second announcement: PhD Studentship on Evaluation of Semantic Web Search

Apologies for any cross-posting
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PhD Research Studentship on Evaluation of Semantic Web Search  
Technologies
Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield
Closing date is 7.09.2009
Required start date: October 2009 or soon thereafter
Length: three years, subject to satisfactory progress
Stipend: £13,290 per annum
More details: The studentship provides payment of tuition fees at the  
UK/EU rate

Please note the studentship is reserved to UK and European candidates  
only!
Non-EU candidates can be considered only if they are currently  
resident in Europe and have lived there for more than 3 years on a non- 
student visa!

Semantic technologies are at the heart of the future Web providing  
ways to express knowledge and data so that it can be properly  
exploited. The successful candidate will study for a PhD as part of a  
3-year EU-funded project entitled "Semantic Evaluation at Large Scale  
(SEALS)" http://www.seals-project.eu/. The goal of the SEALS project  
is to provide an independent, open, scalable, extensible and  
sustainable infrastructure (the SEALS Platform) that allows the remote  
evaluation of semantic technologies thereby providing an objective  
comparison of the different existing semantic technologies. This will  
allow researchers and users to effectively compare the available  
technologies, helping them to select appropriate technologies and  
advancing the state of the art through continuous evaluation.

The PhD topic will be in the area of semantic search tool evaluation.  
As part of a team, the student will investigate new metrics for  
assessing the interoperability, scalability, usability, etc. of state  
of the art tools developed by the international semantic web  
community. The student will also be involved in the organisation and  
running of two public, worldwide evaluation campaigns which will be  
used to create semantic technology roadmaps identifying sets of  
efficient and compatible tools for developing large-scale semantic  
applications.

More information about the project is available at: http://www.seals-project.eu/

The successful candidate will study within the Organisations,  
Information and Knowledge (OAK) Group which is part of the Department  
of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield. More information  
about the OAK group is available at: http://oak.dcs.shef.ac.uk/

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Candidates should hold at a first or upper second honours degree or  
masters degree in Computer Science or a related discipline. The  
candidate should have excellent computer programming skills (including  
Java); analytic, presentational, communication and effective  
interpersonal skills; ability to work effectively within the research  
team, and a proven capacity to work to and meet deadlines. Knowledge  
of and experience in semantic web technologies are definitely a plus.

HOW TO APPLY: please send an email to Prof. Fabio Ciravegna (f.ciravegna@dcs.shef.ac.uk 
) AND Dr. Stuart Wrigley (s.wrigley@dcs.shef.ac.uk) declaring your  
intention to be considered for the position attaching the following  
documents:
	• un updated Curriculum Vitae
	• a cover letter explaining why you are the right person for the  
position

The closing date is 7.09.2009
INFORMAL ENQUIRIES
Informal enquiries may be directed to Prof. Fabio Ciravegna (f.ciravegna@dcs.shef.ac.uk 
) AND Dr. Stuart Wrigley (s.wrigley@dcs.shef.ac.uk).
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Professor Fabio Ciravegna,
Director of Research & Innovation in the Digital World,
The University of Sheffield
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Professor of Language and Knowledge Technologies,
Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield,
Regent Court, 211 Portobello, S1 4DP, Sheffield, UK
Tel:+44(0)114-22.21940, Fax:+44(0)114-22.21810
www: http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~fabio/