The Informatics Institute of the  University of Amsterdam (UvA) invites applications for five PhD candidates for four years. The positions are part of AIRLab, the Artificial Intelligence for Retail Lab, a joint research lab between Ahold Delhaize and the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence.ct description

Artificial intelligence, and in particular machine learning, has become a driving force behind many breakthroughs. Ahold Delhaize, a multinational retail organization, and the Innovation Center for AI, which is headquartered at the University of Amsterdam, have started a joint research lab in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to join the best of academic and industrial research. The lab focuses on fundamental research in artificial intelligence for retail. The lab will host 17 PhD positions and research assistants. It is led by a director who is currently being hired and Prof. Maarten de Rijke (information retrieval). One of the perks of the program is an exchange program where each lab member will work on site at one of the Ahold Delhaize R&D sites.

We are currently looking for five PhD candidates to join AIRLab. As a PhD candidate you will perform cutting edge research in AIRLab in the field of AI, with a special focus on content analysis for e-commerce, personalization, or supply chain management. The following PhD positions are available for you to choose from, each with its own research agenda.

See the attachment for a full project and job description.

• Conduct AI research with a special focus on content-analysis for retail, personalization, or supply chain management;
• publish in top tier conferences and journals in relevant areas;
• provide teaching assistance (10%);
• complete a PhD thesis.

The appointment will be full-time (38 hours a week) for a period of four years (initial employment is 18 months). Periodic evaluations will be held after 9 and 14 months, and upon positive evaluation, the appointment will be extended to a total of 48 months. The appointment must lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses, summer and/or winter schools, and national and international meetings. You are also expected to assist in teaching of undergraduate students.

The salary is in accordance with the university regulations for academic personnel. The salary will range from €2,266 (first year) up to a maximum of €2,897 (last year) before tax per month (scale P) based on a full-time appointment. There are also secondary benefits, such as 8% holiday allowance per year and the end of year allowance of 8.3%. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

Among other things, we offer:

• competitive pay and excellent benefits;
• extremely friendly working environment;
• high-level of interaction;
• international environment (10+ nationalities in the group);
• access to high-end computing facilities (cluster with 4,000+ cores);
• one of the best AI ecosystems on the planet;
• new building located near the city center (10 minutes by bicycle) of one of Europe’s most beautiful and lively cities.

Since Amsterdam is a very international city where almost everybody speaks and understands English, candidates need not be afraid of the language barrier.

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.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Informatics Institute

The mission of our Institute is to perform curiosity driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on Collaborative, Data Driven, Computational and Intelligent Systems, all with a strong interactive component.

http://ivi.uva.nl