Are you interested in implementing computational methods in argumentation theory? Do you have experience with working with formal approaches to the study of argumentation theory?

The Institute for Logic, Language, and Computation (ILLC) currently has a vacancy for a postdoctoral research position as part of the broader field Humane AI. Within this field the focus is on data and platforms for social, cultural and economic innovation. ILLC is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research.

What are you going to do

Within the field of Computational Argumentation, the rapidly growing research area of argument mining is aimed at developing procedures for automatic recognition of arguments in texts. More recently, researchers have also developed procedural methods for identifying the types of arguments, e.g., 'argument from cause', 'pragmatic argument', or 'argument from expert opinion', which can be used to annotate natural argumentative discourse. The appointed postdoc will contribute to this line of research on argument-checking and information quality by developing a method for evaluating the underlying reasoning of such argument types. Specifically, the appointed postdoc will contribute to:

• Connecting methods for identifying and modeling various types of arguments to the use of reasoning for determining their validity and strength;
• Developing multiple models for argument-checking, combining existing work on the evaluation of arguments by project research group members of the ILLC (EPS unit), ACLC (LANCAR group) and CWI (Human-Centered Data Analytics group);
• Supporting the development of an ontology for argument modeling and designing crowdsourcing tasks for argument type identification and annotation.

Your tasks and responsibilities:

• conducting research, presenting intermediate research results at workshops and conferences and publishing single- and /or co-authored peer reviewed articles;
• participating in meetings of the project research group and developing a shared dataset, ontology, and prototype crowdsourcing task;
• co-organising knowledge dissemination activities.

• a PhD in Computational Argumentation, Computer Science or Data science (for the latter, acquired expertise in Argumentation Theory is an asset);
• excellent research skills demonstrated by a track record of publishing in high-ranking journals and/or with leading presses or a demonstrable capacity to develop such a record;
• a strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
• enthusiasm for communicating academic research to non-academic audiences;
• excellent command of English.

The Postdoc researcher will be appointed at the Philosophy Department of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam and will conduct the research in Institute for Logic, Language, and Computation. The employment contract will be for one year. Contingent on a positive performance evaluation the contract will be extended with one year. The employment contract is for 30,4-38 hours a week. Preferred starting date is 1 October 2022.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and relevant experience, ranges between € 3,974 to € 5,439. 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, including participation in a dedicated Research Training group;
• 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.

Faculty of Humanities

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 an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Amsterdam (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, including computational linguistics, cognitive science, philosophy, computer science and artificial intelligence. ILLC offers an international research environment with world-class faculty in all of its areas of specialization. We are based in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, renowned for its historic system of canals, its laid-back cosmopolitan atmosphere, and its excellent connections to the rest of Europe and the world.

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