Fully Funded PhD Researcher in Cybersecurity on the topic of Securing Digital Threads – Ireland

📢 PhD position in Ireland 🇮🇪

Fully Funded PhD Researcher in Cybersecurity on the topic of Securing Digital Threads.

Entry Requirements—
BSc or BEng (Honours) in Computer Science/ Computer Engineering/ Electronic Engineering

Fees, Stipend amounts—
€25,000 per annum
Duration of PhD is 4 years
EU Fees fully covered
(International students may be subject be some fees)

Closing Date—
31st July 2025

Contact—
Professor Donna O’Shea (Donna.C.OShea@ul.ie)
Insert subject headers “Securing Digital Threads” in email.

Context —
Central to securing digitally engineered systems—such as those found in Offshore Renewable Energy—is ensuring the security, trust, privacy, and traceability of digital threads. Digital threads are a foundational technology in Digital Engineering, enabling informed decision-making by integrating actionable data from diverse sources across the system lifecycle.

At the core of a digital thread lies the concept of a single authoritative source of truth—a model and database that evolves alongside the system it represents. However, implementing secure digital threads poses significant challenges, particularly around access control, authentication, and the safe interconnectionof people, processes, data, and capabilities within a digitally connected enterprise.

If the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of the digital thread is compromised, the reliability and authority of the information it carries is also undermined. This research will explore how to design and enforce security mechanisms that preserve trust in digital threads throughout the lifecycle of offshore renewable systems.

To apply —
Please provide the following information emailing Donna.C.Oshea@ul.ie with the subject header: Securing Digital Threads.
–        CV
–        Motivation letter
–        Three references
–        Full academic and certified transcripts of undergraduate and postgraduate awards
–        English language certification

Candidates will be shortlisted based on the above information. If you do not provide the information above then the applicant will be automatically eliminated from the process.