The UvA’s Faculty of Science is launching a major recruitment campaign called ‘Connecting Science’ in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science. Our ambition is to attract top talent from all over the world to a large number of newly created faculty positions in a wide range of exciting scientific directions. We offer a stimulating environment and excellent conditions for research, tightly connected to challenging educational programmes.

We are looking for ambitious and motivated scientists to connect different scientific disciplines. Our goal is to have a maximal impact on science and society.

What are you going to do?

The study of Urban Informatics refers to creating, applying and using information and communication technology and data to measure, analyse and predict urban processes and phenomena and spans a broad range of areas in computer science/informatics, including the development of sensor systems and networks to capture information about the urban environment and its inhabitants. These sensors generate data that can be analyzed and processed using computational/AI techniques to forecast and predict changes in the urban structure. Finally, new understanding can be developed by building theories and models using the data from such sensors in order to capture the dynamics of the environment and the people. This new understanding can then be applied to intervene with the urban system and ideally inform operational and strategic policy.

We are looking for a scientist working in urban informatics using simulation-based science, with a focus on using data and sensors to develop computational models to increase the understanding of urban phenomena. This may relate to questions about social processes, the design of infrastructure, or new ways to tackle urban growth. You are expected to contribute to fundamental research on urban informatics, with new modelling paradigms and techniques and/or new ways to collect and use urban data for building computational models. The big challenge will be to develop new understanding and new computational techniques that can help cities and governments plan for the future.

What do we require?

• A relevant PhD degree in Computational or Computer Science, Applied Mathematics or related areas;
• excellent research skills, evidenced by a track record of publications in renowned international conferences and journals, and contributed and/or invited talks at international conferences/workshops;
• a strong background, experience and expertise in research in the foundations of Computational Science and Urban Informatics;
• teaching experience at university level and demonstrable didactic abilities;
• preferably some experience with the (co-)supervision of BSc, MSc and/or PhD students;
• (the ability to develop) the management skills required for general academic administration, organisational and coordination tasks;
• the ability to attract external funding;
• you should be able to establish good connections to the cities, ministries and other interdisciplinary research links to help develop the research;
• good command of English and willingness to learn the Dutch language. 

International research experience is preferred as is a highly collaborative and enthusiastic approach.

We offer you a tenure-track agreement for five years (which is part of a six-year temporary appointment). At the start, we will draw up an agreement with you, specifying the tenure-track requirements for research, teaching and management tasks that need to be fulfilled in order to assess progress after three years and after five years. The requirements in this agreement are negotiable and depend on your experience and scientific profile. Following a positive assessment after five years  the appointment will become permanent.

Start dates are negotiable. The positions will be filled at the level of Assistant or Associate professor, depending on qualifications. The starting salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel, and depending on experience and qualifications. It will range from a minimum of €3,637 up to a maximum of €6,738 gross per month (salary scale 11-14) based on full-time employment. This is exclusive 8 % holiday allowance and 8.3 % end-of-year bonus. A favorable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Take a look here.

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 Science – Informatics Institute

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 6,500, as well as 1,600 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The mission of the Informatics Institute is to perform curiosity-driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The main research themes are Artificial Intelligence, Computational Science and Systems and Network Engineering. Our research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on collaborative, data driven, computational and intelligent systems, all with a strong interactive component.

The Computational Science Lab of the Informatics Institute aims to make dynamic complex systems tractable via computational science. We study a broad range of dynamics systems in fields ranging from biomedicine to urban, or socioeconomic systems. We also develop theory of dynamic complex systems based on concepts of information processing.