Postdoc Position in the Computational and Applied Logic Group
(ILLC, UvA)

The Computational and Applied Logic Group at the University of Amsterdam is searching for a highly qualified candidate with a PhD in computer science or mathematics for a postdoc position in the following research area:

• computational logic, with an emphasis on both theoretical research on description logics as well as implementation and evaluation of automated reasoning systems for description logics.

Applicants should have a demonstrated capacity or potential to conduct research in computational logic. Desirable criteria for the position are: previous research in description logics, experience with the use and implementation of automated reasoning systems for description logics, programming skills, and willingness to collaborate with other projects at the Computational and Applied Logic Group.

The position is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) as part of the project 'Complex Knowledge Base Classsification (CKBC).' The CKBC project is aimed at developing a methodology for coping with complex knowledge base classification. Taking empirical analyses of real-world knowledge bases as its starting point, our approach is based on (i) isolating important structural features of knowledge, (ii) extending existing representation languages so as to be able to specify such structural features, and (iii) developing algorithms and optimizations that take advantage of such information during the classification process. The project is a mixture of foundational work (on expressive power and complexity), implementations of classifiers (on top of existing subsumption checkers), and empirical testing of the latter. The construction of test cases, random generators and statistical tools to evaluate the performance of automatic classifiers will also be an important contribution of the project. The project will be supported by a scientific programmer.

Please consult http://www.science.uva.nl/~mdr/Projects/CKBC/ for more information about the project.

The position is renewable for up to three years. The salary will be between 5416 Guilders and 6283 Guilders, gross per month. Knowledge of Dutch is not a prerequisite, and candidates can be of any nationality. The starting date should be between December 1, 2001 and March 1, 2002.

Anyone interested in this position is invited to contact Carlos Areces (carlos at science.uva.nl) or Maarten de Rijke (mdr at science.uva.nl). Applicants should submit an application letter together with a full resume including a list of publications, a statement of research interests, and the names and email addresses of at least three references to Maarten de Rijke at mdr at science.uva.nl by October 22, 2001.

Research interests within the Computational and Applied Logic group range from automated reasoning, constraint programming, satisfability checking, and formal verification to digital libraries, information retrieval, computational semantics, and knowledge engineering. The group is strongly internationally oriented, and currently consists of 17 people; it is expected to grow substantially over the next year. Further details on the group can be found at http://www.science.uva.nl/~mdr/CALG/.