AAA Data Science Postdoctoral researcher Citizen Data Science

Informatics Institute (UvA) & CREATE-IT (HvA)

Amsterdam Data Science, an initiative of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), VU University Amsterdam (VU), Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), and Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) is looking for 14 researchers at the postdoctoral/PhD level. These positions are funded by the Amsterdam Academic Alliance (AAA), a joint initiative of the UvA and VU aimed at intensifying collaboration with each other and knowledge institutions in the region, to cement Amsterdam's position as a hub of academic excellence. These positions are partially co-funded by CWI, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of the UvA, HvA, ORTEC, Spinoza fund of Prof. Vossen, and VUmc.

Amsterdam Data Science provides a network in which some 300 Amsterdam based scientists exchange Data Science knowledge and forge partnerships within and outside the academic community. This comprises the foundations of data science and data science for the life sciences, social analytics, business analytics, and digital humanities.

This advertisement concerns one of the 14 positions. This postdoctoral researcher position is with Prof. De Rijke of the Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam, and with drs. Niederer of the Citizen Data Lab at CREATE-IT applied research, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA).

The Informatics Institute is one of the research institutes within the Faculty of Science. Data science is a strategic direction for the institute and it is responsible for research, teaching and innovation activities in data science.

CREATE-IT applied research is the research department of the faculty of Digital Media and Creative Industries. At the Citizen Data Lab, researchers map, analyze and activate urban areas with the development and validation of digital research methods and participatory design using citizen data.

Project description

Citizens increasingly share their lives online. Through social media experiences, opinions and reports of events are shared. In parallel, residents of cities such as Amsterdam collect data using widely available sensor technologies, to measure air quality, traffic, or trash on the street. The main question driving this project is how to make sense of these diverse types of citizen signals. This overall question can be divided into three research strands.

Tasks

• Conduct computer science research, with a focus on social media analysis and analysis of sensory data;
• publish in top tier journals and conferences at the interface of computer science and communication science;
• play an active role in the supervision of students at all levels (PhD, MSc, BSc) at both participating institutions;
• contribute to knowledge transfer both in a traditional educational setting and in settings with non-academic stakeholders (governmental, industrial).

Requirements

To be able to make a flying start and succeed, candidates for this position should have considerable academic experience at the PhD-level in large-scale content analysis of social media. Candidates are expected to have demonstrable algorithmic, theoretical and experimental experience, ideally combining quantitative and qualitative expertise.

In addition, a successful candidate should have:

• a PhD degree in computer science;
• active research knowledge of, and expertise in, modern search and data mining methods (specific knowledge of such methods in the context of social media or sensory data is a definite plus);
• experience programming in at least one of the following languages: C, C++, Java, Python, or Perl;
• teaching and supervision experience;
• excellent oral and written communication skills.

Further information

• Prof. M. de Rijke
• Drs. S. Niederer

Appointment

The appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of three years and divided over the UvA and the HvA. The gross monthly salary will be in accordance with employer regulations for (academic) personnel, and depending on expertise and previous experience.

You may check the collective labour agreement (UvA / HvA) and the employment conditions (UvA / HvA).

Job application

Applications may only be submitted via application-science@uva.nl. To process your application immediately, please quote  vacancy number 15-111 and the position you are applying for in the subject-line. Applications must include a detailed curriculum vitae, a motivation letter explaining why you are the right candidate, list of projects you have worked on with brief descriptions of your contributions and the names and contact addresses of two academic references from which information about the candidate can be obtained. All these should be grouped in one PDF attachment.

Applications will be accepted until 10 May 2015.

No agencies please