Job opening: 4 year PhD position at Delft University of Technology in the field of Multi-Agent Organisations.
This position is part of the SHINE (Social Heterogeneous Information Network Environment) project and will be performed as a cooperation between the research group Men-Machine Interaction at the Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, and the research group ICT at the Faculty Technology, Policy and Management. Daily supervisors are Dr. Virginia Dignum and Dr. M. Birna van Riemsdijk and the promotor is Prof. Dr. Catholijn M. Jonker
To meet the early application deadline please apply before November 30. Submissions received after November 30th will be also considered until the position has been filled.
=== PhD project description ===
In order to understand, manage and safeguard the society against abrupt changes and events the complex world we live in, there is an increasing need for an integrated society monitoring systems that are able to access and integrate many heterogeneous information sources, observation performed by local communities and traditional networks. This combination, augmented with new advanced techniques for flexible sensing, software technology for data management, interpretation, dissemination and visualization, decision making and acting offers great potential for an integrated society monitoring system.
The main research question of this project is “How can heterogeneous resources (people, mobile sensors, fixed sensors, social media, information systems, …) self-organize for answering dynamic information needs?”
This PhD project will focus on the organizational development and analysis aspects of such systems. In order to achieve their goals, actors (sensors, people, or autonomous agents) participating in integrated society monitoring systems require means for coordination and cooperation that take into account their requirements and (institutional) constraints. In fact, participants are assumed to belong to existing organisations and be bound by specific norms of conduct (implicit or explicit). The realization of goal-oriented dynamic cooperation between heterogeneous actors can thus be seen as a network of organisations. Such organisations enable to determine the rules and structure of the transient cooperation but also acknowledge and comply to the norms and expectations of the organisations to whom participants belong.
The SHINE project is a cooperation between several research groups at TU Delft:
• Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science: Men-Machine Interaction
• Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science: Algorithms
• Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science:
• Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science:
• Faculty Technology, Policy and Management (TPM): Systems Engineering
• Faculty Technology, Policy and Management (TPM): ICT
Further information can be requested from Dr. Virginia Dignum ([email protected]) and/or Dr. Birna van Riemsdijk ([email protected])
=== Requirements ===
As a PhD student your tasks concern the following activities:
• perform scientific research;
• implement research prototypes and test them in live settings;
• present results on international conferences;
• publish results in scientific journals;
• participate in activities of the research groups.
We are looking for excellent candidates who meet the following requirements:
• a MSc degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence or a closely related field;
• good programming skills;
• good spoken and writing skills in English.
Having a background in multi-agent systems, organisation modelling or multi-agent simulation is a plus.
=== The application should consist of the following parts:
• an explanation of your interest in the proposed research field;
• a Curriculum Vitae;
• copies of diplomas together and other relevant certificates;
• a complete list of attended courses and corresponding grades;
• names and contact details of two referees;
• proof of English language skills (if applicable).
Please send us your application before November 30th – the date when we start the selection process
=== Additional information ===
More information can be obtained from: dr. Virginia Dignum, tel: +31 15 2788064, and/or dr. Birna van Riemsdijk