4-year postdoc in the Psychology of Reasoning (EXPIRED)

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is a renowned research institute at the University of Amsterdam, in which researchers from the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Science collaborate. The research carried out at Humanities forms one of the six research schools within this faculty. ILLC’s central research area is the study of fundamental principles of encoding, transmission and comprehension of information. Research at ILLC is interdisciplinary, and aims at bringing together insights from various disciplines concerned with information and information processing, such as logic, philosophy, linguistics, musicology, mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence and cognitive science.

The ILLC is looking for an exceptional postdoctoral researcher in the interface between Logic and Cognitive Science, ideally in the area of the Psychology of Reasoning, within the project 'The Logic of Conceivability [LoC]. Modelling Rational Imagination With Non- Normal Modal Logics' . This is a 5-year project (2017-2021) funded by the European Research Council, and led by Principal Investigator (PI) Prof. Franz Berto, Chair at the Department of Philosophy.

Job description

The postdoctoral researcher will work within the subproject 'Core Theory & applications', lasting for the last four years of the project (2018-2021), and will be employed full-time. This subproject will

1. develop the Core LoC theory and solve the open problems the project is meant to address: the problem of logical omniscience in epistemic logic, the problem of Information overload, and the problem of how to model moderately rational cognitive agents; it will also
2. provide formal models of the LoC suitable for development in Artificial Intelligence research.

This will be a pure research position, with the researcher expected to:

• present intermediate research results at international workshops and conferences;
• deliver a number of excellent publications, also in cooperation with the PI and the other project members.

The postdoctoral researcher is also expected to help with all the organizational tasks connected to the project, including:

• the organization and attendance of a regular LoC project seminar;
• the organization of a major LoC Conference in year 4 of the LoC project;
• the maintenance of the interactive project web site;
• the dissemination of results to non-specialists as planned in the LoC project.

The candidate will have a PhD in the interface between Logic and Cognitive Science, ideally in the area of the Psychology of reasoning, obtained on 1 January 2007 or later.

The candidate will have contributions in excellent international peer-reviewed journals, testifying a strong research profile and the capacity to publish regularly at high level.

Requirements

• PhD in the interface between Logic and Cognition, ideally in the area of the Psychology of reasoning;

• research works testifying the capacity to publish regularly in top journals in the areas of Logic and Cognition;

• strong willingness to help with all the organizational duties connected to the LoC project;

• strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;

• excellent command of English.

Further information

For more information on the LoC research project, please contact:

• Prof. Franz Berto, Principal Investigator

Appointment

The selected Postdoctoral researcher will be appointed full-time (38 hours per week) for a maximum period of four years at the at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam. The research will be carried out under the aegis of ILLC. The appointment is initially for a period of 12 months; contingent on satisfactory performance it will be extended by a maximum of 36 months, leading to at least four papers published/forthcoming in excellent peer-reviewed journals of logic, cognition and/or philosophy of mind. The gross monthly salary (on a full-time basis) will range from €3,193 to €4,028, in accordance with the  Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.