[Corpora-List] Two PhD-positions + Programmer in Semi-Structured IR

[Jaap Kamps]

The University of Amsterdam seeks two versatile, highly motivated
PhD-candidates and a research programmer to work on the focused
retrieval of semi-structured data, and apply these in a vertical
search engine for archival descriptions.  The positions are part of
the README project combining both system-centered and user-centered
approaches in IR:

(1) System-centered approaches to Semi-Structured IR
(PhD position, three years, fully funded).

The _system-centered PhD-candidate_ will develop richer, contextual
language models that use the textual context provided by the structure
of the document, and the user's context implicitly and explicitly.
The developed retrieval techniques will significantly extend current
XML retrieval models by building on the results of the user studies
(see position 2), and by taking into account the user's profile and
context, and the textual context of the unit to return.

The Ph.D. candidate should hold a research-oriented master's degree
(M.Sc./M.A.) or equivalent qualification, and have a strong background
or demonstrable interest in:
- Information Retrieval, esp. statistical language modeling;
- Mark-up and query languages for web and semi-structured data.
Solid programming skills are a requirement. Industrial experience, or
a track record of project-based work, is a definite advantage.

(2) User-centered approaches to Semi-Structured IR
(PhD position, three years, fully funded).

The _user-centered PhD-candidate_ will conduct a range of user studies
to investigate the information seeking behavior of focused retrieval
users, with varying degrees of domain knowledge, and their natural
information needs.  We will use state-of-the-art search technology
(see position 1) and work in application area with a large potential
user-base where focused retrieval methods are natural: archival access
using digital finding aids coded in XML.

The PhD candidate should hold a research-oriented master's degree
(M.Sc./M.A.) or equivalent qualification, and have a strong background
or demonstrable interest in:
- Information Retrieval, especially user-centered IR;
- User studies and test collection development.
Experience or affinity with cultural heritage and the traditional
means of search, discovery and retrieval based on cultural heritage
descriptions, is a definite advantage.

(3) Research Programmer (five years, for 40% of full-time).

As research programmer, you will support the README project in the
development and testing of innovative algorithms and software, and
ensure that the resulting implementations can be used within the
project for research and demonstration purposes.

Requirements:
- Relevant academic degree;
- Extensive experience in developing complex software systems using
languages such as C, C++ or Java, and scripting languages such as
Perl, Python or Ruby;
- Knowledge of web servers and web technologies such as CGI, PHP and
Java servlets;
- Knowledge of search engines such as Lucene and relational database
systems;
- Familiarity with Linux and general Unix development and maintenance.

* More information

The README project is funded by the Netherlands Organization for
Scientific Research (NWO) through a VIDI-grant in the Innovational
Research Incentives Scheme.

For application details and a detailed description of the README
project, look at <http://staff.science.uva.nl/~kamps/readme/>.  For
informal inquiries, please contact Dr.ir. Jaap Kamps (e-mail
<kamps at uva.nl>, phone +31 20 525 3011).