The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is looking for an exceptional researcher in the area of Mathematical Logic to hold a one-year postdoctoral position within the project 'The Logic of Conceivability [LoC]. Modelling Rational Imagination With Non-Normal Modal Logics'. This is a 5-year project (2017-2022) funded with 2.000.000 Euros by the European Research Council, and led by Principal Investigator (PI) Prof. Franz Berto.

A short description of the LoC project can be found here.

The postdoc will work within the subproject 'Core Theory & applications' and will be employed full-time for one year. This subproject is about developing the Core LoC theory and addressing the open problems the project is meant to tackle: the problem of logical omniscience in epistemic logic, the problem of Information overload, and the problem of how to model moderately rational cognitive agents. A list of published LoC research papers can be found here.

This will be a pure research position, with the postdoc expected to:

- present intermediate research results at international workshops and conferences;

- deliver excellent publications in cooperation with the PI and the other project members;

- help with all the organizational tasks connected to the project, including:

• the organization and attendance of a regular LoC project seminar;
• the organization of a major LoC Conference in 2021;
• the maintenance of the interactive project web site;
• the dissemination of results to non-specialists as planned in the LoC project.

• PhD in Mathematical Logic and expertise in at least two areas between Philosophical logic, Cognitive science, Philosophy of mind, and the Psychology of reasoning;
• research works testifying the capacity to publish regularly in top journals;
• strong willingness to help with all the organizational duties connected to the LoC project;
• strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
• excellent command of English.

Our offer

The selected Postdoctoral researcher will be employed at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Humanities within the Department of Philosophy and will execute the research in the ILLC. The employment contract will be for 38 hours per week (1,0 FTE) for a period of 1 year. The intended starting date is 1 April 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter. The gross monthly salary may range from €3,491 to €4,262 depending on experience and qualifications, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Faculty of Humanities – – Institute for Logic, Language and Computation

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 and information processing, such as logic, philosophy, linguistics, musicology, mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence and cognitive science.