Postdoc in Socio-political approach to GANs

Faculteit/Dienst: Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen

Opleidingsniveau: Gepromoveerd

Functie type: Wetenschappelijk Personeel

Sluitingsdatum: 17 January 2023

Vacaturenummer: 11022

Are you looking for a challenging position in an interdisciplinary environment? The Institute for Logic, Language, and Computation currently has a vacant Postdoc researcher position as part of the HORIZON – SOLARIS project, led by main researcher Dr Federica Russo. ILLC is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research.

What are you going to do?

You will be part of the UvA team working on the HORIZON project SOLARIS, a consortium of 12 partners across 6 European countries, and spanning the humanities, social sciences, artificial intelligence, and also including non-academic organisations such citizen science associations and news agencies, and a ministry of interior. You will be contributing to studying a special type of AI, namely GANs – Generative Adversarial Networks. Specifically we expect you to contribute to:

• • ​​carrying out a socio-political analysis of GANs;
  • ​defining value-sensitive design requirements for GANs development;
  • ​contributing to development of regulatory innovation framework for infodemics risk mitigation.​

Your tasks and responsibilities:

• develop, conduct, and publish research on responsible AI in the humanities
• conducting research, presenting intermediate research results at workshops and conferences and publishing peer reviewed articles;
• participating in meetings of the project research group and coordinating some activities of the project, including co-organising knowledge dissemination activities;
• There is also a possibility of teaching courses in areas close to the project themes.

What do you have to offer?

We are looking for an enthusiastic, proactive, collegial, and collaborative colleague. Teamwork is an essential part of this position, as well as ability to coordinating other people and to prioritise tasks.

Your experience and profile:

• A PhD in any field relevant to SOLARIS project, for instance: ​Philosophy / Ethics of Technology, Social Science and Political Approaches to Technology, Media Studies​;
• A clear research interest in the topic of technologies, media, and society (documented by publications and/or grant applications).
• Potential of excellent research skills, as evidenced by a track record of publishing in international journals and/or with leading presses;
• The ability, willingness, and commitment to work in a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience with organising workshops, lecture series, or other events that facilitate knowledge dissemination and valorisation.
• A strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
• Enthusiasm for communicating academic research to non-academic audiences;
• Excellent command of English, as demonstrated by publications in English-language journals.

What can we offer you?

The Postdoc researcher will be appointed as a Researcher 4 or 3 at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam and will conduct the research in the ILLC. The initial employment contract will be for one year. Contingent on a positive performance evaluation the contract will be extended with up to 2 years. The employment contract is for 38 hours a week. Preferred starting date is between February 1st and April 1st, 2023.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and relevant experience, ranges between € 3703 to € 5439. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8,3% year-end allowance. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

What else do we offer

• excellent possibilities for further professional development and education;
• an enthusiastic, inspiring and professional academic team;
• the opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers at research institutes that - partly as a result of their interdisciplinary approach - are world renowned.

About us

The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 30,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

The Faculty of Humanities provides education and conducts research with a strong international profile in a large number of disciplines in de field of language and culture. Located in the heart of Amsterdam, the faculty maintains close ties with many cultural institutes in the capital city. Research and teaching staff focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and are active in several teaching programmes.

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is a research institute at the UvA 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, natural language processing, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, music cognition, and philosophy.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact (during office hours):

• Dr. Federica Russo

Job application

If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the link below. The deadline for applying for this vacancy is 17 January 2023.

Applications should include the following information (submitted in one .pdf):

• A letter of motivation.
• A full academic CV, including a list of publications.
• A writing sample of average journal article length.
• The names and contact details of two references who may be approached by the selection committee.

Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered.

The interviews will be held on the 30th of January 2023.

The UvA is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritize diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.