Postdoctoral researcher at ILLC

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 inter- disciplinary, and aims at bringing together insights from various disciplines concerned with information and information processing, such as logic, mathematics, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence and musicology. Research is organized in three research programmes: 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 programmes. For information on research carried out by the individual staff members of ILLC, see their personal pages via People at ILLC.

The ILLC is opening a vacancy for a postdoc in any subject that fits into its research at the Faculty of Science. The selection procedure is linked to NWO’s VENI programme; details are given below.

Job description

The Postdoctoral position will be part of one of the research programmes at ILLC, and the postdoc will carry out the project independently, under general supervision of the programme leader.

The candidate will be expected to fulfil the following tasks:

• conduct independent research, leading to publications in leading international journals and conference proceedings;
• regularly present intermediate research results at international workshops and conferences;
• collaborate with researchers in other relevant parts of the ILLC;
• teach or co-teach at least one course per year at the UvA;
• participate in the organisation of research activities and events at the ILLC, such as conferences, workshops and joint publications.

Requirements

Prospective candidates should:

• possess excellent research skills, evidenced by publications in renowned international journals or conference proceedings, in a field relevant to the research carried out at ILLC, Faculty of Science;
• have good academic writing and presentation skills;
• have good social and organisational skills;
• submit an NWO VENI proposal by 5 January 2016 (and hence, be eligible for the programme, which in most cases means having obtained a PhD degree in the years 2013, 2014 or 2015).

NB: Due to the new Dutch legislation prescribing a limit of four years for consecutive temporary appointments at one institution, internal UvA candidates in any position other than that of PhD (promovendus) should contact Ms Jenny Batson (J.S.Batson@uva.nl) to see whether they would be eligible to carry out this temporary position at UvA, if selected.

Selection procedure

The selection procedure is linked to the VENI programme, the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme of the Dutch research organisation NWO for researchers who have recently obtained their PhD. The vacancy is limited to candidates who submit a research proposal in the 2016 VENI programme (deadline: 5 January 2016), listing the ILLC as the prospective host. The ILLC will provide a three-year position for one candidate whose proposal receives a favourable review in the VENI competition but who cannot be awarded a VENI grant by NWO due to scarce funding.

Next to the VENI-procedure at NWO, there will be two selection moments: early in November 2015, the ILLC will make a first selection between prospective applicants, and shortly after the announcement (probably in July 2016) by NWO of the successful VENI-proposals the ILLC will make the final selection for the ILLC postdoc position. Candidates that pass the first selection of November 2015, will receive support from the ILLC with the preparation of their VENI-proposal.

Further information

For more information about the position and the details of the selection procedure, please contact:

• Dr. Ulle Endriss

Appointment

The full-time appointment (38 hours per week) will be on a temporary basis for three years, with a two-month probation period, standard according to Dutch legislation, starting as soon as possible after the VENI announcement of NWO.

The gross monthly salary will range from €2,501 to €4,597 (scale 10 - 11) depending on experience; this is exclusive of 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% annual bonus. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

Job application

Applications should include the following information, in separate pdf files (not zipped), using surname, initials and a self-evident word as file names (e.g., Smith-J-CV.pdf):

• a curriculum vitae;
• a cover letter (at most 1 page) explaining why you are interested in this position;
• a research statement (at most 2 pages) constituting the basis of your VENI proposal;
• one representative research article or draft;
• the name and contact details (including email address) of two academic referees.

Completed applications should be submitted by 1 November 2015 to application-science@uva.nl, and should state your name and vacancy number 15-363 in the subject field. The committee does not guarantee that late or incomplete applications will be considered.

No agencies please