Fully-funded​ PhD Research Fellow in Big Data

 ​​
PhD Research Fellow in Big Data: Decision Support Platform for Assessing
Strategic use of Big Data in Local Enterprises

*Vestlandsforsking has one open position as a PhD Research Fellow in big
data. The research fellow will be part of the Teknoløft Sogn and Fjordane
project funded by the Norwegian Research Council for the period of 2018 –
2023. The research fellow position will target local business relevant
decision support solution for effective big data mining and data
exploitation.*

The aim of the Teknoløft-project is to educate PhD candidates in big data
and robotics in close cooperation with local enterprises in the county Sogn
og Fjordane. The 6-year project seeks to expand the role of research in the
county business sector’s innovation processes. We are seeking a PhD
candidate to be part of this new initiative, producing top research at the
crossroad between data science, machine learning, and innovation, with a
specific focus on innovative uses of big data. Candidates will develop new
ideas and methodology motivated by challenges of local enterprises.

Vestlandsforsking participates in regional, national and international
research collaborations. The Big Data Group at the institute is composed of
interdisciplinary researchers whose activities include big data analytics
in wide set of semantic dimensions. We are further building up a research
community in big data, in which the research fellow will be a part of. In
addition, the research fellow will work closely with PhD research fellows
at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) employed at the
Teknoløft-project.

The position is for a period of three years, with the opportunity for a
fourth year. In the latter case, 25 percent of the work will be relevant
duties at Vestlandsforsking. The PhD studies includes a compulsory 3-6
months visit to an international research group.



*PhD Research Fellow Position in Big Data: Decision Support Platform for
Assessing Strategic use of Big Data in Local Enterprises*

The critical factors and support environments which lead to a successful
application and value generation from big data technologies in small and
medium enterprises are largely unknown. The objective is to improve
understanding about the impact of big data by developing an innovative,
integrated and holistic tool. The candidate is expected to perform an
exploration study in order to understand the patterns and requirements
which are pertinent for generating value out of big data in local
enterprises. The work should aim at developing a Decision Support Platform
which will be able to predict the value generated (i.e., socio-economic
impact) from big data technologies, taking as input the specific
characteristics and related information of the business under assessment
and associating it with a predefined set of use cases with similar
characteristics by applying machine learning and data mining methods.

The Teknoløft-project is also seeking research fellows for additional
positions in robotics:

PhD Research Fellow position: Human Motion Estimation
<https://www.jobbnorge.no/ledige-stillinger/stilling/151019/phd-research-fellow-positions-in-robotics-human-motion-estimation>

PhD Research Fellow position: Human Robot Interaction Control
<https://www.jobbnorge.no/ledige-stillinger/stilling/151008/phd-research-fellow-position-in-robotics-human-robot-interaction-control>

Postdoctoral/PhD Research Fellow position: Human-robot Cooperative Learning
<https://www.jobbnorge.no/ledige-stillinger/stilling/151015/postdoctoral-phd-research-fellow-position-in-robotics-human-robot-cooperative-learning>



*Qualifications*

Applicants must hold a master's degree in statistics, mathematics, computer
science or a related quantitative subject. Candidates who will submit their
master’s thesis before 30th of June 2018 will also be considered. A good
knowledge of machine learning, data mining or related methods is essential,
and a research-oriented master thesis within one of these or related areas
will be considered as an advantage. Furthermore, candidates must be able to
demonstrate competence in at least one modern programming language such as
Scala, Python or R.

In addition to the required educational background, the following criteria
will be evaluated: competence and grades on completed course work, quality
of the master’s thesis (excellent grade, equivalent of grade B or better on
the ECTS grading system), publications (if any), and research experience.

The candidate must be diligent and display the ability to work
independently, supplemented with regular guidance, and is expected to
perform high-quality research and to publish the results in international
workshops, conferences, and journals. It is the aim of the project to
interact extensively with industrial partners, and the candidate should
have excellent collaboration skills. The candidate must be proficient in
written and spoken Norwegian and English.

The PhD research fellow must enrol in the PhD programme Computer Science at
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and must meet the formal
requirements for admission into the PhD programme. An application for
enrolment should first be submitted after the appointment is made and the
supervisor(s) will help with this procedure. The candidate must be enrolled
as a PhD student within 3 months from the start of the employment.

*Applying for the position*

Applications will be evaluated by an expert panel. Applicants are asked to
submit their application by e-mail to post@vestforsk.no within 1st of June
2018.

The application letter should state the relevant qualifications for the
position and your motivating interest in big data and should be accompanied
by a CV with a complete list of scientific publications.

Please send diplomas, certificates and other documents to
Vestlandsforsking, Postboks 163, 6851 Sogndal.

Applicants should indicate which publications or parts of publications
should be given special consideration in the evaluation. If the documents
are not in a Scandinavian language or in English, the applicants must
submit certified translation of these. The transcripts must specify the
topics, the course work, and the grades at the bachelor’s and master’s
degree levels.

*Salary and working place*

Initial salaries will be offered at NOK 436 900 / grade 50 in the Civil
Service pay grade table scale. There is a compulsory 2% deduction to the
pension fund. The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that
apply for the position at any time.

The place of work for this position is Sogndal.

Home page: www.vestforsk.no

*Søknadsfrist:* 01.06.2018
*Web:* www.vestforsk.no

*Kontakt:* Professor Rajendra Akerkar
*Telefon:* +47 91 68 56 07
*E-post:* rak <rak@vestforsk.no>
​ ​ <rak@vestforsk.no>
@
​ ​
vestforsk.no <rak@vestforsk.no>

*Kontakt 2:* Director Merete Lunde
*Telefon:* +47 99 60 76 78
*E-post:* ml <ml@vestforsk.no>
​ ​ <ml@vestforsk.no>
@
​ ​
vestforsk.no <ml@vestforsk.no>