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Postdoctoral Associate (EXPIRED)

Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Minnesota

Job category Postdoc or similar / Fixed term
AOS Philosophy of Science
AOS categories Epistemology
Philosophy of Science
AOC Philosophy of Science
AOC categories Epistemology
Philosophy of Science
Workload Full time
Vacancies 1
Organization's reference number 352997
Location Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Start date late August 2023
Job description

Applicants should have a Ph.D. in philosophy or a related field with a background in the statistical sciences, demonstrated interest in questions surrounding the foundations and application of classical statistics, and evidence or promise of scholarly achievement. Prior experience with statistical programming in R or a related language, or demonstrated ability to learn such a language, is strongly preferred. The successful candidate will, under the supervision of Prof. Samuel C. Fletcher: (a) conduct collaborative research to develop the philosophical foundations of classical statistics and its connection with epistemology; (b) supervise and collaborate with a graduate student researcher to implement these ideas computationally; and (c) organize summer institutes for philosophy instructors on integrating statistics into their curricula and summer schools for graduate students interested or engaged in research in the philosophy of statistics.

The Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota invites applications for a full-time, two-year postdoctoral position in conjunction with the project "A Modern Philosophy for Classical Statistical Testing and Estimation," sponsored by the National Science Foundation, beginning in late August, 2023. Classical statistical testing and estimation, based on the ideas of Fisher, Neyman, and Pearson, are ubiquitous in science. They continue to be central in psychology, medicine, epidemiology, pharmacology, agriculture, and environmental science, among others. Thus, they play an important role in those sciences' empirical successes. Yet they often fall short of scientists' ambitions to quantify how data positively support hypotheses and to express the variable confidence of estimates. To address such shortcomings, this project develops new conceptual foundations for statistical testing and estimation with quantitative implications. It modifies, extends, and strengthens those foundations by adapting ideas from 20th- and 21st-century epistemology, including the modal conditions for evidence and knowledge of adherence, sensitivity, and safety.

The first part of this project develops the theoretical foundation for these ideas in the context of general statistical testing and estimation. The second part then implements these ideas computationally by modifying standard testing and estimation packages in the R programming language. This paves the way for the seamless adoption and application of these new nuanced measures of evidence in sciences that continue to use classical statistical testing and estimation.

This research also integrates with supported activities towards two educational objectives. First, this project promotes the integration of statistical concepts and methods into college philosophy curricula, especially critical reasoning, epistemology, and philosophy of science courses. It does so through two faculty summer institutes for college instructors. Second, this project begins to build a network of early-career scholars engaged in graduate-level research in the philosophy of statistics through two summer schools for early-stage graduate students.

The successful applicant should plan to reside within commuting distance of UMN-TC for the first year; remote work may be possible for the second year.

There are no formal teaching obligations, but it may be possible to arrange to teach a class in coordination with the Department of Philosophy if requested.

Application materials include:

  • A cover letter (i) indicating that a postdoctoral fellowship is sought with the desired starting date; (ii) describing the applicant's specific interest in the research project "A Modern Philosophy for Classical Statistical Testing and Estimation," to which they will contribute; and (iii) elaborating briefly any other information relevant to their application not covered in their CV.
  • A curriculum vitae, including list of publications.
  • A sample of the applicant’s written work (published or unpublished), no more than 10,000 words.
  • Letters of reference from three scholars knowledgeable of the applicant and their research. These should be sent separately to Janet McKernan ([email protected]) with the subject heading, "Reference Letter: [surname of applicant]".

Application deadline: 8 January 2023

How to apply
Application type Online
Instructions
(1) Select the link to access the University of Minnesota careers site. (2) Sign In to access your account or if you are not an existing user select the New User link to create one.(3) Review the job description and select the Apply button to begin your application. Job ID = 352997 Letters of reference from three scholars knowledgeable of the applicant and the applicant’s work (sent separately to [email protected]).
Web address to apply https://hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/352997
Deadline for full consideration: January 8, 2023, 11:59pm EST

(applications under review)

Hard deadline January 15, 2023, 11:59pm EST
Contact
Web address for more information https://hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/352997
Contact name Janet McKernan
Contact email
Contact phone 612-625-6635
Bookkeeping
Time created December 2, 2022, 9:54pm UTC
Scheduled expiry date January 15, 2023, 11:59pm EST
Expired on January 17, 2023, 12:46am EST
Last updated August 31, 2023, 3:00pm UTC
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