Experienced Researcher (R2) - Analysis of social media and disinformation

With respect to its intensive development in 2022, the Institute GATE (in Sofia, Bulgaria) is looking for:

Experienced Researcher (R2) – Analysis of social media and disinformation

Application deadline: 15 November 2022

GATE is a joint initiative between Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden and Chalmers Industrial Technology, Sweden. The Swedish institutions are leading organizations in strategic initiatives such as AI Sweden, AI Research Centre, AI Innovation of Sweden and the Digital Twin Cities Centre.

GATE develops research capacity and potential in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, cultivating the next generation of leading scientists by expanding the existing research network and establishing long-term agreements with leading global organizations. The Institute builds sustainable stakeholder relationships, focusing on technological collaboration between government, industry, academia and non-governmental organizations towards Artificial Intelligence and smart decision-making models.

We use artificial intelligence for a better and safer life.

Be part of the future and participate in applied research that develops innovations in the field of big data and artificial intelligence in collaboration with the scientific community, business and government.

For our research team, we are looking for young at heart, motivated for high results and open to the unlimited possibilities of the future.

Experienced Researcher

Research group: Analysis of social media and disinformation

Disinformation is not a new phenomenon; however, it reached an impressive level with the growing use of social media by the population. The extraction of data from social media, the various analysis and visualization methods are essential instruments in the study of dynamics of information flows and in the understanding of the mechanisms used for creating and spreading disinformation.

GATE Institute is looking for experienced researchers who are interested in data extraction and analysis from social media for developing analyses tools for content in the Bulgarian language.

The suitable applicants for this post should have a solid background, experience and publications in the domain of information and communication technologies, preferably with a specialization in one or more of the following domains: data retrieval, artificial intelligence, natural language processing. The practical experience in the development and testing of methods for social media analysis is an asset.

Your responsibilities:

- Designs, implements and supports complex data models data in the domain of social media analysis in Bulgarian and English; - Develops solutions for extracting data from different sources: text documents, relational databases, etc. - Develops models which help in the analysis of social media content; - Plans educational activities and teaches in programs in the domain of analysis of natural language and social media contents; - Participates in research on methods for analysis and content analysis in Bulgarian and other languages; - Evaluates new methods in comparison with the academic literature and the best international practice; - Develops ontologies to present the data semantics; - Contributes to the development of research projects in the domain of social media content analysis; - Keeps themselves up to date with the newest technological trends; - Contributes in publications with high research impact; - Participates in suitable activities for education and development.

Requirements:

- PhD Degree in computer science, computational linguistics, natural language processing, or another technological or philological area. Alternatively, a Master’s Degree in the same areas plus a minimum of 4 years of relevant experience in industry or academia; - Experience in the analysis of social media data; - Experience in the documentation and creation of datasets; - Experience in tools for collecting social media data, e.g. Crowdtangle, APIs for Twitter, YouTube; - Experience in developing models and machine learning, e.g. Python - Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills; - Ability to prioritise tasks and work on multiple tasks and motivation for achieving high-quality results; - Understanding of the principles of Open Science; - Excellent knowledge of English language; - Preferably - knowledge of Bulgarian; - Experience in one or more of the following: - Experience and good knowledge of the concepts of natural language processing (text extraction, analysis, generation of texts in natural language) and processing of models for machine learning: Supervised and Unsupervised machine learning, Neural Networks, Support vector machines, Kernel methods; - experience in extracting data from social media.

Our offer:

- You will have the freedom to conduct research in any area within the scope and priorities of GATE, creating new visions for the future - You will be provided with numerous opportunities for learning, knowledge exchange and career development, locally and internationally - Your research will be supported by an advanced research infrastructure, comprising of the GATE platform and Open Innovation Labs - You will have a flexible work schedule and, a modern and appealing work environment, stirring up creativity and productivity - Competitive working conditions and a salary commensurate with your skills and experience

How to apply

Please send your contact data and files with personal documents on our Application Form – Gate (gate-ai.eu) https://gate-ai.eu/en/application-form/ till 15 November 2022:

- Cover/motivation letter that explains the motivating factors for considering the position (max. 1 pp), - CV with complete publication list, - Copies of diplomas for completed education and certificates of qualification, - Copies of documents certifying past work experience in the relevant field, - Brief description of important scientific achievements and scientific outlook (max. 2 pp), - Two references letters or personal recommendations, arranged by applicants and directly submitted by the letter or provided as contact data in the cover letter, - As an attachment to your application please sign and enclose the following declaration: *I agree to the processing of my personal data included in this application for the needs necessary to carry out the recruitment.*

Additional information on the site www.gate-ai.eu or contact us on: milena.dobreva@gate-ai.eu

By applying for these positions, you voluntarily provide your personal data and consent to be processed for the purpose of recruitment and selection of personnel. The processing of your personal data shall be carried out in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation), the Personal Data Protection Law and related legal acts in Bulgaria.