Post-doctoral fellow in AI for Microarchitectural Security - 12 months contract

Who we are ?

Télécom Paris, part of the IMT (Institut Mines-Télécom) and a founding member of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, is one of France's top 5 general engineering schools.

The mainspring of Télécom Paris is to train, imagine and undertake to design digital models, technologies and solutions for a society and economy that respect people and their environment.

We are looking for our future postdoctoral researcher in AI for Microarchitecture Security to join the COMELEC department at Telecom Paris.

Since the disclosure of the Spectre and Meltdown attacks, Timing-Based Side Channel Attacks (TSCAs) have received significant attention. Modern System-on-Chips (SoCs), with their increasingly complex and performance-oriented features, present a large attack surface that traditional verification techniques—such as formal methods—struggle to cover. To effectively mitigate this growing threat landscape, vulnerability assessment has become a critical step in the product lifecycle to prevent exploitation of underlying flaws. Fuzzing-based frameworks have been introduced to address this need, but their effectiveness remains limited by the inherent constraints of fuzzing techniques. As an alternative, we propose exploring reinforcement learning (RL) as a promising approach for vulnerability assessment in SoCs.

To fully harness the potential of RL, it is essential to design a framework that connects an RL environments with suitable execution environments. The primary focus will be on developing advanced RL methodologies, particularly Hierarchical Re-inforcement Learning (HRL), to effectively navigate the complex state spaces inherent in SoC vulnerability assessment.

The objective of this position is to build upon and extend an existing RL framework currently under submission, which serves as the foundation for this research. The post-doc will enhance this framework by developing advanced methodologies, primarily using gem5 simulator as the main

execution backend for the RL agent, while also investigating the potential of RTL simulation and physical RISC-V board as complementary execution nvironments. A key aspect of this work will involve developing architecture-generic implementations that extend beyond the initial RISC-V focus to support broader processor architectures

Your main responsabilities :

• To carry out research missions in the field of AI for Microarchitecture Assessment

• To ensure supervision and tutoring missions

• To contribute to the reputation of the School, the Institut Mines-Télécom and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris

You hold a PhD or equivalent. You have in-depth theoretical or applied knowledge in the field

of using advanced AI techniques in complex use cases.

Required skills include expertise in programming with Python, C, and C++ languages, as well as solid experience in model design, tuning, and evaluation.

A good understanding of microarchitectures is an asset, as is experience in microarchitecture security, particularly with regard to side channels. Your English is at a professional level.

Why join us?
You'll be working in a fast-growing, pleasant, green and accessible environment (especially for people with disabilities) just 20 km from Paris (RER B and C suburban train lines, close to major roads, shared shuttle departing from Porte d'Orléans). You will benefit from :

• 49 days annual leave (CA + RTT)

• flexible working hours (depending on department activity)

• telecommuting 1 to 3 days/week possible

• 75% public transport pass reimbursement

• Proximity to numerous sports facilities, concierge service, underground parking, in-house catering, etc.

• Good to know: our social security contributions are lower than in the private sector

Other information :
Application deadline: November 29, 2025
Job type : 12 months fixed-term contract
Job description here

Scientific contact person : Maria Mushtaq
Administrative contact person : Hamidou Yaya Koné

Our recruitment is based on skills, without distinction of origin, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation, and all our positions are open to individuals with disabilities.