ILLC: 2 PhD fellowships

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (IllC) is a research institute at the University of Amsterdam in which researchers from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities collaborate. Its central research area is the study of fundamental principles of encoding, transmission and comprehension of information. Research at ILLC is interdisciplinary, and aims at bringing together insights from various disciplines concerned with information and information processing, such as logic, mathematics, computer science, linguistics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, musicology and philosophy. Research is organized in three research groups: Logic and Computation (LoCo), Logic and Language (LoLa) and Language and Computation (LaCo). Check here for an overview of the research being carried out in the different groups. For the research carried out by the individual staff members of ILLC, see their personal pages via People at ILLC.

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) currently has two PhD fellowships available at the Faculty of Science starting on 1st September 2013. Applications are now invited from excellent candidates wishing to conduct research in an area in which members of ILLC scientific staff affiliated with the Faculty of Science are active.

Job Description

• Complete and defend a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years. Regularly present intermediate research results at international workshops and conferences, and publish them in proceedings and journals;
• collaborate with the researchers in other relevant parts of ILLC;
• participate in the organisation of research activities and events at ILLC, such as conferences, workshops and joint publications;
• assist in teaching activities at ILLC.

Requirements

• A Master's degree with excellent grades in a relevant field, such as logic, computer science, mathematics, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy, musicology or cognitive science;
• good academic writing and presentation skills;
• good social and organisational skills;
• strong interest in a scientific career. 

Further Information

For general information, you may also contact the Chair of the Selection Committee:

• Professor M. van Lambalgen (M.vanLambalgen at uva.nl)

Appointment

The appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of 4 years for 38 hours per week. In the first instance, a contract will be given for 18 months; if positively evaluated, the contract will be extended for another 30 months.

On the basis of a full-time appointment, the gross monthly salary will be €2.062 during the first year, rising to €2.638 during the fourth year, excl. 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end of year bonus. The Collective Employment Agreement (CAO) of the Dutch Universities is applicable.

Job Application

Applications for the PhD position should include a letter of motivation and your CV and, if applicable, a list of grades obtained for your Master (or equivalent) programmes, as well as the names and contact details of two academic referees. Please note that you may also apply even if you have not yet completed your Master's degree.

Please supply this information in a single .pdf format (not zipped), using your initials and surname as a file name.

The letter of motivation should be a maximum of 1 page. Please comment on why you believe ILLC would provide the right environment for your PhD studies: describe the research you plan to do in some detail and how it fits the ILLC. Indicate which specific topics you would like to focus on in your PhD work, and please also indicate which of the three groups (Logic and Computation, Language and Computation, Logic and Language) you think would fit you best. Also indicate which members of the ILLC scientific staff you see as potential collaborators, supervisors, etc.

You are welcome to contact an appropriate member of the senior scientific staff at ILLC to discuss your plans before applying formally.

Completed applications should be submitted by 23.59 hours (CET) on 12 May 2013 to application-science@uva.nl stating your name, vacancy number and 'PhD ILLC' in the subject field. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

You may apply electronically by clicking 'Apply Now' at the bottom of the page.

Selection procedure

Please note that the selection committee will make a shortlist of candidates from all applications received. The candidates on the shortlist will be requested to send additional information by 26 May 2013.  The (Skype) interviews are planned for week 23, from 3to 7 June 2013.