PhD position on Coding Theory

The Combinatorics, Coding and Security Group (CCSG) is a research group in the Department of Information and Communications Engineering (DEIC) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

The CCSG Group has been uninterruptedly working since 1987 in several projects and research activities on Information Theory, Communications, Coding Theory, Source Coding, Cryptography, Electronic Voting, and Network Coding. Currently, the Coding Theory questions and problems we are dealing with can be divided into those more theoretical from a mathematical point of view, especially those that involve techniques coming from algebraic combinatorics, and those more related to applications of error correcting codes aiming to solve specific engineering problems.

Research project

This project is included in the context of algebraic and combinatorial coding theory. More precisely the research of the candidate will be focused on one of the topics:

1. the study of families of completely regular codes (such that completely transitive codes, self-dual codes,…). Enumeration, construction, classification and existence of such families will be the main topic. A survey on completely regular codes can be found in “On Completely Regular Codes”, Problems of Information Transmission, 2019, Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 1–45.
2. the study of families of codes over rings, Z-modules codes or codes over mixed alphabets. Construction and classification of such families. Permutation decoding for simplex and MacDonald codes over rings.

Requirements

• To have completed a master’s degree or to be currently enrolled in a master’s program in mathematics, computer science or a closely related field. that will conclude in the 2025-2026 academic year.
• Background (or strong motivation to learn) in coding theory.
• Knowledge of programming in computer algebra systems and an interest in computer-aided exploration will be highly valued.

We offer

• A 4-year PhD scholarship within the CCSG group at UAB.
• A dynamic and collaborative research environment.
• Opportunities for international collaboration and research visits.

Application

Information about this grant: https://www.uab.cat/doc/DOC_Bases-PIF-2026DLECC2

Submit your application through the UAB selection platform: seleccio.uab.cat.
Important: Select the position identifier B26P0016, with the following profile: “Completely regular codes / Nonlinear and additive codes over finite rings and mixed alphabets / Study of families of codes, structural invariants and duality, together with efficient decoding methods and computational tools such as Magma”.

For more information on this position, please contact to

• Dr. Joaquim Borges, joaquim.borges@uab.cat
• Dr. Mercè Villanueva, merce.villanueva@uab.cat
• Dr. Cristina Fernández-Córdoba, cristina.fernadez@uab.cat

The deadline is May 18 2026, and you must have been accepted into the pre-admission process for the PhD program in Computer Science at UAB.