Logic List Mailing Archive

Postdoctoral scholarship and PhD student position in interdisciplinary studies, Brussels (Belgium)

CENTER LEO APOSTEL at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium

Post-Doctoral Fellowships (2011-2013) and
Doctoral Scholarships (2011-2014)
at the Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies

http://www.vub.ac.be/CLEA/news/joboffers/

         1. Post-Doctoral Fellowships

         The Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies offers 
post-doctoral fellowships, employment for three years, and the possibility for 
prolongation for an additional three years. Candidates need to have a doctorate 
degree. The research engages in one of the aspects of the overall scientific 
activities of the Leo Apostel Centre. Because of the broad scope of the 
research at the Leo Apostel Centre, candidates with a variety of types of 
scientific background are welcome, from mathematics and physics, computer 
science, biology and engineering, to psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, 
sociology, anthropology, economics, complex systems and others. More 
specifically CLEA is interested in candidates motivated to investigate the 
foundations of one of the scientific disciplines. Hence, foundations of 
biology, including evolution theory, and question with respect to the nature 
and origin of life, foundations of mathematics and physics, with special 
interest for relativity theory and quantum mechanics, foundations of cognition, 
with special interest for concept theories, decision theories, theories of 
meaning, foundations of computer science, with special interest for artificial 
intelligence, semantic analysis theories, and basics of information retrieval, 
foundations of economics, with special interest in behavioral economics, and 
fundamental theories of risk and probability, foundations of sociology and 
anthropology, with special interest for theories of cultural evolution, aspects 
of science and culture, aspects of constructivism, and world views research, 
and philosophy, with special interest for philosophy of science, philosophy of 
meaning and meaningfulness. CLEA is also specifically interested to employ 
mathematicians engaged in mathematical modeling of different aspects of 
different domains of the different sciences. Candidates are invited to write 
down their specific interest and view on the foundations research they would 
like to pursue in their application. As the already ongoing research in CLEA 
shows, CLEA is open to original ideas and effectively wants to stimulate 
researchers to ponder about the 'big questions' in each of the disciplines 
within an interdisciplinary perspective.


         2. Doctoral Scholarships

         The Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies offers doctoral 
scholarships, employment for two years and prolongation of an additional two 
years, hence a total of four years. The purpose is to work towards a doctorate 
in these four years. Candidates need a university degree equivalent with a 
bachelor degree to be able to start a doctorate. The subject of the doctorate 
engages in one of the aspects of the overall scientific activities of the Leo 
Apostel Centre. Because of the broad scope of the research at the Leo Apostel 
Centre, candidates with a variety of types of scientific background are 
welcome, from mathematics and physics, computer science, biology and 
engineering, to psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, sociology, 
anthropology, economics, complex systems and others. More specifically CLEA is 
interested in candidates motivated to investigate the foundations of one of the 
scientific disciplines. Hence, foundations of biology, including evolution 
theory, and question with respect to the nature and origin of life, foundations 
of mathematics and physics, with special interest for relativity theory and 
quantum mechanics, foundations of cognition, with special interest for concept 
theories, decision theories, theories of meaning, foundations of computer 
science, with special interest for artificial intelligence, semantic analysis 
theories, and basics of information retrieval, foundations of economics, with 
special interest in behavioral economics, and fundamental theories of risk and 
probability, foundations of sociology and anthropology, with special interest 
for theories of cultural evolution, aspects of science and culture, aspects of 
constructivism, and world views research, and philosophy, with special interest 
for philosophy of science, philosophy of meaning and meaningfulness. CLEA is 
also specifically interested to employ mathematicians engaged in mathematical 
modeling of different aspects of different domains of the different sciences. 
Candidates are invited to write down their specific interest and view on the 
foundations research they would like to pursue in their application. As the 
already ongoing research in CLEA shows, CLEA is open to original ideas and 
effectively wants to stimulate researchers to ponder about the 'big questions' 
in each of the disciplines within an interdisciplinary perspective.

         3. How to Apply

         A candidate who wants to apply for a post-doctoral fellowship or a 
doctoral scholarship, needs to contact Diederik Aerts, director of the Leo 
Apostel Centre at before January 11, 2011, and with preference before January 
4, 2011. The candidate needs to add a curriculum vitae or a link to a website 
where his or her curriculum vitae is sufficiently presented. The curriculum 
vitae also has to include the exact date the PhD was obtained (or the date the 
PhD is going to be obtained, if this is earlier than June 1, 2011, applications 
for a post-doc are welcome), and additionally (a) a detailed list of 
publications (ordered chronologically, for publications in ISI-journals the 
impact factor needs to be indicated), (b) a list of attended conferences, and 
(c) any other item of scientific value. The application may also contain a 
short text where the candidate explains his or her specific interest in working 
at the Leo Apostel Centre, and any material that the candidate himself or 
herself decides to be of importance for his or her candidature. This does NOT 
include a scan of diplomas or proofs of having passed tests such as TOEFL (Test 
of English as Foreign Language). Hence in this first stage of the call, there 
is no reason why an application e-mail including attachments should exceed the 
1MB limit.

         For candidates applying for a doctoral scholarship, a description of 
the studies that have been undertaken has to be included. The short curriculum 
vitae also needs to include elementary bibliographic data such as nationality 
and date of birth, and the dates on which master diploma(s) has/have been 
obtained. If there are publications, they needs to be supplied in the way 
described in detail for the post-doctoral fellowship applicants.

         A first selection is taken place between January 4 and January 11, 
2011. Scientists, who are interested but not able to apply before January 11, 
are encouraged to take an informal contact, announcing when their application 
could be expected. Also questions of a more personal nature (working conditions 
in the Centre; staying conditions in Belgium; etc...) are welcome, and should 
be directed to Diederik Aerts, via clea@vub.ac.be.