PhD student in Data Science for the analysis of online communication

Published: 2022-04-28

The Department of Information Technology has a leading position in research and education in a wide spectrum of areas, from construction of computer systems, via programming of computers, storage and handling of data, to information retrieval and methods for applying computers in a variety of contexts. The Department currently has about 300 employees, including 120 teachers and 110 PhD students. More than 4,000 students take one or more courses at the department each year. More info: https://www.it.uu.se.

The successful candidate will join the Uppsala University Information Laboratory (https://uuinfolab.github.io), a growing interdisciplinary research group doing basic and applied research at the intersection of data mining, social network analysis, and computational social science. The InfoLab is part of the EU-funded Nordic Observatory for Digital Media and Information Disorder and has several ongoing collaborations with the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences at Uppsala University.

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Duties
Network Science is an interdisciplinary scientific area focusing on the study of complex networks, i.e., the structure of the connections between entities, for example social relationships between individuals. The application fields of Network Science are numerous and span several sub-areas depending on the nature of the connected entities, including not only social networks but also biological, communication, and computer networks. The main objective of the field is to develop predictive models for physical, social, and biological phenomena.

The research focus for the advertised position is directed towards integrating textual and temporal data with Network Science for online data analysis. Our aim is to develop novel theory and methodology for enabling the analysis of complex data from social media. The project involves fundamental research on the development of new network models and computational algorithms, as well as applied research to demonstrate the usefulness of the new methodologies to study online communication.

The position is for at most five years and includes department duties (mainly teaching) at a level of at most 20%. The candidate will be expected to teach in Swedish or English (or both).

Requirements
The candidate must have a Master of Science in Computer Science or equivalent. The ideal candidate for the position has a solid background in algorithm design and data structures, as well as strong programming skills.
In addition to the above, applicants should be able to work well both on their own and with others in a diverse group. These competencies are as important as the technical qualifications.
Excellent skills in spoken and written English are a requirement.

Additional qualifications
Experience in at least one of the following areas: network analysis, natural language processing, and statistics. A genuine interest and curiosity in the subject and demonstrated independence.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

The application must include:

• A statement of the applicant’s motivation for applying for this particular position, including the candidate’s research interests, and evidence of the applicant’s ability to work in a group (maximum 2 pages)
• A curriculum vitae (CV)
• A copy of relevant diplomas and transcripts (translated into English or Swedish)
• A copy of the MSc thesis (or a draft thereof).
• The earliest possible starting date.
• Contact information for at least one reference (but no reference letter).

Promising applicants will be invited for an interview on-site before hiring.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Davide Vega, Computing Science Division (davide.vega@it.uu.se)

Please submit your application by 31 May 2022, UFV-PA 2022/1521.

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