EWADA Research Internship: towards a standard data control of decentralised data stores based on Solid

The Human Centred Computing (HCC) Research Group (http://hcc.cs.ox.ac.uk) in Oxford’s Computer Science Department is very excited to announce 3 summer internships in 2024!!!

Please come to join us if you want to create an AUTONOMOUS Web with a group of world-leading computer scientists!

Detailed job description

You will be working as part of the Oxford Martin School programme EWADA (Ethical Web and
Data Infrastructure in the Age of AI) [1]. Data driven algorithms are positively changing every
aspect of our lives. However, from simple data aggregation algorithms for drawing collective
insights to more advanced machine learning algorithms, all involve computations that are
currently performed using centralised access to the users' data. This not only causes severe
transparency and accountability challenges but also to individuals’ data autonomy.

During the internship, you will be responsible for exploring how to bring together different
data control languages like ACL [2], ODRL [3] or DToU [4] to enable users with better control
of their data sharing with applications in a decentralised Web. This work will be built on our
existing work on such a protocol [4] and the Solid (Social Linked Data) architecture [5], which is
a standards-based approach that provides practical solutions to Web decentralisation and
empowers people to take back control of their data and regain their self-autonomy.

Background of the project
EWADA is an ambitious 3-year programme that aims to reform the concentration of power
on the Web by developing and deploying new forms of technical and legal infrastructure. The
project is led by Prof Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Prof Sir Tim Berner-Lee and aims to investigate
novel re-decentralisation architectures and develop privacy-preserving AI methods to re-establish citizens’ self-autonomy on the Web.

Selection criteria
You must have hands-on programming experience with machine learning, strong problemsolving skills and a demonstrated passion for building large-scale systems and performing
comprehensive empirical evaluation. Moreover, you will need to be able to work well with
others, as these roles will be highly collaborative.

Essential
● Fundamental understanding and hands-on experience with implementing machine learning.
● Proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript.
● The ability and desire to learn about Solid, to quickly acquire domain expertise needed for effectively developing new systems on top of Solid.
● The ability to communicate information clearly, including technical content.
● The ability to work independently and think creatively.
● The ability to effectively manage time, to complete projects efficiently.

Desirable
● Experience with distributed and/or decentralized systems.
● Excellent writing and presentation skills.
● Expertise with Python and/or Streamlit
● Sufficient understanding of underlying Web protocols, and/or
● Sufficient understanding of client-server architecture and/or distributed systems
● Knowledge of RDF and/or Linked-Data technologies
● Knowledge or experience with deploying Large Language Models or other Machine Learning tools
● Substantial experience with version management tools like git

Application
The post is expected to be full-time (36.5 hours) for 12 weeks, starting mid-July 2024 and ending in early October 2024, £13.93 - £15.60 (Grade 3.8 - 4.7) per hour, depending on
experience. If you are a student holding a Tier 4 visa, then you are permitted to work full-time for 8 weeks, plus 4 weeks part-time (max 20 hrs per week).
The post does not have to be based in Oxford but will be subject to the right to work in the UK. We CANNOT sponsor visa applications due to the short duration of the project.

Applications should be submitted to the Human Resources Department at hr@cs.ox.ac.uk with a resume or CV. A short paragraph on your background, interests and motivation to apply will be helpful.

The subject of the email should be: “Internship Application for EWADA Research Internship:towards a standard data control of decentralised data stores based on Solid”.

The closing date for applications is noon on Friday 14th June 2024. Candidates will be shortlisted and invited for an interview in late June.

[1] https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/ethical-web-and-data-architectures/
[2] ACL: https://github.com/solid/web-access-control-spec
[3] ODRL: https://www.w3.org/TR/odrl-model/
[4] Zhao et al. Perennial semantic data terms of use for decentralized web. In WWW'2024.
[5] https://solidproject.org