Have you recently completed (or are you about to complete) your PhD in AI, doing formal work in an area such as Multiagent Systems or Knowledge Representation? Are you excited about recent developments at the interface of AI with Economics taking place in the Computational Social Choice and Algorithmic Game Theory research communities? Can you see yourself working in an interdisciplinary environment, in a team with smart and friendly colleagues?

Then you may want to join us. We are looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Social Choice to work with us in the COMSOC Group at the ILLC in Amsterdam.

The research agenda of our group is dedicated to the design and analysis of methods for collective decision making. The research we do is both mathematical and conceptual in nature. We regularly publish in the leading conference proceedings and journals in AI, but also emphasise interdisciplinarity and often reach out to other fields, notably Economics, Political Science, and Philosophy. Relevant keywords include decision theory, game theory, social choice theory, AI, multiagent systems, and knowledge representation.

What are you going to do?

You will be expected to contribute to the broad research agenda of the COMSOC Group. Specific tasks include:

• to regularly present research results at international workshops and conferences, and to publish them in conference proceedings and journals;
• to collaborate with other members of the COMSOC Group;
• to contribute to the supervision of PhD candidates in the group;
• to participate in and to contribute to the organisation of research activities and events at the Institute, such as workshops and colloquia;
• to contribute to the dissemination of research results to non-specialist audiences and the organisation of outreach events.

While this is primarily a research position, as a postdoctoral researcher at the ILLC you will be expected to also make a modest contribution to the institute’s educational mission, e.g., by supervising MSc or BSc theses or by giving guest lectures in courses related to your own area of research.

You should have completed, or expect to complete before the start of your appointment, a PhD in a relevant area of research, such as Computational Social Choice, Algorithmic Game Theory, Multiagent Systems, or Knowledge Representation. Exceptionally strong candidates with a somewhat different research profile who indicate a clear interest in moving into the field of Computational Social Choice will also be considered. You also should possess:

• a strong publication record (relative to your career stage);
• excellent writing and presentation skills;
• good social and organisational skills;
• willingness to reach out to audiences beyond academia;
• full professional proficiency in spoken and written English.

Please note that knowledge of the Dutch language is not required for this position, nor is it required for being able to live in Amsterdam. However, members of staff at the ILLC have the opportunity to attend Dutch language classes if they wish.

Fixed-term contract: One year.

An employment contract for 38 hours a week for 1 year. An extension for 1 year subsequently follows if we assess your performance positive. The starting date is negotiable (but must be in 2020).

The salary, depending on relevant experience before the beginning of the employment contract, will be €2,709 to €4,274 (scale 10) gross per month, based on fulltime (38 hours a week), exclusive 8 % holiday allowance and 8.3 8 % 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? Then find out more about working at the Faculty of Science.

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 – Institute for Logic, Language and Computation

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 Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is an interdisciplinary research institute, shared between the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities, where logicians, mathematicians, computer scientists, cognitive scientists, linguists and philosophers collaborate. It offers an international research environment with world-class faculty in all of its areas of specialisation, including several areas of specialisation within AI.

We are based in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, renown for its historic system of canals, its laid-back cosmopolitan atmosphere, and its excellent connections to the rest of Europe and the world.