[Air-L] 2 PhD positions at ITU Copenhagen

[Irina Shklovski]

2 PhD positions in Values and Ethics in Innovation for Responsible Technology in Europe

https://candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationInit.aspx?cid=119&ProjectId=180794&MediaId=5

The IT University of Copenhagen invites candidates to apply for a PhD position starting December 31st 2016. The position is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 VIRT-EU project - “Values and Ethics in Innovation for Responsible Technology in Europe.” The project includes five European research partners besides ITU: London School of Economics (UK), Open Rights Group (UK), Uppsala University (SE), Politechnico di Torino (IT) and Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (DK). The goal of the project is to analyze and map the ethical practices of European hardware and software entrepreneurs, maker and hacker spaces, and community innovators in order to:

  *   understand how IoT innovators enact ethics as they design future devices,
  *   generate a new framework for Privacy, Ethical and Social Impact Assessment (PESIA)
  *   develop tools to support ethical reflection and self-assessment as part the design and development process for IoT technologies.

You can find out more about the project here: http://tinyurl.com/zcgmle4 <http://tinyurl.com/zcgmle4>

Position number 1:
The PhD candidate will be expected to collaborate in conducting multi-sited ethnographic research on ethics practices with IoT developers of technologies. The research, based on observations and interviews in selected European technology development sites, will span the distance between examining developer ethics in practice and key involvement in the application of these insights through interdisciplinary collaboration. To this end, the candidate’s work will lead to the development of tools to support ethical reflection in the technology design processes. The PhD project will result in a dissertation incorporating multi-sited ethnographic observations and accounts alongside recommendations and prescriptions, making a contribution to research in one or more of the following fields:

  *   Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
  *   Science and Technology Studies (STS)
  *   Media Studies and Communication Studies
  *   Design Research or other IT-related interdisciplinary fields.

The ideal candidate will have training in social science research methods and ethnographic practice, a strong interest in design methodologies and/or background in HCI or computer science. They will be working within and amongst practitioners in makerspaces, hackerspaces, co-working spaces and attending relevant conferences in the field.

Qualification Requirements:

  *   Qualitative research methods training
  *   High level of oral and written proficiency in English, ideally with some oral proficiency in Spanish
  *   Candidates who can document expertise in qualitative research and/or relevant practical experience with IoT design and development will be prioritized
  *   Candidates should have an MSc(or equivalent) in digital anthropology, design, communication studies, HCI, informatics, computer science or similar


Position number 2:
The PhD candidate will be expected to conduct social network analysis based on social media data and to collaborate with the parallel ethnographic research on IoT developers of technologies. The student will also collaborate closely with the Data Science and Engineering lab, currently being established at Uppsala University, Sweden. The objective of the PhD project is to develop new methods to map, model, analyze and mine large complex social media networks. Topics of interest include multilayer networks and other types of attributed graphs. The PhD project will result in a dissertation within the area of network science and computational social sciences, making a contribution to research in one or more of the following fields:

  *   Network Science
  *   Media Studies and Communication Studies
  *   Computational Sociology other IT-related interdisciplinary fields.

The ideal candidate will have training in social science research methods and SNA practice and a strong interest in interdisciplinary research.

Qualification Requirements:

  *   Quantitative research methods training
  *   Candidates should have an MSc(or equivalent) in Social Network Analysis, Social Media studies, communication studies or computer science or similar
  *   High level of oral and written proficiency in English.

Application
The application must be in English and must include:

  *   A cover letter;
  *   A statement of purpose, which includes a project description for the PhD project, providing evidence of independent thinking, novelty and originality, and a state of the art grasp of the targeted research field matching the project description above. This text should be maximum 5 standard pages long (ca. 2400 characters per page, including spaces, references and notes);
  *   Documentation of academic degree(s); grade transcripts that documents outstanding academic achievement;
  *   Curriculum Vitae, which must include names and contact information of two professional/academic references;
  *   Applications may also include one relevant scientific publication written by the applicant, and/or a portfolio of practical work, and/or the applicant's master thesis if relevant. Letters of recommendation can also be included in the application

It is understood that qualified applicants will satisfy these requirements to varying degrees, for example because of differences in publication cultures in various research fields.

Early contact with our faculty staff is strongly encouraged.

General information
The IT University of Copenhagen (ITU) is a teaching and research-based tertiary institution concerned with information technology (IT) and the opportunities it offers. The IT University has more than 70 full-time Faculty members. Research and teaching in information technology span all academic activities which involve computers including computer science, information and media sciences, interaction design, humanities and social sciences, business impact and the commercialisation of IT.

Successful applicants will be employed and enrolled at the ITU University for a period of 3 years.

Salary
Appointment and salary will be in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).

Application procedure
You can only apply for this position through our e-recruitment system. Apply by pushing the button "Apply for position" in the job announcement on our website:www.itu.dk/About-ITU/Vacancies <http://en.itu.dk/About-ITU/Vacancies>

Please read the guidelines for applicants carefully before filling in the application form. You can see the guidelines through this link: www.itu.en/Guidelines <http://en.itu.dk/Research/PhD-Programme/Available-PhD-Positions/Guidelines-for-Applicants>

Applications must be written in English. All other documents, such as transcripts must be accompanied by a translation in English.

Questions about the position 1 can be directed to Irina Shklovski, e-mail: irsh at itu.dk<mailto:irsh at itu.dk> or Rachel Douglas Jones, e-mail: rdoj at itu.dk<mailto:rdoj at itu.dk>. Questions about the position 2 can be directed to Luca Rossi, email: lucr at itu.dk<mailto:lucr at itu.dk>. Questions related to the application procedure may be directed to the Personnel Section, Kristina Køj-Udsen, kuds at itu.dk<mailto:kuds at itu.dk>.

The applicant will be assessed according to the Appointment Order from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of 25 April 2008.

Application deadline: November 1, 2016 at 23:59 CET.

Applications/enclosures received at ITU after the application deadline will not be taken into consideration. If you submit an application, it is your responsibility to ensure that it arrives before the deadline so please allow sufficient time for upload of publications and other documents.

The IT University invites all qualified researchers regardless of age, gender, religious affiliation or ethnic background to apply for the positions.
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Irina Shklovski
Associate Professor
Co-Editor Big Data and Society
Technologies in Practice Research Group (TiP)
Interaction Design Research Group (IxD)
IT University of Copenhagen
Rued Langgaards Vej, 7
2300, København S. Danmark
http://www.itu.dk/people/irsh/
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