Are you eager to contribute to world-class research in fundamental aspects of sensor data analysis? Are you interested in modelling and reasoning for cyber-physical systems? Would you like to work on prevention of models' performance degradation? Then you should apply to our PhD position at the University of Amsterdam, researching concept drift in sensor-rich environments.

About the position
Increasingly, sensor-rich smart systems are being created to monitor and control cyber-physical environments. The models are being constructed and tested based on historical sensor data. However, due to environmental changes, over time the quality of environmental representation and the quality of trained computational models decreases. This phenomenon is well-known as concept drift, a change in statistical properties of continuously generated data over time, e.g., sensor streams, which results in degradation of the performance of models that were developed before the change occurred and reduction in the quality of reasoning on new data, since patterns that were mined previously are now obsolete.

In this project, the PhD student will create a formal framework for environmental representation from raw sensor streams in the presence of environmental change with the ability to describe concept drift over time, for example, with explainable logical formulas, or behavioral rules. The automated adaptive mechanism of environment representation from sensor data will detect changes, adapt the model and explain this adaptation, consider several concurrent interpretations in cases of uncertainty, and understand the limitations of the current models. The framework will be applied to existing real-world use cases.

What are you going to do?
Your tasks and responsibilities:

• perform novel research in the area of concept drift, IoT systems, digital twins, defining formal models, engineering respective software frameworks, scientifically testing and evaluating your approach;
• establish collaborations with other researchers within and outside of UvA;
• publish and present your work in journals and international conferences;
• be an active part of the Informatics Institute, in particular, Intelligent Data Engineering (INDElab) group, and their activities;
• assist in educational activities and supervision of bachelor and master students;
• complete and defend a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years.

Your daily supervisor will be Dr. Victoria Degeler.

What do you have to offer?

• A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in computer science, artificial intelligence or a related subject (or be close to completing the degree);
• demonstrated interest in AI reasoning systems, algorithms, IoT, context-aware pervasive computing, machine learning and data analysis, software engineering;
• good programming skills;
• high motivation in pursuing academic research;
• fluency in English, both written and spoken.

Our offer
A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students. The preferred starting date is flexible.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 2,901 in the first year to € 3,707 in the last year (scale P). UvA additionally offers an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. The UFO profile ‘PhD candidate’ is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park, we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;
• Multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• A complete educational program for PhD students;
• Multiple courses on topics such as leadership for academic staff;
• Multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;
• 7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary;
• Partly paid parental leave;
• The possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• A pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;
• The possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch;
• Help with housing for a studio or small apartment when you’re moving from abroad.

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.

Where you will work
The Faculty of Science (FNWI) has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The mission of the Informatics Institute (IvI) is to perform curiosity-driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The main research themes are Artificial Intelligence, Computational Science and Systems and Network Engineering. Our research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on collaborative, data driven, computational and intelligent systems, all with a strong interactive component.

The INtelligent Data Engineering Lab (INDElab) investigates intelligent systems that support people in their work with data and information from diverse sources. INDElab performs both applied and fundamental research informed by empirical insights into data science practice.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the button below. We accept applications until and including 13 January 2025. Applications should include the following information (all files apart from your CV should be submitted in one single pdf file):

• a detailed CV including the months (not just years) when referring to your education and work experience;
• a letter of motivation;
• an example of your academic writing (e.g. a master thesis, or your publication);
• previous education diplomas (e.g. Master’s and Bachelor’s), including transcript of completed courses;
• the names and email addresses of two references who can provide letters of recommendation.

Please make sure to provide ALL requested documents mentioned above.

You can use the CV field to upload your resume as a separate pdf document. Use the Cover Letter field to upload the other requested documents, including the motivation letter, as one single pdf file. A knowledge security check may be part of the selection procedure. (for details: National knowledge security guidelines). Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered. Please don’t send any applications by email. The interviews will be held in the course of January-February 2025.

Do you have any questions, or do you require additional information? Please contact:

• Dr. Victoria Degeler: v.o.degeler@uva.nl