Connectionists: Fully funded PhD position on Causal Discovery

[Tom Heskes]

[with apologies for cross-posting]

PhD position
------------
Radboud University Nijmegen invites applications for a fully funded PhD 
position. You will conduct research in the context of the NWO Top 
project Causal Discovery from High‐Dimensional Data in the Large‐Sample 
Limit, a joint project of Prof. Tom Heskes at Radboud University 
Nijmegen and Prof. Aad van der Vaart at Leiden University.

Application deadline:      July 31, 2015
Preferred starting date:   September 1, 2015
Duration:                  4 years

The project
-----------
Discovering causal relations from data lies at the heart of most 
scientific research today. The main challenge in this project is to 
develop robust algorithms and theory for establishing cause-effect 
relationships from observational data that scale up to large data sets. 
As a team, we will work not only on conceptual ideas, but also on more 
theoretical ideas and computational advances. The project will 
demonstrate and assess the power of these algorithms by applying them to 
ecological and biomedical data. Your research will focus on the 
development of novel algorithms and their application to real-world data.

Work environment
----------------
You will perform research as part of the Machine Learning group within 
the Intelligent Systems section of the Institute for Computing and 
Information Sciences (iCIS). The Machine Learning group carries out 
fundamental and applied research on different aspects of machine 
learning. We care to show that our theories and algorithms work in 
practice, by applying them in various different domains, especially in 
neuroscience and bioinformatics. iCIS and Intelligent Systems received 
excellent ratings in the latest national research evaluation exercise 
for computer science.

What we expect from you
-----------------------
You must hold an MSc or equivalent, having demonstrated top performance 
in a field that is closely related to computer science, artificial 
intelligence, or mathematics. You should have an interest in conducting 
original scientific research, publishing the results at top conferences 
and in scientific journals, and participating in teaching activities. 
Maturity, self-motivation and the ability to work both independently and 
as a team player in local and international research teams are expected. 
You should have an excellent command of written and spoken English. 
Prior experience with machine learning or statistics will be considered 
an asset. Programming experience will definitely be helpful.

What we have to offer
---------------------
- competitive salary and additional benefits;
- open, interactive, international working environment;
- access to excellent computing facilities;
- living in Nijmegen, a university town with extensive cultural 
offerings, scenic surroundings, and a historic center

Would you like to know more?
----------------------------
For further information, including instructions on how to submit your 
application, see the official advertisement:

http://www.ru.nl/english/working/job-opportunities/details/details-vacature/?recid=556121

Informal inquiries can be made to Tom Heskes (t.heskes at science.ru.nl).




-- 
Tom Heskes                                    tel: +31-(0)24-3652696
Machine Learning Group, Intelligent Systems   http://www.cs.ru.nl/~tomh
iCIS, Radboud University Nijmegen             Mercator I, room 2.06b