[Air-L] Job: Viability of online communities

[Nigel Gilbert]

Research Fellow
Viability of online communities
Centre for Research in Social Simulation
University of Surrey, UK

Salary: up to GBP 30,012 (Level 4, point 5) per annum

Summary
Applications are invited for a researcher to work with Professor Nigel
Gilbert and Dr Camille Roth on a project investigating the determinants of
the viability of online communities and networks.

The post will involve the collection and analysis of data about online
communities such as tagging systems (e.g. Flickr), wiki-based systems (e.g.
Wikipedia) and social networking sites (e.g. MySpace).

The post will involve describing and analyzing the sustainability and
demographics of these communities, both in terms of their population and
their knowledge-based content, in order to understand the determinants of
their viability or non-viability. An interest in complex systems and/or
networks, and programming skills in one or more of scripting languages, java
and web programming is essential for this post. A PhD in a quantitative
social science, computer science or statistical physics would be helpful. It
will involve some travel in Europe. The post is available from 1st October
2007, or as soon as possible thereafter, until 31st January 2010.

The post is associated with the European Union Framework 6 project, PATRES
(Pattern Resilience), which will develop new methods defining the actions
favouring the recovery from perturbations, applicable from ecology to
cognitive sciences and sociology. An overview of the project may be found at
http://www.patres-project.eu/.

The post will be located in Guildford, Surrey, England, on a modern campus
that sits on the hillside leading up to Guildford Cathedral. The campus is
surrounded by landscaped grounds, playing fields and a beautiful lake
populated by ducks and swans. Academic, sports, catering and entertainment
facilities are all on hand with the close-knit community creating a relaxed
and friendly atmosphere.  While the centre of London can be reached within
35 minutes by rail, Guildford is a market town in an area of outstanding
natural beauty.

For informal discussions about the post, contact Professor Nigel Gilbert at
n.gilbert at surrey.ac.uk. For an application pack and to apply on line, please
visit www.surrey.ac.uk/vacancies. Alternatively please contact Stephanie
Lesanne via email on s.lesanne at surrey.ac.uk or by telephone on +44 1483
682605 quoting reference number 6192. To send an application, please email
or post to Stephanie Lesanne, HR Officer, School of Human Sciences,
University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK.

The closing date for applications is 2nd September 2007.
Interview board will be held on 18th September 2007

The University is committed to an Equal Opportunities Policy