Postdoctoral researcher in logic

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is a renowned research institute at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), 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. The ILLC’s central research area is the study of fundamental principles of encoding, transmission and comprehension of information. Research at the ILLC is interdisciplinary and brings together insights from various disciplines concerned with information and information processing, such as logic, philosophy, linguistics, musicology, mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence and cognitive science.

The ILLC is looking to fill one postdoc position in Logic within the project EXPRESS: From the Expression of Disagreement to New Foundations for Expressivist Semantics. This is a five-year project funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant and led by Dr Luca Incurvati (Principal Investigator). The project aims to develop a novel theory and logic of the way disagreement is expressed in dialogue. This theory will then be used to establish a novel approach to natural language semantics, inferential expressivism.

The project is highly interdisciplinary and makes use of theoretical and empirical insights from philosophy and linguistics as well as formal techniques from logic and computer science. In addition to the PI and the logic postdoc, the research team includes a PhD student in philosophy of language and semantics and a research assistant. A postdoc position in computational linguistics / computer will be advertised at a later stage. Many members of the ILLC have expertise and interests in the theoretical and empirical topics directly relevant to the project (e.g. Maria Aloni, Franz Berto, Floris Roelofsen, Raquel Fernandez, Robert van Rooij, Frank Veltman). The project will avail itself of an extensive international network of experts in its remit areas and will be overseen by an Advisory Board consisting of scholars from Europe and the US.

Project description

You will work within the subproject The Logic of Rejection. The overall aim of this subproject is to develop a logic of rejection which is philosophically motivated, faithful to the linguistic phenomena, and expressively and proof-theoretically adequate. The subproject will ultimately lead to the development of a logical framework which integrates weak and strong forms of assertion and rejection. You will work under the supervision of the PI, Luca Incurvati and will collaborate with him and the other team members. The project’s methodology involves a constant interaction between philosophical reflection, empirical investigation and formal modelling.

Your work will involve the development of formal systems and the study of their mathematical properties. The system to be developed will be motivated by linguistic and philosophical analysis, with support from the other team members. You will therefore have a specialization in logic as well as a background in both philosophy (preferably philosophy of language) and linguistics (preferably semantics). You will have demonstrable expertise in proof theory and rejection in both philosophical logic and formal semantics. Your publication record will be that of a young talented researcher ready to contribute to the project in terms of both expertise and teamwork. We are looking for an exceptionally motivated candidate with a marked collaborative attitude within an interdisciplinary setting, capable of working independently and efficiently against deadlines.

You are expected to:

• carry out research in logic, with motivation and applications in both philosophy and linguistics;
• have regular meetings with the supervisor and take part in all of the project’s activities, including research visits abroad;
• complete at least six research articles (singly authored or co-authored with the PI or other team members), to be published in excellent peer-reviewed journals of philosophy, logic or linguistics;
• collaborate with the other project team members;
• present intermediate research results (obtained individually or in cooperation with other team members) at international workshops and conferences for philosophical, logic and linguistic audiences;
• help out with organizational tasks connected to the project, such as the organization of conferences and workshops and the editing of a collected volume (the list is non-exhaustive);
• help out with the dissemination of the project results to non-specialists through, e.g., public lectures and social media.

We expect all postdocs embedded within the ILLC, as part of their professional development, to gain teaching experience.

Requirements

You:

• have a PhD degree in logic or related discipline with a strong background in philosophy and linguistics and demonstrable expertise in rejection and proof theory;
• have an excellent record of publication in top journals;
• have a strong motivation to undertake excellent academic research;
• are able and willing to work in a team and in an interdisciplinary setting;
• have excellent command of English.

Further information

For further information please contact:

• Dr Luca Incurvati

Appointment

You will be appointed full-time (38 hours per week), starting on 1 September 2018. You will be based at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Amsterdam and your research will be carried out within the ILLC. The appointment is initially for a period of 12 months; contingent on satisfactory performance, it will be extended for up to a further two years, for a total maximum of up to three years. The gross monthly salary (on a full-time basis) will range from € 3,238 to € 4,084 in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.

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 consist of the following material:

1. a cover letter of maximum two A4 pages explaining your reasons for applying for the position and how you can contribute to the project in terms of both teamwork and expertise (with reference to your doctoral studies, publication record and writing sample);
2. a CV, including: (a) details of studies and in particular a list of completed courses and corresponding grades; (b) a list of all relevant outputs (especially articles and talks); (c) the names of two referees;
3. a writing sample of maximum 8,000 words. We expect that the writing sample would still be sufficiently self-contained. The writing sample should be demonstrably relevant to the project’s themes and objectives.

The material must be collected into one single pdf file (not zipped) named using the PI’s name, the applicant’s surname and 'logicpostdoc' as file name, i.e.: Incurvati-applicant’s surname-logicpostdoc.pdf.

You must have completed or nearly completed your PhD degree by the closing date of this call. If the latter is the case, evidence must be provided in the cover letter that the PhD degree will be obtained before the start of the position (and hence before 1 September 2018).

Please submit your application to solliciteren2018-fgw@uva.nl no later than 23.59 (CEST) on 1 May 2018. We will consider only complete applications submitted to this email address.

Please state vacancy number 18-199 in the subject line of your application. The subject of the e-mail message and the attachment must consist of the vacancy number and the text [Incurvati-applicant's surname-logicpostdoc]'. #LI-DNP