2017-09-22: Job: PhD Position in Visual Analytics for Engineering Smarter Systems, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden. (Deadline: November 1, 2017)

PhD student in Computer Science with specialization in Visual Analytics

placed at Linnaeus University, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Technology – Växjö Campus, Sweden

Description

The focus of this advertised PhD position and the corresponding research project is on visual analytics for engineering smarter system, VAESS. The research will be performed within the Linnaeus University Center on Data Intensive Sciences and Applications, DISA, funded by Linnaeus University for five years. Overall aim of this DISA subproject is to better understand and engineer complex cyber-physical systems. We will develop foundational visual analytics principles, techniques and tools for analyzing data and models in those systems. Thus, trust into the analysis results will be finally increased by making the analysis methods and resulting empirical models transparent for end users. In consequence, our users will be enabled to better predict the behavior of cyber-physical systems and to reconstruct the underlying models more efficiently when needed.

Duties consist mainly of the following:

• Graduate studies in the field of Visual Analytics, with a doctoral degree as the goal. The PhD thesis should be completed and defended within the official appointment duration of five years (4 years graduate studies, 1 year departmental tasks).
• Research in the field Visual Analytics. The position is part of DISA and its subproject Visual Analytics for Engineering Smarter Systems.
• Regularly present intermediate research results at international conferences and workshops, and publish them in conference proceedings and journals.
• Close collaboration with the other project members in an interdisciplinary research environment as well as with domain experts.
• At most 20% of the working time will be dedicated to teaching and other departmental tasks.

Note that a PhD position in Sweden is a salaried employment with the right to social benefits and paid vacations.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements

A person fulfils the general entry requirements. if he/she has comprised a completed undergraduate program of at least 240 credits, including 60 credits at advanced level, or the equivalent knowledge in Sweden or abroad. Specific requirements are

• approved courses of a minimum of 90 credits in the subject Computer and Information Science or the equivalent, and
• an individual study project of a minimum of 15 credits in the subject Computer and Information Science, or the equivalent.

Others

The specific prerequisites for admission to PhD studies within the above-mentioned specialization are

• a successfully finished Master’s thesis in a field related to Information Visualization, Visual Analytics, Human-Computer Interaction, or Data Sciences; and
• high proficiency in written and spoken English.

Assessment criteria

Excellent knowledge in the focused research areas of information visualization and visual analytics is a strong advantage. Good programming skills (Java, JavaScript / HTML5, WebGL/OpenGL) and a solid training in mathematics, data mining, or machine learning are highly preferred. Documented expertise and working experience within at least one of the following research and educational areas is a great advantage:

• Visual analytics of Big Data
• Visual analytics of streaming data
• Multidimensional visualization techniques in combination with machine learning and/or data mining techniques (such as dimensionality reduction)
• Evaluation of visualizations
• Experiences in specific application domains and their visualization needs related to the DISA subproject, such as in systems engineering

Because of the interdisciplinary character of the project and DISA, the candidate should be an enthusiastic person who is interested in making sense of large and complex data sets of various types as well as capable of working both independently and within a group. Teamwork experiences should be documented in the application.

Applicants will be selected through a qualitative overall assessment of the competences and skills, assessed most suitable to conduct research and to contribute to a successful development of the research environment.

How to apply

Interested candidates find detailed application information including contact details on the following web page

'https://lnu.se/en/meet-linnaeus-university/work-at-the-university/?rmpage=job&rmjob=2754&rmlang=UK

Online applications (reference number: 2017/2251-2.2.1) will be received until November 1, 2017. The application must include a cover letter (with a motivation why the candidate wants to pursue this PhD project in visual analytics), a resume and the contact information of two referees. In addition, a link to the candidate’s Master’s thesis should be provided.

Further information

The advertised position will be physically placed in the ISOVIS Research Group led by Professor Andreas Kerren who is a member and key researcher of DISA. The ISOVIS group mainly focuses on the explorative analysis and visualization of typically large and complex information spaces. Our vision is to attack the big data challenge by a combination of human-centered data analysis and interactive visualization for decision making. These research topics are highly relevant for academia and economy as both science and industry make increasing use of data-intensive technologies.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Kerren, phone number: +46 470 767502, email: andreas.kerren AT lnu.se.

Linnæus University, Sweden, has the ambition to utilize the qualities that an even gender distribution and diversity brings to the organization.