Lead AI Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position within Digital Narrative

Lead AI Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position within Digital Narrative

The position is for a fixed term of 3 years and is associated with The Center for Digital Narrative (CDN). The Center focuses on algorithmic narrativity, interactive environments, materialities, and shifting cultural contexts in which digital narratives are received and processed. The CDN investigates the ways that the interactions of human authors and non-human agents renew narrative forms, how digital narratives have changed over time, and how textual materialities and cultural contexts are now reshaping the use and function of digital narrative. The activities of the Center include research group meetings, interactions with international research leaders in digital narrative, researcher training, PhD summer schools, frequent symposia and exhibitions.

The position is open to an incoming candidate. The successful candidate will move to Norway and the regular workplace will be the Center.

About the project/work tasks:

The applicant must propose an individual project in computational narrative systems that will be the focus of the postdoctoral work. The Center for Digital Narrative's Computational Narrative Systems node studies and researches the computational modeling of narrative, which includes developing new computational models of narrative and re-implementing historical models (also known as "storytelling systems") so that they can be easily studied and used.

The successful applicant will collaborate with researchers within the Center's Computational Narrative Systems node and from MIT to achieve jointly authored research results. As part of the position, the applicant is also expected to re-implement historical narrative systems in Python and help determine the course of a larger collaborative CNS project dealing with such systems.

About the LEAD AI fellowship programme:

LEAD AI is the University of Bergen's career and mobility fellowship program for training 19 postdoctoral fellows in artificial intelligence. The program has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 101126560.

The LEAD AI programme offers high-quality inter- and transdisciplinary research and training opportunities in the area of artificial intelligence supported by dedicated supervision and mentoring, encouraging inter-sectoral exposure, in particular:

• academic freedom
• benefits from knowledge and skills transfer between disciplines, organisations and sectors
• The position as postdoctoral research fellow requires a Norwegian doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign doctoral degree in digital culture, digital humanities, computational media, or a related field, including computer science if the dissertation project had a significant humanistic component. The doctoral dissertation must have been submitted for evaluation within the closing date of the application. The PhD degree must be obtained prior to appointment.
• The applicant must both be able to work independently in a structured manner and have good cooperation skills.
• The applicant must be capable of programming in Python in a research context.
• The applicant must be proficient in both written and oral English.
• The applicant cannot previously have been employed as a postdoctoral fellow at UiB and they cannot be employed by any other institution for the time of the fellowship.
• The applicant should have a genuine interest in AI, and the research proposal must be related to computational narrative systems.

Experience in any of the following areas is considered an advantage:

• Experience with narrative theory, computational creativity with narrative as the domain, and/or cognitive science approaches to narrative.
• Familiarity with the history of story generation and related areas of computing.
• Experience in software development and programming as inquiry particularly situated in a humanities research context.
• Having released and maintained software for the use of researchers, educators, and/or students.

Personal and relational qualities will be emphasized. Appropriate career stage, research experience, ambitions and potential will also be considered during candidate evaluation.

Special requirements for the position:

The University of Bergen is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation will be applied in the processing of the applications.

About the position of postdoctoral research fellow:

The postdoctoral position is a fixed term position with the primary objective of qualifying the appointee for work in top academic positions. The position may be extended by up to one year (maximum 4 years in total) if the appointee is granted externally financed research stays abroad. Individuals may not be hired for more than one fixed-term period as a postdoctoral research fellow at the same institution.

For all LEAD AI fellows, a Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP) will be developed jointly by the fellow, supervisor, and co-supervisor by the end of Month 3 of the fellowship, including a plan for the individual research budget, and information on additional funding where applicable.

It is a requirement that the project is completed during the period of employment.

What we offer:

• An engaged and professionally stimulating working environment.
• Welfare benefits and social benefits including pension-saving in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, occupational injury insurance, full salary during sick leave for 52 weeks, and paid parental leave.
• Extension of the position term (work contract) due to sick leave and parental leave.
• Position as postdoctoral fellow (code 1352 in the basic collective agreement) and a gross annual salary of NOK 645 000 upon appointment. Further increases in salary are made according to length of service in the position. A higher salary may be considered for a particularly well-qualified applicant.
• High standards for working hours, holidays, place of work, health, and safety.
• Access to specific training activities exclusively provided within the framework of the LEAD AI programme.
• Norwegian language courses free of charge.

How to apply:

Before starting the online application process, please familiarise yourself carefully with our application requirements in the Guide for Applicants and the Application templates. It is essential that all required attachments are uploaded via our electronic recruiting system JobbNorge.

Your application must include:

• Research proposal (5 pages, using a template based on the evaluation criteria), must be relevant to the AI-related research themes defined by LEAD AI host research groups in the call. It is essential that you discuss the details of the project idea with your potential UiB supervisor at an early stage in the application process, to ensure that there is a match between resources and expertise needed to implement the project.
• A CV, including publication list, detailing the full scientific track record, relevant other achievements and career breaks.
• Mobility declaration with supporting documentation.
• Table of potential ethics and security issues that might apply to the research proposal (self-assessment).
• An initial self-assessment of opportunities for mandatory and recommended open science practices.
• Scanned copy of the PhD diploma or documentation of formally delivered doctoral thesis.
• References. Letters of recommendation from the graduating university or previous employers are encouraged.

Evaluation:

We anticipate the whole evaluation procedure to take approximately 4 months from the application deadline. Eligible applicants will be evaluated by three internationally renowned experts and assessed against criteria addressing excellence, impact, implementation, and the quality of the researcher and training.

General information:

Detailed information about the position can be obtained by contacting: Professor Jill Walker Rettberg, Co-director Center for Digital Narrative, jill.walker.rettberg@uib.no

The public sector shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. Age and gender balance among employees is therefore a goal. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.

The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.

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