Logic List Mailing Archive

PhD student position in logic and theoretical philosophy, Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Deadline: 1 Feb 2012

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation at the University of 
Amsterdam has a vacancy for a

PhD candidate in logic and theoretical philosophy
38 hours per week
vacancy number W11-216

This position is connected to the LogiCIC project which is funded by the 
European Research Council, under the ERC starter grant awarded to Dr. 
Sonja Smets.

Tasks:

The available PhD position is part of the larger LogiCIC project on "The 
Logical Structure of Correlated Information Change".  The overall project 
aims to develop a uniform logical system that centres around correlated 
information change and can be used to explain and model various 
interactive scenarios. In particular, we will examine the correlations 
that arise in situations in which the very act of learning new information 
may directly change the reality that is being learnt. The project is 
interdisciplinary in nature and will combine insights and techniques from 
a range of research domains, including logic, quantum mechanics, 
philosophy of science, belief revision theory, truth approximation and 
learning theory. In total two PhD students, one post-doctoral researcher 
and the principal investigator will join the LogiCIC project team from 
January 2012 onwards.

The task of the PhD student for this open position is to concentrate on 
the study of 'correlated (higher-order) belief change in social contexts'.
  An example is the way in which an introspective agent changes her beliefs 
when learning new higher-order information, i.e. information that may 
refer to her own beliefs. More complex forms of correlated information 
change occur in groups of communicating agents whose higher-level 
reasoning about how others change their theories can affect the result of 
each individual's theory change.


Requirements:

We are looking for a candidate with a strong outspoken interest in Logic 
(especially in any of the areas such as Modal Logic, Epistemic Logic, 
Dynamic Logic, Linear Logic, Logic for Multi-Agent Systems in AI) and at 
least one of the following areas of research: Belief Revision Theory, 
Formal Epistemology, Game Theory, Learning Theory, Truth Approximation 
Theory (in Philosophy of Science).

Candidates should have a Master?s degree in Logic, Theoretical Philosophy, 
Artificial Intelligence or related areas.  Fluent English is a 
prerequisite.

For further information, please contact Dr Sonja Smets at 
S.J.L.Smets@uva.nl

Appointment:

The full-time appointment will be on a temporary basis for a maximum 
period of four years (18 months plus a further 30 months after a positive 
evaluation) and should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). An educational 
plan will be drafted that includes attendance of courses and 
(international) meetings.

The gross monthly salary will range from 2042 Euro in the first year to 
2612 Euro in the final year, according to the Dutch salary scales for PhD 
students. The collective employment agreement (CAO) of Dutch universities 
is applicable. The successful applicant will be working under the daily 
supervision of Dr. S. Smets. The main focus of the appointment is on 
research, but can include moderate teaching duties in subjects relevant to 
the candidate's research activities.

Job application:

Applications, quoting the vacancy number and marked 'strictly 
confidential' in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope, should 
include a curriculum vitae, a letter of motivation (at most 1 page) 
explaining why you are interested in this position, a Research Statement 
(at most 2 pages), explaining your research interests and how you think 
they can be related to the topic mentioned in the above given Job 
Description, a list of all university courses taken, including a 
transcript of grades, a short summary of your Master thesis in maximum 2 
pages and the name and contact details (including email address) of two 
referees who can provide details about your profile (one of which should 
be the main supervisor of your Master thesis).

Applications should be sent to: Universiteit van Amsterdam, Dienst 
Personeels-zaken FNWI, Postbus 94216, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Applications may also be emailed to 'application-science@uva.nl', stating 
the vacancy number in the subject line and relevant documents as 
attachments.

Applications will be reviewed starting 1 February 2012 and are accepted 
until the position is filled

http://www.english.uva.nl/vacancies/vacancies.cfm/2BA74264-8F66-45A4-BEA97B707FDF5705