DC12 — Agentic Verification for Trusted Autonomous Operations
Host: Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Berlin, Germany — Chair for Service-centric Networking.
Work package: WP3 (Fleet Operations and Industrial Validation)
Duration and start: 36 months, full-time; start between February and September 2027 (latest start September 2027).
The project
When software agents run a fleet of datacenters on their own, every action must be authenticated, authorized, and auditable. In this project you build the cryptographic trust layer that makes autonomous operation safe.
You will give agents and workloads verifiable identities, bind their permissions to safety and energy limits, and produce tamper-evident proofs of what was done — proofs that grid operators can use for compliance and payment.
What you will work on:
- Build an agent identity model using decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and verifiable credentials.
- Design authorization that binds actions to safety and energy limits.
- Prototype proof-of-delivery that creates tamper-evident audit logs.
What you will deliver:
- A trust layer for authenticated communication between agents.
- An authorization system that blocks unauthorized actions.
- Complete audit trails for complex orchestration tasks.
Secondments
You will spend two research visits with partners in the network:
- Aalto University (Espoo, Finland) — 3 months from around July 2028 (academic), with Riku Jäntti: gather requirements and build trust mechanisms for the agent framework.
- Deutsche Telekom – T-Labs (Germany) — 4 months from around July 2029 (industry), with Ingo Friese: test the trust-management framework on Deutsche Telekom’s edge infrastructure.
The host
The Chair for Service-centric Networking at TU Berlin, hosted at the Telekom Innovation Laboratories (T-Labs), works on trustworthy digital infrastructures, self-sovereign digital identities, and agent-based service orchestration for 6G.
Supervision
Main supervisor: Axel Küpper (ORCID) — Head of the Chair for Service-centric Networking, TU Berlin (at the Telekom Innovation Laboratories). He works on trustworthy infrastructures, digital identities, and agent-based orchestration.
Co-supervisors:
- Riku Jäntti (ORCID) — Aalto University
- Ingo Friese — Deutsche Telekom (T-Labs)
Profile we are looking for
- Applied cryptography and security
- Decentralized identity (DIDs, verifiable credentials) is a plus
- Distributed systems
- MSc (completed or near completion) in computer science, computer engineering, or a related field
- Curiosity, initiative, and good spoken and written English
You must also meet the MSCA eligibility rules — no PhD yet, the mobility rule, and open to all nationalities.
How to apply
Official vacancy at the host institution: link coming soon.
Until then, apply through the central AEGIS application portal: AEGIS application portal (reference position DC12), and read what to include in your application.
Questions about this position? Contact the coordinator, Prof. Paul Pop, aegis@compute.dtu.dk.