Aarhus University, Department of History and Classical Studies
Research Assistant – Solutions Architect
Institution Type: | College / University |
Location: | Denmark |
Position: | Research Professional |
Applications are invited for a three-year position as a research assistant to collaborate on and support digital research into the social complexity of the Aegean and its periphery. The position is part-time (10 hrs/week) and will start on 1 July 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Place of employment: Department of History and Classical Studies, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 3-7, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
The research project
The funding for this three-year position has been generously made available by the Aarhus University Research Foundation (Aarhus Universitets Forskningsfond), through the project entitled ‘Small data, big challenges: Synthetic study of complexity in the Balkans and Black Sea’.
The successful applicant will join the Department of History and Classical Studies (School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University) and a small research team led by Associate Professor Adela Sobotkova. The project proposes a data-science approach to the study of social complexity in SE Europe and wider Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, particularly the waxing and waning of societies, cities and civilisations. This approach is based on the aggregation and analysis of archaeological, historical, paleo-ecological and epigraphic proxies in large evidentiary datasets.
Our ability to address fundamental questions such as the evolution of human culture depends on our capacity to acquire, manipulate, combine and analyse large evidentiary datasets. Current attempts to synthesise markers of complexity are either subjective (representing interpretations, not evidence), or they are created manually and scale poorly. This project seeks to parametrise and synthesise primary datasets, and to develop a suite of digital approaches and tools for humanities and social science researchers, inspired by large-scale ecological projects like the Ocean Health Index (Lowndes et al. 2017). The two mains outputs of this project will be (1) a comparative study of proxies for the evolution of social complexity in the Balkan peninsula and the Mediterranean or Black Sea, and (2) digital tools, workflows and processes that can be scaled which historians and archaeologists can use in their own research.
The position description
The project envisages that the solutions architect will provide technical expertise, software project management and support for the ‘Small data, big challenges’ team. This will include the provision of a shared team infrastructure as well as the design and development of generalised, scalable computational tools and associated approaches that assist with the aggregation, processing, analysis and publication of primary historical, archaeological, paleoecological or other datasets that illustrate or characterise the complexity of societies in the Balkans, Mediterranean and Black Sea. The research assistant/solutions architect will work with the project director, and with postdocs attached to the project, to accomplish this task.
Qualifications and job requirements
Applicants for the position must hold an MSc or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject (for instance computer science, data science or information technology), and should also document:
Applicants will be invited to provide access to and discuss software they have been instrumental in creating during the application process. Open-source contributions are desirable.
The successful applicant will be expected, in collaboration with the team, to technically support the collaboration, research and publication activities of the ‘Small data, big challenges’ project. He or she will coordinate and lead the scoping, design and development/implementation of digital data integration framework to facilitate the aggregation, streamlining and analysis of digitally-born and digitised small-science datasets. The successful applicant will be encouraged to make contributions to other academic open-source projects as part of this project.
Questions about the position may be addressed to associate professor Adela Sobotkova, e-mail: adela@cas.au.dk
For more information about the application procedure, please contact HR supporter Marianne Birn, e-mail: mbb@au.dk
Applications must be uploaded in English.
Department of History and Classical Studies
Aarhus University has a solid research infrastructure that includes close collaboration between area and historical studies at the Department of History and Classical Studies and at the Department of Anthropology – both based at the School of Culture and Society.
The School of Culture and Society
At the School of Culture and Society, the object of research and teaching is the interplay between culture and society in time and space:
The school’s ambition is to produce compelling research with an international resonance, as well as offering teaching and talent development of the highest quality. The school has a broad cooperative interface with society as a whole, both in Denmark and abroad, and contributes to social innovation, research communication and further and continuing education.
For more details about the school, please see http://cas.au.dk/en/.
Formalities
Faculty of Arts refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities (the Appointment Order).
Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.
Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.
Further information on the application and supplementary materials may be found in Applicant Guidelines.
All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background.
Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners: http://ias.au.dk/au-relocation-service/. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here: http://international.au.dk/research/
Faculty of Arts
The Faculty of Arts is one of four main academic areas at Aarhus University.
The faculty contributes to Aarhus University's research, talent development, knowledge exchange and degree programmes.
With its 500 academic staff members, 260 PhD students, 10,500 BA and MA students, and 1,500 students following continuing/further education programmes, the faculty constitutes a strong and diverse research and teaching environment.
The Faculty of Arts consists of the School of Communication and Culture, the School of Culture and Society, the Danish School of Education, and the Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media. Each of these units has strong academic environments and forms the basis for interdisciplinary research and education.
The faculty's academic environments and degree programmes engage in international collaboration and share the common goal of contributing to the development of knowledge, welfare and culture in interaction with society.
Read more at arts.au.dk/en
Aarhus University
Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 39,000 students (FTEs) and 8,000 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 884 million. Learn more at www.au.dk/en
Place of employment: Department of History and Classical Studies, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 3-7, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
The research project
The funding for this three-year position has been generously made available by the Aarhus University Research Foundation (Aarhus Universitets Forskningsfond), through the project entitled ‘Small data, big challenges: Synthetic study of complexity in the Balkans and Black Sea’.
The successful applicant will join the Department of History and Classical Studies (School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University) and a small research team led by Associate Professor Adela Sobotkova. The project proposes a data-science approach to the study of social complexity in SE Europe and wider Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, particularly the waxing and waning of societies, cities and civilisations. This approach is based on the aggregation and analysis of archaeological, historical, paleo-ecological and epigraphic proxies in large evidentiary datasets.
Our ability to address fundamental questions such as the evolution of human culture depends on our capacity to acquire, manipulate, combine and analyse large evidentiary datasets. Current attempts to synthesise markers of complexity are either subjective (representing interpretations, not evidence), or they are created manually and scale poorly. This project seeks to parametrise and synthesise primary datasets, and to develop a suite of digital approaches and tools for humanities and social science researchers, inspired by large-scale ecological projects like the Ocean Health Index (Lowndes et al. 2017). The two mains outputs of this project will be (1) a comparative study of proxies for the evolution of social complexity in the Balkan peninsula and the Mediterranean or Black Sea, and (2) digital tools, workflows and processes that can be scaled which historians and archaeologists can use in their own research.
The position description
The project envisages that the solutions architect will provide technical expertise, software project management and support for the ‘Small data, big challenges’ team. This will include the provision of a shared team infrastructure as well as the design and development of generalised, scalable computational tools and associated approaches that assist with the aggregation, processing, analysis and publication of primary historical, archaeological, paleoecological or other datasets that illustrate or characterise the complexity of societies in the Balkans, Mediterranean and Black Sea. The research assistant/solutions architect will work with the project director, and with postdocs attached to the project, to accomplish this task.
Qualifications and job requirements
Applicants for the position must hold an MSc or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject (for instance computer science, data science or information technology), and should also document:
- Broad intermediate-level IT training in software engineering, project management, system administration, development operations and systems architecture, planning, data migration and quality assurance
- The ability to design, deploy and debug both command-line and browser-based programs and databases using R or Python, SQL, HTML, CSS and Javascript (with the ability to discuss the merits and tradeoffs of their programming language and design choices relative to other design patterns)
- The ability to create sophisticated, normalised (both to 3rd normal form and to data warehouse designs) databases, and to discuss, defend and prioritise design decisions
- Experience of agile software development including the delivery and management of architecture artefacts and outcomes on time and on budget
- Excellent English
- Excellent facilitation, documentation and communication skills with researchers in the humanities
- The ability to work independently as well as in collaboration within an academic research team
Applicants will be invited to provide access to and discuss software they have been instrumental in creating during the application process. Open-source contributions are desirable.
The successful applicant will be expected, in collaboration with the team, to technically support the collaboration, research and publication activities of the ‘Small data, big challenges’ project. He or she will coordinate and lead the scoping, design and development/implementation of digital data integration framework to facilitate the aggregation, streamlining and analysis of digitally-born and digitised small-science datasets. The successful applicant will be encouraged to make contributions to other academic open-source projects as part of this project.
Questions about the position may be addressed to associate professor Adela Sobotkova, e-mail: adela@cas.au.dk
For more information about the application procedure, please contact HR supporter Marianne Birn, e-mail: mbb@au.dk
Applications must be uploaded in English.
Department of History and Classical Studies
Aarhus University has a solid research infrastructure that includes close collaboration between area and historical studies at the Department of History and Classical Studies and at the Department of Anthropology – both based at the School of Culture and Society.
The School of Culture and Society
At the School of Culture and Society, the object of research and teaching is the interplay between culture and society in time and space:
- From the traditional disciplines of the humanities and theology to applied social research
- From Antiquity to the issues facing contemporary societies
- From familiar Danish cultural forms to other very different worlds
- From local questions to global challenges
The school’s ambition is to produce compelling research with an international resonance, as well as offering teaching and talent development of the highest quality. The school has a broad cooperative interface with society as a whole, both in Denmark and abroad, and contributes to social innovation, research communication and further and continuing education.
For more details about the school, please see http://cas.au.dk/en/.
Formalities
Faculty of Arts refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities (the Appointment Order).
Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.
Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.
Further information on the application and supplementary materials may be found in Applicant Guidelines.
All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background.
Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners: http://ias.au.dk/au-relocation-service/. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here: http://international.au.dk/research/
Faculty of Arts
The Faculty of Arts is one of four main academic areas at Aarhus University.
The faculty contributes to Aarhus University's research, talent development, knowledge exchange and degree programmes.
With its 500 academic staff members, 260 PhD students, 10,500 BA and MA students, and 1,500 students following continuing/further education programmes, the faculty constitutes a strong and diverse research and teaching environment.
The Faculty of Arts consists of the School of Communication and Culture, the School of Culture and Society, the Danish School of Education, and the Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media. Each of these units has strong academic environments and forms the basis for interdisciplinary research and education.
The faculty's academic environments and degree programmes engage in international collaboration and share the common goal of contributing to the development of knowledge, welfare and culture in interaction with society.
Read more at arts.au.dk/en
Aarhus University
Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 39,000 students (FTEs) and 8,000 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 884 million. Learn more at www.au.dk/en
Application Deadline:
25 March 2019
Academic contact person:
Adéla Sobotkova
Lektor
+4587162317
Vacant positions:
1
Hours per week:
10
Number of months:
36
Expected date of accession:
01/07/2019
Academic contact person:
Adéla Sobotkova
Lektor
+4587162317
Vacant positions:
1
Hours per week:
10
Number of months:
36
Expected date of accession:
01/07/2019
Contact: |
Questions about the position may be addressed to associate professor Adela Sobotkova, e-mail: adela@cas.au.dk |
Website: | http://cas.au.dk/en/ |
Primary Category: | Social History / Studies |
Secondary Categories: | Area Studies Cultural History / Studies Library and Information Science Eastern Europe History / Studies |
Posting Date: | 02/28/2019 |
Closing Date | 03/25/2019 |