PhD position in AI Tools for Analyzing Multimodal Data in Law Enforcement

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PhD position in AI Tools for Analyzing Multimodal Data in Law Enforcement

Faculty/Services: Faculty of Science

Educational level: Master

Function type: PhD position

Closing date: 4 June 2023

Vacancy number: 11446

Do you want to develop cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence tools to support police investigators in analysing large amounts of multimodal data (text, images, videos), making their work more efficient and effective, and thus contribute with your work to justice and a safer society? Then this project will be ideal for you. The research challenges to address include the complexity of the data, the highly skewed data distributions, and the need for unbiased and transparent decision making. The foreseen path to the solution is (hyper-) graph based deep-learning, connected to contextual domain knowledge, and interactive visualizations.

The project is part of the AI4Intelligence project, a collaboration between the University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Eindhoven Technical University, University of Applied Sciences Leiden, and the Hague University of Applied Sciences, and various stakeholders in law enforcement. The project is led by Prof. Marcel Worring of the MultiX group in which this position will be embedded. The two use cases for the project are:

Digital marketplaces and infrastructures (such as Hansa Market, Encrochat, and SkyECC) and;

Fighting child abuse.

Due to security reasons, working on the real data will be done mostly by the law enforcement partners, while the use cases provide the inspiration for the development of more generic AI tools applied to open data.

What are you going to do?

Tasks and responsibilities You are expected:

to perform research in new methods to address the challenges in the analysis of large amounts of multimodal data;

publish and present the results in international journals and leading conferences, and to write a PhD thesis;

to develop effective and transparent AI tools and evaluate them with expert users in law enforcement;

to collaborate with other researchers in our Multimedia Analytics (MultiX) group;

to collaborate with the other partners in the Ai4Intelligence project, in particular via 3-monthly meetings in which you will jointly work on the support for the use cases;

contribute to our education activities as assistant to a course and/or guiding students in their thesis work.

What do you have to offer?

You are eager to work in an interdisciplinary setting where you can leverage and extend your excellent skills in AI to contribute to a safer society.

Your experience and profile:

A master's degree in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science or related field;

A strong scientific expertise in (Explainable) Machine Learning;

Demonstrated experience in using and developing deep learning based methods in python;

Good writing and communication skills in English.

Our offer

A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). The preferred starting date is as soon as possible. This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 2,541 in the first year to € 3,247 in the last year (scale P) UvA additionally offers an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. The UFO profile PhD Candidate is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling', may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;

Multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;

A complete educational program for PhD students;

Multiple courses on topics such as leadership for academic staff;

Multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;

7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary;

Partly paid parental leave;

The possibility to set up a workplace at home;

A pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;

The possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch;

Help with housing for a studio or small apartment when you're moving from abroad.

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.

About us

The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 42,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

The Faculty of Science (FNWI) has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The mission of the Informatics Institute (IvI) is to perform curiosity- driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The main research themes are Artificial Intelligence, Computational Science and Systems and Network Engineering. Our research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on collaborative, data driven, computational and intelligent systems, all with a strong interactive component.

The Multimedia Analytics Lab Amsterdam (MultiX) is a research group within the Informatics Institute at the University of Amsterdam. In MultiX we research multimedia analytics by developing AI techniques for getting the richest information possible from the data (image/video/text/graphs) interactions surpassing human and machine intelligence, and visualizations blending it all in effective interfaces for applications in health, cultural heritage, forensics and law enforcement. There are longstanding relations between the MultiX group, the National Police, and the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI). Next to participating in the AI4Intelligence Lab MultiX takes part in the AI4Forensics Lab with NFI, AIMlab and Police Lab AI. All labs are strongly embedded in the larger UvA and Amsterdam artificial intelligence ecosystem with strong connections to multiple Innovation Centre for Artificial Intelligence (ICAI) and the UvA's Data Science Centre.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

Any questions?

Do you have questions about this vacancy? Or do you want to know more about our organisation? Please contact:

M: Prof. Marcel Worring , group leader of MultiX.

Job application

If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the button below. We accept applications until and including 4 June 2023.

Applications should include the following information (all files besides your CV should be submitted in one single pdf fil e):

A detailed CV including the months (not just years) when referring to your education and work experience;

A letter of motivation;

A list of publications;

Names, affiliations, and email addresses of two academic referees who can provide details about your academic profile in relation to this position (please do not include any reference letters in your application).

Please make sure to provide ALL requested documents mentioned above. You can use the CV field to upload your resume as a separate pdf document. Use the Cover Letter field to upload the other requested documents, including the motivation letter, as one single pdf file.

Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered. Please don't send any applications by email.

We will invite potential candidates for interviews soon after the expiration of the vacancy.

The UvA is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritize diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.

If you encounter Error GBB451/ GBC451, please try using a VPN connection when outside of the European Union. Please reach out directly to our to our HR Department directly. They will gladly help you continue your application.

No agencies please.

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