecture and software design in the era of artificial intelligence, addressing both how AI tools support engineering practices (AI4SE) and how the integration of AI components transforms the nature of software systems (SE4AI). From an architectural perspective, the research investigates how the inclusion of AI elements—such as retrainable ML models, LLMs and RAG modules challenges conventional architectural styles, architecture evaluation methods, and governance models, requiring new approaches for modularity, decoupling, versioning, deployment, and lifecycle management. At the same time, the project delves into software design concerns, focusing on the internal structure and evolution of AI-enabled components themselves, including the design of retrainable pipelines, model-wrapping services, LLM prompting logic, data pre/post-processing components, and explainability hooks. The research will examine how design patterns, principles, and quality attributes are shifting in the presence of probabilistic outputs, non-determinism, and continuous data dependencies, and how these factors impact maintainability, testability, and reusability. The PhD project aims to develop a conceptual and practical foundation for building robust, evolvable, and trustworthy AI-enabled software systems. The research will be carried out in collaboration with various industry partners. The key responsibilities include:

• Investigate how the integration of AI components such as LLMs, retrainable ML models, and RAG modules impacts software architecture, including implications for modularity, lifecycle management, and architectural evaluation methods.
• Study how AI alters software design principles and patterns, focusing on the internal structure and evolution of AI-enabled components, including prompting logic, data transformation flows, retraining mechanisms, and explainability scaffolding.
• Analyze the interaction between architectural decisions and design-level tradeoffs in AI-intensive systems, addressing issues such as non-determinism, continuous data dependencies, testability, and maintainability.
• Publishing research findings in top-tier conferences and journals, and contributing to industrially relevant research in software engineering

For this position, we are looking for a candidate with a background in software engineering, software architectures, data analysis, and artificial intelligence.

Rules and benefits for Ph.D. students in Sweden apply to this position. The Ph.D. student will develop an individual study plan in software engineering together with his/her supervisors. The position may include up to 20% of other services, e.g., teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

To be employed as a Ph.D. student, it is required that the applicant is or will be admitted to postgraduate education.

Eligible for admission to postgraduate education is a person who has completed a degree at an advanced level in a technical, mathematical, or scientific field or who has otherwise acquired knowledge to be able to benefit from postgraduate education in the subject.

Eligibility requirements have to be satisfied at the time of getting enrolled in the studies, not at the time of applying for the position.

In addition to the requirements described in the work description and the eligibility requirements for the position, the following degrees, competencies, and experiences are considered a merit:

• Master or Master of Science degree in software engineering, data science, AI, or computer science.
• Documented experience in professional software development.
• Documented experience or interest in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning development,
• Proficiency in written and oral communication in English.

Place of employment: Karlskrona.

Employment level: 100%.

Commencement: To be agreed.

Duration: Temporary employment for up to 4 years of full-time research. The position may contain up to 20% other services, e.g., teaching, whereby the employment period can be extended to a maximum of 5 years.

Application deadline: June 13, 2025. The deadline has been extended.

Your application should contain the following:

• A statement of your background, knowledge, and experience in the area(s) relevant to the position.
• A CV.
• Certified degree certificates and transcripts that are officially issued by your university; see universityadmissions.se for official recommendations.
• Contact information for two references (reference letters are not required at this point).
• The earliest date you can start to work.
• An appendix with current publications (if applicable).
• A link to your thesis (latest/highest degree).

You apply online through our recruitment system by clicking on the “apply” button below.

If you have protected personal data, you should not register your application in our recruitment system. Instead, contact the HR specialist listed as the contact person in the advertisement for further instructions.

Instructions to applicants can be found at https://www.bth.se/eng/about-bth/vacancies-at-bth. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the advertisement and instructions.

In case of different interpretations of the English and Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

Blekinge Institute of Technology, BTH, embraces diversity and welcomes applicants with varying backgrounds and experiences.
We work actively to take advantage of the qualities that diversity and an even gender distribution contribute to our operations.

We have chosen media for this recruitment and therefore we reject contact with advertisers or sellers of recruitment services.

Contact person

URL to this pagehttps://www.bth.se/eng/about-bth/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=1110&rmlang=UK