[agents] PHD Student / Postdoc position at Utrecht University

[Virginia Dignum]

PHD STUDENT OR POSTDOC POSITION AT UTRECHT UNIVERSITY

At the Department of Information and Computing Sciences of Utrecht
University, there is an opening for a 1.0 fte PhD student (4 years) OR
Postdoc (3 years) in Human-Machine Interaction on a project entitled
“Empowering And Protecting Children And Adolescents Against
Cyberbullying” funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific
Research (NWO) through the Responsible Innovation program.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
-------------------
The phenomenon of cyberbullying amongst children/adolescents in
different kinds of (experimental) virtual worlds is an highly relevant
issue given its possible dramatic consequences for the victims.
Youngsters are highly involved in virtual worlds and extremely exposed
in terms of absorbing social norms and victimisation. Which behavior is
accepted and how social interaction is enforced varies between virtual
worlds (e.g., virtual games and social-networking sites), which
influences the prevalence and nature of cyberbullying and effectiveness
of different regulatory modalities. This research focuses on relevant
factors in governing social behaviour in online environments in view of
different kinds of interventions (social, technological, and legal).
The project is realized in collaboration with University of Tilburg
(Law) and the University of Amsterdam (Psychology). A more detailed
project description can be obtained from Dr. Virginia Dignum
(virginia at cs.uu.nl) or Prof. Dr. E.J. Koops, e.j.koops at uvt.nl.

YOUR ROLE ON THE PROJECT
------------------------
The research of the PhD student/postdoc will focus on the human-machine
interaction aspects of social regulation of user behaviour within
virtual social spaces. Central questions are: how can the virtual
environment facilitate and enforce the social arrangements employed to
keep the behaviour of some people in line with the expectations of
others? What regulating measures are appropriate for the different
bullying forms in virtual environments and how can these measures be
implemented and enforced in the virtual environment such that
cyberbullying is reduced but the 'entertainment factor' is maintained?

This research will result in models and tools for the assessment, design
and implementation of regulating measures in virtual environments, and
the (empirical) evaluation of the resulting system. In particular, the
PhD /postdoc project will provide an understanding of how evaluation of
(harassment) situations differ in virtual spaces compared to physical
spaces (or comparing different virtual spaces). The second contribution
will be to provide an understanding of the operation, outcomes, and
limitations of the system-based regulation (i.e. regulation within the
computer system, such as a game or social space).

FUNCTION REQUIREMENTS
---------------------
For the PhD student: Masters degree in information or computer sciences,
or artificial intelligence.

For the Postdoc researcher: (recent) PhD degree in information or
computer sciences, or artificial intelligence.

In both cases, we are looking for an highly motivated researcher and
expect the candidate to have affinity with human-machine interaction and
experience in implementation of games or virtual environments and
empirical experimentation, and interest with multidisciplinary research
environments. Knowledge of the Dutch language is desirable due to the
necessity to interact with children/adolescents during experiments.


EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS
---------------------
The candidate will be offered a fulltime contract for a period of 1
year, with the intention to extend based on performance to a total
maximum of 4 years for the PhD student or 3 years for the postdoc
researcher. The planned starting date is between October and December
2009, depending on availability of the candidate. The candidate will be
supervised by dr. Virginia Dignum (Utrecht University). We offer an
interesting, internationally oriented working environment that
specializes in human-machine interaction and its applications.

PhD student gross salary is in the range between €2,042.- per month in
year 1(one) and €2,612.- per month in year 4 (four)

Postdoc gross salary depends on qualifications and experience and ranges
between €2.861,- to €3,755,- per month.(scale 10)

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 in which
you may trade salary for vacation days or vice versa. Conditions are
based on the Collective Employment Agreement of the Dutch Universities.

HOW TO APPLY
------------
Interested candidates can contact Dr. Virginia Dignum, e-mail
virginia at cs.uu.nl, phone. +31(0)30 2539492, or Prof. Dr. E.J. Koops,
e.j.koops at uvt.nl for a more extensive project description.
Applications should be sent by e-mail to science.PenO at uu.nl and include
the following:
- An application letter, explaining your motivation and suitability for
the position (maximum two pages A4);
- A curriculum vitae;
- Evidence of Master’s degree (for the PhD position), including
transcripts of courses taken and grades received; or, evidence of PhD
degree (for the postdoc position)
- A copy of your thesis or another academic writing sample in English,
such as a journal article or an essay (not co-authored).
- Contact details of two references

Please send your application before August 31, 2009 to the Personnel
Department of the Faculty of Science, Budapestlaan 6, 3584 CD Utrecht,
the Netherlands or submit by e-mail to Science.PenO at uu.nl.

********** Please mention vacancy number 62908. **************