PhD in Computer Science: AI, Cybersecurity, and Privacy at Karlstad University Karlstad University in Sweden

Karlstad University is advertising a doctoral student position in Computer Science within the Privacy and Security (PriSec) research group at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. The position is part of SPLAIM (Security and Privacy of Locally-Run AI Models), a project funded by the Swedish Knowledge Foundation.

The research focus is on secure, private, and efficient deployment of local large language models (LLMs) in real organisational and business environments. The doctoral project covers topics such as local LLM solutions, supporting infrastructure, privacy-focused training and inference, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), parameter-efficient fine-tuning, hardware-aware optimization, and benchmarking under realistic resource constraints.

The doctoral student will work closely with researchers in PriSec and collaborate with industrial partners on requirement analysis, prototype development, experimentation, and evaluation. This makes the position especially relevant for candidates interested in the intersection of computer science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and privacy-preserving AI.

Eligibility: applicants must meet the general doctoral entry requirements and the specific requirements for third-cycle studies in Computer Science. A relevant Master’s degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering, or equivalent qualifications, is required. The university particularly values experience in AI/ML, generative AI, LLMs, secure systems, privacy, data protection, and resource-constrained deployment. Strong English skills are expected; Swedish is an advantage.

Funding and terms: this is a paid doctoral studentship, normally four years full-time, with possible extension up to five years if teaching or other duties are included. Salary follows the standard doctoral student salary scale and local collective agreement.

Application deadline: 2026-07-31. Applications must be submitted via Karlstad University’s Varbi recruitment portal and should include a cover letter, CV, degree certificates and transcripts, thesis, publications or certificates, recommendation letters, and two references. Reference number: REK 2026/128.