Universidad Tecnologica Metropolitana

Entity: Chair of Transitions, Institute of Advanced Studies   About UM6P: Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) is an internationally oriented institution of higher learning, that is committed to an educational system based on the highest standards of teaching and research in fields related to the sustainable economic development of Morocco and Africa. UM6P is an institution oriented towards applied research and innovation. On a specific focus on Africa, UM6P aims to position these fields as the forefront and become a university of international standing. More than just a traditional academic institution, UM6P is a platform for experimentation and a pool of opportunities, for students, professors and staff. It offers a high-quality living and study environment thanks to its state-of-the-art infrastructure. With an innovative approach, UM6P places research and innovation at the heart of its educational project as a driving force of a business model. About Entity (Hiring entity): The Chair of Transitions at the Institute of Advanced Studies develops interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research on the major transformations reshaping contemporary societies, with particular attention to the ways social, technological, and epistemic shifts reconfigure identities, institutions, and forms of knowledge production. It supports experimental research infrastructures that respond to these transitions across disciplinary and methodological boundaries. Within this framework, the Chair hosts the “Kamara Portal: A Digital Philology of the Greater Western Sahel,” a research infrastructure project centered on the works of Shaykh Musa Kamara (1864–1945), a major Muslim intellectual of West Africa. The project examines Islamic intellectual production in the Greater Western Sahel as a site of religious, spatial, and epistemological transition, while simultaneously developing digital humanities methods that renew and recalibrate philological practice in light of contemporary technological and epistemic transformations. In doing so, it contributes to the Chair’s broader engagement with digital transformation, epistemic change, and the reconfiguration of intellectual heritage in and beyond Africa, while aligning with ongoing initiatives related to digital infrastructures, experimental publication platforms, and new research methodologies. Description of the position: The postdoctoral fellow will join the Kamara Portal at a formative stage, contributing to the development of a manuscript-based digital research platform. Kamara’s corpus circulates in multiple manuscript and print forms, raising questions concerning textuality, authorship, historical reasoning, and geographic imagination. The postdoctoral fellow’s primary responsibility is to contribute to the development of a pilot multilingual digital edition and commentary interface for Kamara’s major historical work. This research combines close philological interpretation with collaborative digital inquiry and sustained attention to the spatial and intellectual frameworks embedded in Sahelian historical writing. The fellow will conduct sustained comparative analysis across manuscript versions; work with Arabic texts and aligned French and English commentary; and collaborate in shaping the structure and scholarly norms of the digital research environment. Participation in regular research meetings and contribution to project publications are integral to the role. By the end of Year 1, the fellow will have supported the implementation of the pilot multilingual edition that anchors the project’s next phase. Advanced technical expertise is not required at the outset; rather, the fellow should demonstrate a willingness to learn new tools and to think critically about how computational methods and philological inquiry inform one another. In addition to their primary research responsibilities, the fellow will join a broader intellectual environment within the Chair of Transitions that engages questions of African humanities, methodological innovation, and the changing conditions of knowledge production. Education     A Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, Area Studies, African History, Religious Studies, Intellectual History, Comparative Literature, or a closely related field. Requirement Reading proficiency in Arabic Reading proficiency in French Demonstrated strength in close textual and historical analysis Interest in or openness to digital humanities methods and collaborative research practices Ability to work across manuscript materials and multiple textual witnesses Commitment to sustained, research-driven scholarship within an interdisciplinary environment The following are considered assets: Specialization in Islam in West Africa Experience with manuscript studies or textual criticism Familiarity with Pulaar or other Sahelian languages Exposure to digital text analysis, encoding, or corpus comparison tools

Position Description: We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher specializing in urban modeling and cost analysis to develop an innovative model to estimate the direct and indirect costs of urbanization based on urban morphology (compact or sprawling). The candidate will analyze real case studies, integrate variables related to infrastructure, health, and the environment, and simulate scenarios under different climatic and social contexts to provide decision-making tools for sustainable urban planning. Main Tasks and Responsibilities: Develop a predictive model integrating the direct and indirect costs of urbanization. Calibrate this model using real data from specific case studies. Simulate urbanization costs based on various climatic, morphological, and social scenarios. Formulate innovative methodological approaches. Produce publications on research in scientific journals. Participate in teaching activities. Develop new research proposals. Required Qualifications: Ph.D. in Data Science, Urban Planning, Urban Economics, or a related field. Experience in research projects applied to urban, environmental, or socio-economic issues. Proficiency in urban modeling tools such as MATLAB, Python (especially libraries like Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, GeoPandas, etc.), and R. Advanced skills in predictive modeling and machine learning, particularly for multi-variable simulations. Knowledge of complex systems modeling applied to urban dynamics. Publications in scientific journals. Personal and Organizational Qualifications: Ability to develop innovative methods. Ambition for research excellence. Interest in African issues. Entrepreneurial mindset, dynamism, and organizational skills. Fluency in both French and English (oral and written) is required. We Offer: Excellent working conditions and competitive salary on an international scale. An opportunity to contribute to the development of research excellence in Africa. A highly stimulating multicultural working environment and a great team atmosphere.

The Role The 12-month fixed-term Research Assistant position is available 2.5 days per week (50% FTE). The successful candidate will join the project "Train the Trainer - Echolocation Habilitation Workforce Training with Guide Dogs UK" led by Professor Lore Thaler and funded by UKRI ESRC grant. The project focuses on training Guide Dog UK's workforce and assessing the effects of this training on the workforce and the effects on their clients. To deliver the project the research team will travel on approximately 12 occasions to various locations in the UK to deliver training workshops. Costs of travel and accommodation will be covered by the project. Otherwise work times and location (including hybrid working) are flexible, subject to meeting project goals and deadlines. The habilitation workforce of Guide Dogs UK is the largest provider of services and support to children with sight loss and their families. This project will deliver training in echolocation to this workforce. There will be remote & initial in-person training to the whole workforce, and follow-up in-person training to develop Subject Matter Experts for continued independent support within the workforce. The project will measure and document effects of training on attendees' practice and effects on service users. The successful candidate, supervised by Professor Lore Thaler, will assist with the delivery of training to teach echolocation and echolocation instruction to visual impairment habilitation workers and to people with vision impairments. Planned work includes delivery of in-person and remote training workshops, development of materials to gather feedback data (including online tools), accessibility testing of materials, data gathering, analysis and presentation of results, and engagement with stakeholders via workshops and email. The candidate will be based in the department of Psychology. The majority of training workshops will take place in-person at various locations in the UK, and there will also be workshops delivered online. The successful applicant does not need to have prior experience with echolocation, but should be willing to acquire relevant practical skills and theoretical knowledge. The successful applicant must have experience of working with diverse groups of people, ideally including people with vision impairments. The successful applicant will be able to create and maintain an excellent rapport with people of various walks of life, and have the ability to contribute to the organization and delivery of events such as workshops. The successful applicant will carry out a range of duties, including communicating with stakeholders and relevant organizations, planning workshops and assisting with delivery of workshops, developing materials to gather feedback data (including online tools), gathering feedback data, summarizing and presenting feedback data. Applicants should have an excellent academic record, be reliable and well organised, and the ability to have an excellent rapport with people of various walks of life, ideally including people with vision impairments. An academic qualification (BSc / MSc or equivalent) in psychology or a discipline related to psychology or visual impairment (re) habilitation is essential (current students in their final academic year may apply - please provide grades attained so far). Previous experience of working with people and organizing events is also essential. Because the post-holder will work with people with visual impairments, the appointment also depends on a successful DBS (formerly CRB) check.