We’re looking for talented computer scientists! Here’s the formal job ad:
University College Cork invites applications for two Research Support Officers in the areas of Data Science, Web Engineering, and User Experience Design to co-lead the computational side of a high impact 5-year European Research Council project (final three years: 2021-2024). The two positions are in the areas of Computer Science and/or Digital Humanities, and are available at the Department of Music in the School of Film, Music, and Theatre at University College Cork. The positions are funded by the ERC and are associated with the research project CIPHER: Hip Hop Interpellation. This study of global hip hop knowledge flows will synergize computational and ethnographic methods to examine how hip hop “unlocks the global through the local.” The principal investigator of the project is Professor J. Griffith Rollefson.
The successful candidates will develop a web application as part of a research project in global hip hop studies that combines cultural data analytics (crowdsourcing, NLP, machine learning, semantic web, stylometry) with ethnographic and cultural studies methods. The researchers will work closely with the PI and a diverse, world-leading team of ethnographic researchers, with computational support from the Insight Centre for Data Analytics.
The successful candidates must be able to design and engineer a user-friendly interactive web-based world map complete with search functions, user submissions, and moderation. They will show an ability to manage the data analytics and visualization side of the project and work collaboratively with the PI and a team of cultural specialists. In the Application Letter, candidates are expected to outline how their interests and skills align with the CIPHER project – namely, how they might attend to the particular challenges that websites like Genius.com, Shazam.com, WhoSampled.com, and others have approached in the last decade—and how they might further develop and extend those solutions. Essential skills include web app design, semantic web, API development, and potentially sonic analysis.
The successful candidates are expected to live in Cork, Ireland and become part of the research environment/network of the university and contribute to its development. The computer scientists are expected to develop computational solutions and produce web-based outputs as well as potentially collaborating with the CIPHER team in published results and otherwise contributing to popular dissemination of the research results.
In the evaluation of the applications, emphasis will be placed on:
- The applicant’s web app development skills and experience
- Demonstrated knowledge of computer science, data analytics, and/or digital humanities
- The applicant’s estimated academic and personal ability to carry out the project within the allotted time frame and contribute to the research project CIPHER
- Good co-operative skills, and the ability to successfully join in academic collaboration within and across disciplines.
Supplementary Information on the CIPHER project and the post is available at the following URL: http://www.ucc.ie/cipher.
University College Cork is an equal opportunities employer actively working towards full equality of opportunity in all aspects of University life. The CIPHER Project strongly encourages applications from underrepresented groups as part of its core mission to promote global justice and equality of access.
It is envisaged that the posts will start between August and October 2021 and run for three years.
Project Title: CIPHER: Hip Hop Interpellation
Post Duration: 3 years
Salary: €40,000 p.a. (Personal Rate)
For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/.
Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to J. Griffith Rollefson, Professor of Music, Email: cipher@ucc.ie, Telephone: +353 (0)21 490 4931.
Applications must be submitted online via the University College Cork vacancy portal (https://ore.ucc.ie/). Queries relating to the online application process should be referred to recruitment@ucc.ie, quoting the job-title and project name.
Applicants must submit the electronic application with the following attachments:
- Application Letter (max 2 pages single spaced) describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position
- Resume/Curriculum Vitae (complete list of education, positions, and other qualifying activities)
- Project proposal (max 2 pages single spaced). The proposal should address the following questions: (1) What computational methods will you employ to design and engineer a user-friendly interactive web-based world map complete with search functions, user submissions, and moderation? Further, what data analytics methods (NLP, Semantic Tagging, Machine Learning, Stylometry, etc) will you employ to analyse the lyrical (and potentially sonic) data as proposed in the CIPHER proposal?; (2) How will you draw upon your own technical experience when working on the project? How will that background benefit the project?; and (3) what will be the advantages of your methodological approach, and how will you deal with potential practical and ethical challenges?
Please note that all documents must be in English.
Candidates should apply, in confidence, before 12 noon (Irish Local Time) on Friday, 30 July 2021. No late applications will be accepted.