Logic List Mailing Archive
PhD student position in logic and verification for AI, Utrecht (The Netherlands), Deadline: 20 Oct 2014
PhD position in logic and verification for AI - Utrecht University
Deadline for application: October 20th, 2014
For the ERC consolidator project "Responsible Intelligent Systems" (REINS) we
are looking for a PhD student to be employed in the division of artificial
intelligence at the department of information and computing sciences.
REINS
The REINS project aims to provide a framework for automating responsibility,
liability, and risk checking for intelligent systems. As intelligent systems
are increasingly integrated into our daily life, the division, assignment and
checking of responsibilities between human and artificial agents become
increasingly important. From robots in medicine, the military and
transportation (self-driving cars); to automated trading agents on the
financial markets (algotrades); to automated monitoring, prediction and
protection systems (pacemakers, automated surveillance, early warning systems);
we delegate more and more responsibility to intelligent devices. By delegating
responsibilities to intelligent devices, we run the risk of losing track of our
indirect legal and moral liabilities.
The REINS project divides into three sub-projects: sp1: ?Logics of Collective
Responsibility?, sp2: ?Grades of Responsibility relative to Normative Systems"
and sp3: ?Formal Responsibility Checking?. With positions in sub-projects 1 and
2 being fulfilled we are now soliciting applications for the PhD position on
the third sub-project.
REINS sub-project 3: "Formal Responsibility Checking"
In the Formal Responsibility Checking sub-project we investigate how to apply
known techniques from the program verification domain (model checking, theorem
proving) to the responsibility checking domain. We aim to develop translations
from logical formalisms for representing (graded) responsibilities and
normative systems, such as the ones developed in sub-projects 1 and 2, to
formalisms for which model checkers and theorem provers already exist.
Starting date: February 1st, 2015 (later or earlier dates may be negotiated)
Goal: Suitable algorithms for responsibility checking through theorem proving
and model checking
Scientific context: computer science, philosophy, logic, artificial
intelligence
*Job Description*
Candidates are expected to:
- complete and defend a PhD thesis within the nominal time-frame;
- regularly present intermediate research results at our internal colloquium
and at international workshops and conferences;
- collaborate with the other researchers in the REINS project;
- participate in the organization of research activities and events such as
conferences, workshops and symposia;
- assist in teaching tasks and/or take on teaching responsibilities.
*Conditions of employment*
The PhD position is a full-time position for 4 years. Salary starts at
2,042.- and increases to 2,612.- gross per month in the fourth year of the
appointment. The salary is supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and an
end-of-year bonus of 8,3% per year. In addition we offer: a pension scheme, a
partially paid parental leave, flexible employment conditions. Conditions are
based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities. More information
is available on:
http://www.uu.nl/EN/informationfor/jobseekers/Working-for-Utrecht-University/terms-of-employment/Pages/default.aspx
*Utrecht University*
Utrecht University has great ambitions for its teaching quality and study
success rates. This also applies to its clear research profiles which are
centred around four themes: Sustainability, Life Sciences, Youth & Identity,
and Institutions. Utrecht University plays a prominent role in our society and
contributes to finding the answers to topical and future societal issues.
*Faculty of Science*
The Faculty of Science consists of six departments: Biology, Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Information and Computing Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry
and Mathematics. The Faculty is home to 3500 students and nearly 2000 staff and
is internationally renowned for the quality of its research. The Faculty's
academic programmes reflect developments in today's society.
*Department of Information and Computing Sciences*
The Department of Information and Computing Sciences is nationally and
internationally well known for its fundamental research in computer science and
as an initiator in the area of game technology. The department's research
activities are clustered into four divisions, viz. Virtual Worlds, Artificial
Intelligence, Interaction Technology, and Software Systems. The Department of
Information and Computing Sciences offers educational bachelor programs in
computer science and information science, and four (English) research master
programs, viz. Game and Media Technology, Computing Science, Business
Informatics, and Artificial Intelligence. Three years ago the Department
introduced a track on Game Technology in the bachelor program in computer
science, which led to a substantial annual increase of bachelor students. The
bachelor programs are the largest computer science and information science
programs in the Netherlands
*Division Artificial Intelligence*
The division Artificial Intelligence comprises the chairs Intelligent Systems,
Decision Support Systems and Algorithmic Data Analysis. Together these groups
cover a broad spectrum of subjects in Artificial Intelligence, ranging from
symbolic logic approaches to sub-symbolic evolutionary approaches; from agent
programming to machine learning; from knowledge discovery to knowledge
representation; from Bayesian networks to applied algorithmics for AI.
*How to apply*
Candidates are invited to send (1) a motivation letter, (2) a CV, (3) the email
address of a referee, and (4) a master thesis plus grades by following the
instructions on the vacancies page of our faculty
http://www.uu.nl/faculty/science/EN/AboutFBW/organisation/Pages/vacancies.aspx
or on the vacancies page of our department http://www.cs.uu.nl/vacatures/en/
Deadline for applications is October 20th, 2014. For any further information on
the project or the vacancies one can contact dr. Broersen at email address
J.M.Broersen@uu.nl or professor John-Jules Charles Meyer at email address
J.J.C.Meyer@uu.nl