Supervision
I very much enjoy working with research students, I have experience in guiding student research, and I am available to supervise new research students at the University of Glasgow.
Next general deadline: The next application deadline for a variety of scholarships for our Computing Science PhD program at the University of Glasgow will likely be January 31, 2026.
For a first idea of degree options, research areas, entry requirements, fees, and funding opportunities, I recommend having a look at this overview of postgraduate research degrees in Computing Science at the University of Glasgow.
Funding opportunities: Each year there are a number of studentships/scholarships available to support postgraduate research students, who want to pursue a PhD in Computing Science at the University of Glasgow. Please have a look at the information for prospective PGR students on the School's website (particularly at the funding opportunities that the School of Computing Science Studentships, Minerva Scholarships, and Scholarships of the College present).
Application process and guide: The School website explains the application process and requirements (such as the requested research proposal). Moreover, my colleague Richard McCreadie prepared an application guide that might be helpful as well.
My research revolves around resource-efficient distributed computer systems, aiming to make computing more sustainable. Please have a look at my lab (for my current focus), research statement (for the general motivation and approach of my work), and previous publications (for examples of specific results).
Research methodology: I am mainly interested in empirical systems research. That is, new ideas are usually implemented prototypically, integrated with relevant open-source software systems, and evaluated in experiments with real-world applications, datasets, and infrastructures. In addition, some of my work also makes use of simulations.Relevant skills: I consider the following competencies and skills particularly important for my area of research:
The fundamentals of my area of research are taught in classic systems courses. The computing environments targeted are usually distributed and virtualized. Data analysis, machine learning, and optimization methods are commonly applied to make systems adaptive (where model data can, for example, stem from dedicated profiling runs or previous executions of recurring jobs).
A high level of motivation, related research interests, and the ability to work independently and learn new skills are more important than any specific knowledge or skill.
Slides: I prepared a slide set on my research and environment at the University of Glasgow (in November 2022):
A recording of me presenting an earlier version of these slides can be found on youtube.
PhD student supervision at Glasgow: I currently supervise Kathleen West (since 2023), James Nurdin (since 2024), Max MacDonald (since 2025), and Tobias Froehlich (since 2025) at Glasgow. In addition, I am the second supervisor of Theviyanthan Krishnamohan (since 2023).
PhD student advising and mentoring in FONDA (HU Berlin): I am currently part of the Thesis Advisory Committees of Fabian Lehmann (HU Berlin, since 2021), Vasilis Bountris (HU Berlin, since 2022), and Philipp Thamm (HU Berlin, since 2025) in the DFG Collaborative Research Center FONDA. Previously, I was also part of the FONDA PhD advisory team of Jonathan Bader (TU Berlin, 2022-2025).
PhD student advising at TU Berlin: As a postdoc and senior researcher in Odej Kao's group at TU Berlin (2018-2022), I mentored and closely worked with the following PhD students, who were part of my Adaptive Resource Management team and RAs on funded research projects that I had developed: Morgan Geldenhuys, Ilja Behnke, Dominik Scheinert, Philipp Wiesner, Jonathan Bader, and Jonathan Will.
Final-year project supervision: I have supervised over 30 completed BSc/MSc/MSci dissertation projects at Glasgow and 26 completed BSc/MSc theses at TU Berlin, Hasso Plattner Institute, and HU Berlin.
If you are interested in working with me, please contact me (lauritz.thamsen at glasgow.ac.uk) before you apply.
Please include:
I do not expect a final and complete research proposal to be attached to your first message, but I do need to see a rough idea to understand whether I might be a suitable supervisor for your research.
You can find further guidance on our expectations for PhD research proposals on the School's website, including a few examples.