Funded PhD positions at the Open Data Institute, London: deadline 24th August 2015; data integration, summarisation, etc

Hi all,

We have two funded PhD positions open at the ODI, to tackle some great
challenges in open data that I'm sure will appeal to people on this
list. Please circulate widely and note the mobility and visa
constraints listed below -- the positions are particularly suited to
non-UK, EU citizens.

Full details are here:
<http://theodi.org/jobs/phd-studentship>

An extract from the advert copied below:

Two fully-funded PhD Studentships in open data, web science and web
engineering (in collaboration with the University of Southampton).
Shoreditch, London - with UK & International travel. Up to £25k +
allowances, 3 yr fixed-term.

About the role

Are you excited about how open data can change the world for the
better? and itching to tackle the big technical issues that stand in
the way? The ODI is offering two fully-funded PhD studentships that
will enable you to do exactly that.

As a successful candidate you will:

- conduct your research within the framework of the EU-funded Marie
Skłodowska-Curie International Training Network WDAqua, a network of
15 PhD students across Europe tackling various aspects of the topic
“answering questions with web data”
- be employed by, and spend most of your time at, the Open Data
Institute, where you will research and write a dissertation leading to
a PhD that will be awarded by the University of Southampton
- be co-supervised by internationally recognised researchers in the
fields of open data, linked data, semantic web and web science: Dr Tom
Heath (ODI), Dr Elena Simperl (University of Southampton)
- receive a full scholarship and a support grant each year to attend
conferences, summer schools, and other events related to your research
- engage with other researchers and participate in the outstanding web
science and data science training programme offered by the WDAqua
project, including internships at other partners in the project

The projects

Topics for a PhD dissertation should be oriented to one of the
following projects:

- Creating summaries for discovery of big and open data - whether data
is considered ‘big’ due to volume, variety, or velocity, scale can
make it hard for potential data consumers to find data that meets
their information needs. The research challenges in this project
centre around how to create data summaries that bridge the gap between
user needs and the raw data itself.

- Licence-, price-, and privacy-driven data selection and integration
- what happens when meeting a user’s information need requires
integration of data with different licensing, pricing, and privacy
constraints? The research challenges in this project centre around how
we resolve these scenarios at Web scale to find optimal solutions, and
indeed what an optimal solution looks like.

About you – technical skills, knowledge, experience and interpersonal skills

To be successful in the role you must have the following:

- a Bachelors or Masters degree in computer science or a related
discipline; some experience in legal and economic aspects would be a
strong advantage for the second project
- demonstrable knowledge and understanding of open data and web technologies
- a strong enthusiasm for and some demonstrable experience of
conducting independent research
- extensive programming/software development experience, according to
best practices and preferably with agile methodologies
- the ability to clearly formulate and communicate your ideas to a
range of different audiences; proficiency in spoken and written
English
- the passion, drive, and vision to sustain you through a 3-year PhD

Specifics of the position

The studentship is available to support three years’ full-time work,
subject to satisfactory progress. A mobility allowance of approx
£400/month and, if applicable, a family allowance of approx £150/month
are also provided.

To be eligible for this position you must satisfy the mobility
requirements of Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions. According to these
guidelines, at the time of recruitment the candidate “must not have
resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.)” in
the UK “for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to
the reference date. Compulsory national service and/or short stays
such as holidays are not taken into account.”

Application procedure

To apply, please send the following to jobs@theodi.org by Monday 24 August 2015:

- a CV
- a covering letter, explaining your interest in one or both of the
projects and how you fit the criteria above
- a research proposal addressing one of the topics above (max 4 pages)
- an example of your writing, e.g. a dissertation or research paper

You are encouraged to discuss these roles and potential applications
in advance with Dr Tom Heath, Head of Research at the ODI, by emailing
tom.heath@theodi.org including the term “WDAqua” in the subject line.

Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be considered.

Note to Non-EU Nationals

Non-EU Nationals please note: the ODI has a legal responsibility to
ensure that all employees are entitled to live and work in the UK. It
is unlikely that we would be able to obtain a Certificate of
Sponsorship for this job. Therefore, in most cases it is unlikely that
we will be able to consider applications from candidates who require a
visa to work in the UK. For further information on eligibility to work
in the UK please visit the UK Border Agency website at
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk.



-- 
Dr Tom Heath
Head of Research
Open Data Institute
http://theodi.org/

Received on Friday, 14 August 2015 14:08:00 UTC