[Event at CIG] Postdoctoral position - Semantic graphs in digital humanities

[Victoria Eyharabide]

*(Apologies for multiple postings)*


*Postdoctoral Researcher/Research Engineer Position on “Semantic graphs in
digital humanities”*


1           Information about the internship

•    *Supervisors:*

–    Anne-Valerie PONT-BOULAY
<anne-valerie.pont-boulay at sorbonne-universite.fr>, associate professor in
Roman History, UMR 8167 Centre Antiquité Classique et Tardive, Sorbonne
Université

–    Victoria EYHARABIDE <maria-victoria.eyharabide at sorbonne-universite.fr>,
associate professor in computer science, STIH Laboratory, Sorbonne
Université

•    *Location: *Maison de la recherche, Sorbonne Université - 28 rue
Serpente, 75006 Paris.

•    *Duration: *24 months (possibility to be extended up to 5 years)

•    *Keywords: *Digital humanities, knowledge representation and
reasoning, knowledge graphs, Roman history.

•    *Project*: ERC Consolidator Grant *PECUNIA* – *Private interests in
public functions: Framing a new paradigm of power in the cities of the
Roman empire* (70 BC-284 AD)

•    *Environment*: The PECUNIA project also benefits from the
infrastructure of the *Sorbonne Center for Artificial Intelligence* (SCAI
<https://scai.sorbonne-universite.fr/>) .

•    *Remuneration*: between €2905 and €4566.02 depending on experience

•    *Start date*: The position is available from February 1st, 2024.


2           Project background

The *PECUNIA* project – Private interests in public functions: Framing a
new paradigm of power in the cities of the Roman empire (70 BC-284 AD),
funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant (2022), aims to study the economic and
material resources provided through the participation in public life of
different elite groups in the cities of the Roman Empire. The objective is
to create analytical tools to study the resources, institutions, and social
groups involved in their functioning. Over five years, this project will
bring together historians, epigraphists, papyrologists, and computer
science researchers. We will bring together thousands of sources from the
Roman Empire (written, both epigraphic, and "literary" sources mainly in
Latin and Greek) and then structure these data (geolocation, bibliographic
references, prosopographic data, institutional position, and available
resources) in the context of Linked open data. The final objective aims to
offer, in addition to access to the data themselves, a new tool accessible
to different specialist audiences to quantify, visualize, and model them
using knowledge graphs.




3           Job description

The candidate's main objective will be to develop and implement
computational solutions for creating a domain-specific knowledge graph
gathering historical data. The candidate will build the knowledge base
using the Patrimonium <https://patrimonium.huma-num.fr/> editor designed by
Ausonius (Bordeaux), and create new solutions to depict the intricate and
complex power relations that underlie the distribution of the financial and
material resources available among aristocratic groups in the Roman Empire.
Effectively identifying and linking people, resources, roles, and cities
will receive special consideration. The candidate will work in close
collaboration with researchers in history and epigraphy to find the best
solutions to implement the database of the project and curate data.
Finally, the candidate will design innovative user interfaces for
displaying and querying the knowledge base. The candidate will be under the
supervision of PECUNIA’s project PI, Anne-Valérie Pont, and Victoria
Eyharabide, a specialist in Computer Sciences; the candidate will also have
the opportunity to benefit from the scientific context of the *Sorbonne
Center for Artificial Intelligence* (SCAI
<https://scai.sorbonne-universite.fr/>) and regular interactions with its
researchers. The ambition of SCAI is to contribute significantly to the
excellence of interdisciplinary research and education in artificial
intelligence by promoting exchanges between researchers, students, and
industry.






4           Profile of applicant

Applicants are required to have:

•    A Ph.D. in Computer Science or Digital Humanities. Doctoral students
about to graduate (before the end of 2023) are invited to apply!

•    Advanced skills in Python programming are mandatory.

•    Strong background in two areas of artificial intelligence: semantic
web technologies (ontologies, reasoning models, linked data, SPARQL) and
automatic learning of graphs and vector representations.

•    Fluency in written and spoken English is essential.

•    Excellent communication skills to discuss with researchers from
different backgrounds (mainly historians and epigraphers).



Ideally, we are also searching for candidates with the following desired
qualifications:

•    Documented experience in the implementation of machine learning
methods for the analysis of knowledge graphs.

•    Expertise in technical aspects related to data sharing, database
systems, linked data/RDF, knowledge graphs, data semantics, and inference
engines is desired.

•    Experience in knowledge open-source tools for knowledge graphs such as
Neo4J RDF Semantic Toolkit, RDF4J, and GraphDB.

•    Communication skills in French are a plus but not required.

The position is open immediately. Review of applications will begin as soon
as applications are received and continue until the position is filled.


5           Application

Applicants should send an email to Victoria Eyharabide
<maria-victoria.eyharabide at sorbonne-universite.fr>
maria-victoria.eyharabide at sorbonne-universite.fr and Anne-Valerie
PONT-BOULAY <anne-valerie.pont-boulay at sorbonne-universite.fr>
anne-valerie.pont-boulay at sorbonne-universite.fr with:

•    A full curriculum vitae including a complete list of publications

•    A transcript of higher education records

• A one-page research statement discussing how the candidate's background
fits the proposed topic

•    Two support letters from persons who have worked with them.