[Air-L] Join our team at the Oxford Internet Institute: we’re hiring a Data Scientist to study the geography of the darknet

Mark Graham mark.graham at oii.ox.ac.uk
Sat Jan 14 07:48:41 PST 2017


*Data Scientist*

Grade 7: Salary £31,076 – £38,183 p.a.

The Oxford Internet Institute is a leading centre for research into
individual, collective and institutional behaviour on the Internet. We are
looking for a full-time Researcher to work with Professor Mark Graham
<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/mark-graham/>and Dr Joss Wright
<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/joss-wright/>on a new project on ‘The
Economic Geography of the Darknet’.

Relatively little is known about the geography of the global darknet trade.
Although the strong anonymity on darknet markets prohibits any data
collection about the geography of consumption of things like drugs and
weapons, there is a large amount of data available about the sale of such
goods and services.

This project seeks to employ techniques from computational social science
and digital geography in order to achieve two primary objectives. First, we
seek to use scrape relevant geographic information out datasets of darknet
sales: building some re-usable data at the country level (e.g. ‘the number
of heroin sellers based in every country’, ‘the total number of vendors
selling weapons in every country’ etc.). Second, we seek to map, visualise,
and analyse those data: using multiple variables (the various categories of
products and services) to ask ‘what is the geography of illicit products
and services?’ We hope to further ask ‘does the online trade of illicit
goods and services have a significantly different geography from
conventional mappings of that trade?’ In other words, can data from the
darknet be used as a proxy for more traditional (and much harder to
collect) data about illegal economic activities?

The position is suited to candidates who have recently completed a
doctorate in computer science, GIS, economics, sociology or other relevant
discipline (i.e. postdocs), but we also welcome applications from qualified
individuals without a doctorate (e.g. candidates with industry experience).
Programming skills, and experience with GIS are required.

Based at the Oxford Internet Institute, this position is available
immediately for 12 months (as a part-time role) or 7 months (as a full-time
role) in the first instance, with the possibility of renewal thereafter,
funding permitting.

Please note: This role will not attract sufficient points to obtain a
sponsored tier 2 visa under the points based immigration system, however
applications are welcome from candidates who don’t currently have the right
to work in the UK, but who would be eligible to obtain a visa via another
route.

Download the Job Description and Selection Criteria
<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/126926-Data-Scientist-1.pdf>

Please note that you may only apply through the Oxford University’s
recruitment website
<https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=126926>

Only applications received before 12.00 midday GMT on Thursday 26 January
2017 can be considered.

Interviews for those short-listed are currently planned to take place on
week commencing 13 February 2017.
------------------------------------------
Mark Graham

Professor of Internet Geography
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford

Faculty Fellow
The Alan Turing Institute

Research Affiliate
School of Geography and the Environment
University of Oxford

Visiting Fellow
Department of Media and Communications
London School of Economics and Political Science

markgraham.space | @geoplace <http://twitter.com/geoplace>
<http://twitter.com/geoplace>



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