Researcher

Department Department of Mathematics and Statistics – Faculty of Science
Deadline 15 Jul 2021
Start date by agreement

E-APPLICATION

Bursar of the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University announces an open competition for the position Researcher

Workplace: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic

Type of Contract: temporary position with contract until 30 September 2024 (with possible extension), non-academic

Working Hours: 1 FTE (full-time employment of 40 hours per week)

Expected Start Date: negotiable, could commence by 1 October, 2021, preferable not later than 1 January, 2022, with respect to immigration timelines for non EU candidates

Number of Open Positions: 2

Pay: CZK negotiable

Application Deadline: 15.07.2021 (or until position filled)    EU Researcher Profile: R2

About the Workplace

Masaryk University is the second-largest university in the Czech Republic with ten faculties, more than 5000 staff, and more than 30 000 students.

Faculty of Science MU, a proud holder of the HR Excellence in Research Award by the European Commission, is a research-oriented faculty, offering university education (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degree programs) closely linked to both primary and applied research and high school teaching of the following sciences: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth sciences. We are the most productive scientific unit of the Masaryk University generating around 40 % of MU research results.

Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Faculty of Science MU invites applications for a research position within the project "The Digital City''.

Job Description

Key Duties: The successful applicant(s) will join a research team created for the new project, The Digital City, led by prof. Stanislav Sobolevsky, joining MUNI from New York University. 

Research topic: The Digital City project will develop the Urban Artificial Intelligence for pattern detection and modeling of urban activity with application to smart urban planning, smart transportation and energy, social and mobility network analysis etc. It will particularly focus on developing a novel fusion of network science and deep learning techniques to address dimensionality and complexity of multi-layered interconnected big spatio-temporal data. The foundations of the mathematical framework being developed behind this work as well as further references could be found in a recent pre-print https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.03388 .

The project and the positions are open under support of a recent MASH award, with the main goal to develop a multi-disciplinary research team providing fundamental contribution in applied mathematics, computer science with smart city applications, attracting external support from ERC, Horizon Europe as well as a consortium of industrial companies and European city agencies.

Skills and Qualifications

The applicant should have:

• Ph.D. degree in a relevant area of mathematics, applied mathematics, computer science, physics; or the perspective to defend his/her Ph.D. thesis soon;
• Strong research records including publications in reputable internationally recognized venues;
• Strong background in developing and implementing customized neural network models;
• Strong Python coding proficiency, including Tensorflow, Keras and/or PyTorch;
• Deep understanding of probabilistic inference, optimization models and algorithms, graphs;
• Ability to conceive a long-term research plan, prioritize tasks and coordinate the work within a team in order to successfully implement it;
• In-person and remote teamwork skills;
• High motivation to present and publish scientific results;
• Very good written, oral, and interpersonal English communication skills.

Further, we shall appreciate:

• Experience with network science approaches or applications;
• MATLAB proficiency;
• Experience and/or interest to real-world models, big data and smart city applications;
• Experience participating in preparing successful proposals for government and/or industry-funded sponsored research projects;
• Experience working within multidisciplinary teams.

Informal inquiries about the position can be sent to Jan Slovak, the director of the department, email slovak@muni.cz, phone +420 54949 7060.

We Offer

• An interesting job in a dynamically-expanding university area
• Possibility to participate in teaching, curriculum development and leading bachelor and master students within related fields of applied mathematics, computer science, data analytics;
• Opportunity to work on challenging scientific projects advancing frontier of network science, AI, and creating real-world impact through smart city applications;
• Involvement in national and international projects;
• Flexible working hours and occasional home office to support personal needs in family and career compatibility
• Employee benefits such as 6 weeks of paid vacation per year, pension insurance contribution, a financial meal allowance/contribution to lunches in canteens of MU, Multisport card, vaccinations free of charge, discounted language courses, university cinema discount, exclusive mobile tariff offer by Vodafone, childcare group-Campus
• Opportunity to work and live in a modern and dynamic city (for more information on costs of living, you can refer to Numbeo)
• International Staff Office provides support with your relocation to Brno

Application Process

The application shall be submitted online by 15 July 2021 via an e-application, please find the reference to the e-application in the beginning and end of the advertisement.

The candidate shall provide following:

• CV (European standard recommended)
• A motivation letter (up to 1-2 pages), articulating the applicants career goals, interest in the position, the project described and the strengths and skills along those lines
• A statement of research interests (up to 3-4 pages long)
• List of publications and other research outputs
• Names and contact details of at least 3 academic and/or professional referees
• Ph.D. diploma (if applicable).

After submitting your application successfully, you will receive an automatic confirmation email from jobs.muni.cz.

Selection Process

Received applications will be considered carefully in line with principles of the EU Charter and Code for Researchers. Selection criteria: (i) meeting qualification requirements described above, (ii) all required documents provided, (iii) further input collected from shortlisted candidates.

A review of applications will begin on July 15, 2021 and will continue as they are received and until the position is filled. The short-listed applicants complying with the requirements will be offered a trial assignment to assess their ability to implement custom machine learning on networks algorithms as well as Python coding skills and, if successful, they will be invited for Zoom or personal interviews.

If we do not contact you within 10 working days after the application deadline at the latest, it means that we have shortlisted other candidates meeting the position requirements.

The Faculty Recruitment Policy (OTM-R) can be seen here.

Faculty of Science, Masaryk University is an equal opportunity employer. We support diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Visit our Career page.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Roman Čermák, M.Sc.

bursar of the Faculty of Science