Alder enriches lives by helping voluntary organizations (NGOs) coordinate their volunteers to provide more and better care for the population of Norway and has an open vacant PhD position as Researcher/Industrial PhD in the field of Artificial Intelligence and case-based recommender systems. The research position is a part of a PhD program and will lead to a doctoral degree in computer science at NTNU.

Researcher/Industrial PhD Candidate – Artificial Intelligence – Case-based recommender systems

Alder enriches lives by helping voluntary organizations (NGOs) coordinate their volunteers to provide more and better care for the population of Norway. 

Alder now has an open vacant PhD position in collaboration with the Department of Computer and Information Science (IDI) at NTNU. This research position will lead to a doctoral degree in computer science and provide professional development at IDI and Alder AS. The candidate is offered two different tracks to completing the doctorate degree. The candidate must select only one track. Track 1: duration of the PhD position is 3 years of full-time study devoting 100% intensity to the thesis. Track 2: duration of the PhD position is 4 years devoting 75% intensity to their thesis and 25% intensity toward algorithm development as a Research Engineer at Alder. The workplace is at NTNU in Trondheim and Alder in Stavanger. The candidate is required to participate in organized graduate events at NTNU in Trondheim. The candidate will be funded by Alder and the Research Council in Norway. Altogether, the candidate along with the academic research group at NTNU and the R&D team at Alder, will develop knowledge within the specified area of research.

NTNU and IDI

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) is an internationally recognized research university and is the foremost technical university in Norway. NTNU has 39,000 students and 7,000 employees. IDI has 38 associate and full professors, 11 adjunct professors, 35 postdocs/researchers, 65 PhD students, and 18 technical/administrative staff. The department offers research and educational programs in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Knowledge-Based Decision support since the early nineties. The chosen candidate will become part of the Data and Artificial Intelligence Group (http://www.idi.ntnu.no/grupper/dart).

Description of the PhD study

The PhD study will cover topics in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Knowledge-Based Decision Support. A particular focus will be aimed toward Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) methods for learning episodic experiences and their reuse in solving new problems. Alternative machine learning and data analysis methods should also be considered as possible supplementary methods. The candidate will conduct this research in relation to core algorithms in the Alder technology engine.

The background for this research is that the quality of a relationship between a caregiver and a user of care services is highly dependent on the social connection between the caregiver and the user. Moreover, the caregiver should be practically fit to perform certain tasks required by the user. The study will address how to predict the quality of caregiver-to-user relationships and caregiver-to-task compatibility, using live field and profile data from volunteers, users and voluntary organizations. This correlates to the experienced quality and consistency of care services provided by voluntary organizations, private care companies or care within the public sector. The work will consist of:

Research issues

• A detailed research agenda will depend on the candidate’s specific competence and interests, but some relevant research questions include:    What determines a good social connection between a caregiver and a user? How could an algorithm quantify and measure the quality of such a relationship to build a system that learns from previous matches? How does such an algorithm understand if a long-term caregiver to user relationship is working or not? What are the trigger mechanisms? How to predict caregiver or user behavior?
• How could an algorithm understand if a caregiver is skilled enough to do a certain practical tasks or handle a user with special needs? How important is the practical compatibility related to the social connection? What determines the experienced quality of the care service?

Algorithm development

• For example: predict the most suitable caregiver for a given user and associated tasks in a large organization (5000+ caregivers/users).
• International network building
• Attend conferences and selected courses
• Meet with people relevant to the research

Qualifications

The applicants must hold a MSc in Computer Science or equivalent, with an average grade of B or better measured in ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) grades, or an education at the equivalent level.

• Good programming skills
• Exceptional theoretical and analytical skills
• Ability to work independently as well as in team
• Keen interest in the wider context of own research and ability to engage in cross-disciplinary teams

Written and oral fluency in English. The following tests can be used as such documentation: TOEFL, IELTS or Cambridge Certificate in

• Advanced English (CAE) or Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE). Minimum scores are:
• TOEFL: 600 (paper-based test) 92 (Internet-based test)
• IELTS: 6,5 with no section lower than 5.5 (only Academic IELTS test accepted)
• CAE/CPE: Grade B or A

The language and communicative skills of the candidate will also be assessed in a personal interview.

Conditions

It is essential that the successful candidate fills the requirement for admission to a doctoral program. The successful candidate will be assessed for admission to a doctoral program prior to commencement in the position, cf. "Regulations on conditions of employment for positions as postdoctoral fellow, research fellow, research assistant and specialist candidates § 1-6 (3).

The PhD candidate must be prepared to work at both NTNU in Trondheim and at Alder in Stavanger. The qualified candidate will be part of a strong and creative and informal academic and professional environment that places heavy demands on independence, the ability to take initiative, as well as to cooperate.

The position is in code 1017 Stipendiat, will normally be placed at salary level 50-62 in the Norwegian State salary scale, and typically in salary level 50-57, gross NOK 435 100 - 488 900 per year, depending on qualifications.  The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants. The position adheres to the Norwegian Government's policy of balanced ethnicity, age and gender. According to the new Freedom of Information Act, information concerning the applicant may be made public even if the applicant has requested not to be included in the list of applicants.

A CV with full details of training and practice must be included in the application, together with certified copies of diplomas and certificates. Short-listed candidates will be invited for interviews in which original diplomas/certificates etc. are expected to be presented. For further information about the position, please contact  CTO at Alder Simon Riis Iden (sri@alder.no) or Professor Agnar Aamodt (agnar.aamodt@idi.ntnu.no).

Deadline
15.03.2017
Duration
3-4 years