Postdoctoral researcher in Computational Modeling of Quantification

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is a renowned research institute at the University of Amsterdam, in which researchers from the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Science collaborate. The research carried out at Humanities forms one of the six research schools within this faculty. ILLC’s 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 processing, such as logic, philosophy, linguistics, mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science.

We are looking for an exceptional postdoctoral researcher in the area of Semantics and Computational Modeling within the project ' Cognitive Semantics and Quantities’ [CoSaQ]. Computational Modeling of Quantification' . This is a 5-year project (2017-2021) funded with 1.500.000 Euros by the European Research Council, and led by Principal Investigator (PI) Jakub Szymanik.

Project description

You will work within the subproject ' Computational Modeling of Quantification' , lasting for the last three years of the project (2019-2021), and will be employed full-time. This sub-project will be focused on cognitive and computational modeling of quantifier processing (including but not limited to: verification, reasoning, and learning). Your main task will be contributing to computational and cognitive modeling of quantifier processing to answer question, like: How do people verify quantified sentences? How do we reason with quantifiers? How do we learn the meaning of quantifiers? ) You will be collaborating closely with project team members (See project website for related publications and our team).

You will be expected to:

• present intermediate research results at international workshops and conferences;
• deliver a number of excellent publications in cooperation with the PI and the other project members;
• contribute to teaching activities at the Master of Logic, Master of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Cognition, Communication and Language programmes.

We will also expect you to help with the organizational tasks connected to the project, including the:

• organization and attendance of CoSaQ project seminars;
• organization of CoSaQ workshops.

Requirements

• PhD in the area of Computer Science, AI, Logic, Linguistics or Cognitive science, with demonstrable expertise in semantics and building computational models of language;
• a strong research profile, with research works testifying the capacity to publish regularly in top international peer-reviewed journals in the area of cognitive science, linguistics, and AI;
• strong willingness to help with all the organizational duties connected to the project;
• strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
• interest in teaching interdisciplinary topics at the intersection of logic and cognition.

Further information

For more information on the CoSaQ research project, please contact:

• Jakub Szymanik, Principal Investigator

Appointment

You will be appointed full-time (38 hours per week) for a period of three years at the Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam. The research will be carried out in the Institute for Logic Language and Computation. The appointment is initially for a period of 12 months; contingent on satisfactory performance it will be extended by 24 months, leading to at least three papers published/forthcoming in excellent peer-reviewed journals of logic, linguistics, and/or cognitive science. The gross monthly salary (on a full-time basis) will range from €3,303 during the first year to €3,677 during the third year, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The salary will be supplemented with an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus. 

Job application

The UvA is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We value a spirit of enquiry and endurance, provide the space to keep asking questions and cherish a diverse atmosphere of curiosity and creativity. 

Your application should include the following information in one single pdf file, named using your surname and 'postdoc-cosaq' as file name, e.g.: Smith-postdoc-cosaq.pdf:

• a 1-page statement of research motivating why you are applying and how you can contribute to the CoSaQ project in terms of (a) excellent collaborative research, (b) help with organization;
• a CV, including (a) details of research experience; (b) names and e-mail addresses of at least three referees to be contacted informally for references; (c) full list of publications. Also include URLs for downloading sample (best) publications and/or thesis manuscripts (do not send these as part of your application).

Please submit your application by means of the link below (use the obliged field ‘CV’ in the application form) no later than 15 October 2018.

Only complete applications submitted in this manner will be considered.

We will interview candidates in the first week of November. Skype interviews are possible.

The preferred starting date is 1 February 2019 but slight delays may be negotiated. #LI-DNP