PhD in Computational Social Choice

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) at the University of Amsterdam invites applications for a PhD position in the Computational Social Choice Group led by Ulle Endriss.

The ILLC is an interdisciplinary research institute where logicians, mathematicians, computer scientists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers collaborate. It offers an international research environment with world-class faculty in all of its areas of specialisation. The institute is located in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, renown for its historic system of canals, its laid-back cosmopolitan atmosphere, and its excellent connections to the rest of Europe and the world.

Job description

The position is part of a larger research project, the Customisable Collective Choice (C³) Project, which will eventually employ two PhD candidates and one postdoctoral researcher. The project is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under the TOP1 scheme.

The aim of the C³ project is to develop the scientific foundations required to build tools that can help people to better understand the methods they use to make decisions together and to support them in designing decision making methods that are customised to their specific needs.

The successful applicant will become a member of the Computational Social Choice Group, the research agenda of which is dedicated to the design and analysis of methods for collective decision making. The group's research is both mathematical and conceptual in nature. Much of it regularly gets published in the leading conference proceedings and journals in Artificial Intelligence. At the same time, the group emphasises interdisciplinarity and often reaches out to other fields, particularly Economics, Political Science, and Philosophy.

The successful applicant will be expected to contribute to this broad research agenda. Specifically, you will be asked to perform the following tasks:

• to complete and defend a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years;
• to regularly present intermediate research results at international workshops and conferences, and to publish them in conference proceedings and journals;
• to participate in and to contribute to the organisation of research activities and events at the ILLC, such as conferences, workshops, and colloquia.

All PhD candidates at the ILLC furthermore are expected to make a small contribution to the institute's educational mission, e.g., by working as teaching assistants for courses in their area of expertise and by assisting with the supervision of student research projects.

The PhD position will be embedded into the ILLC's PhD Programme, which offers training in a range of transferable skills that are relevant for a successful research career.

Requirements

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain by the end of the academic year 2016/17, a Master's degree in a relevant discipline, such as Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Logic. Candidates with an interdisciplinary background are particularly encouraged to apply (over the years, members of the Computational Social Choice Group have included people with first degrees in Computer Science, Mathematics, Philosophy, Cognitive Science, and Operations Research).

Applicants furthermore should possess:

• an excellent academic track record;
• a serious interest in pursuing fundamental research of an interdisciplinary nature;
• good writing and presentation skills;
• good social and organisational skills;
• full professional proficiency in spoken and written English.

Prior exposure to relevant topics at the interface of Economics and Computer Science, particularly Computational Social Choice and Algorithmic Game Theory, as well as relevant topics in Artificial Intelligence, particularly Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, will be considered an advantage.

Please note that knowledge of the Dutch language is not required for this position, nor is it required for being able to live in Amsterdam. However, PhD candidates at the ILLC have the opportunity to attend Dutch language classes if they wish.

Further information

For further information about this position, please feel free to contact:

• Ulle Endriss

Appointment

The successful candidate will be employed by the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam on a fixed-term full-time contract (38 hours per week).

The appointment is intended to be for a period of four years. The initial contract will be for 18 months. This will be extended with a further 30 months after a positive evaluation.

The gross monthly salary amounts to €2,191 during the first year, rising to €2,801 during the fourth year, excl. 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% annual allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities applies.

The preferred starting date is 1 September 2017 (some deviation from this date is possible, subject to mutual agreement).

Job application

Your application should include the following information (in one single PDF file, using your surname as the file name):

• a cover letter, including a statement of your research interests and a motivation for why you are applying for this position (at most 2 pages);
• a detailed curriculum vitae;
• a list of a all Master-level modules you have taken, with an official transcript of grades;
• a link to a writing sample available online, such as a Master's thesis, a term paper, or a publication;
• the names, affiliations, and email addresses of two or (at most) three people we can contact for letters of reference for you.

Applications must be submitted no later than 1 February 2017 to application-science at uva.nl. Please state both your name and vacancy number 16-583 in the subject field.