Post Doc position in Computational Archaeology Full-time Job

WHO WE ARE

At IIT we work enthusiastically to develop human-centered Science and Technology to tackle some of the most pressing societal challenges of our times and transfer these technologies to the production system and society. Our Genoa headquarter is strictly inter-connected with our 11 centers around Italy and two outer-stations based in the US for a truly interdisciplinary experience.

YOUR TEAM

You will be working in a multicultural and multi-disciplinary group, where humanities scholars collaborates with computational scientists (Machine Learning, Computer Vision, image processing, big data and high-performance computing), material engineers, chemists, and physicists, each with their own expertise, to carry out common research.

The Centre for Cultural Heritage Technology (CCHT) in Venice is coordinated by Dr Arianna Traviglia, who has extensive experience in mediating the inclusion of technology within the study and protection of Cultural Heritage. Research at CCHT focuses on promoting cutting-edge technologies and approaches for analysis, preservation and protection of Cultural Heritage.

You will be working in the framework of EC Horizon Europe RITHMS project (2022-2025). RITHMS intends to support Police and Customs/Border Authorities in addressing illicit trafficking of cultural goods through multidisciplinary research, technological innovation, outreach and training. The project will develop a digital platform able to identify criminal organized networks using information available on the internet and other open sources of information and applying approaches derived from Social Network Analysis (SNA).

As a team member, your main responsibility will be to contribute to the collection and management of data needed for the project and the reporting and deliverables preparation; you will especially work with the ICT partners in:

elaborating data collection strategies and tools (including coding original scripts) for the data collection phase necessary to build the different datasets feeding RITHMS SNA platform, focusing on the identification and collection of data from: a) websites of online marketplaces dedicated to cultural goods (i.e., auction houses, art galleries); b) websites containing unstructured text related to cultural heritage related crimes (i.e., law cases, newspapers, journals).

cooperate in the definition of the ontologies necessary to build the Knowledge Graph (KG) underlying the RITHMS SNA platform, by fine-tuning existing Web Semantics to the needs of RITHMS

cooperate in the application and fine-tuning of Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms for Relationships Extraction (RE) on the abovementioned unstructured datasets for the data cleaning tasks needed to populate the RITHMS SNA platform.

WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU SHINE

Ph.D. in digital humanities, computational archaeology or archaeological fields with specialization in computer applications applied against illicit trafficking of cultural heritage;

Documented experience in developing and manipulating large, heterogeneous datasets;

Documented experience in the field of illicit trafficking of cultural heritage;

Documented experience in writing scraping programs;

Proficiency in Knowledge Graph database creation and management (Neo4j, RDFs, OWL);

Proficiency in Python or other programming languages;

Proficiency in English language (written and oral).

EXTRA AWESOME

Familiarity with auction houses and art galleries digital marketplaces.

Familiarity with Social Network Analysis

Familiarity with Natural Language Processing methods

Experience in grant proposal preparation at National and/or European level

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Competitive salary package for international standards

Private health care coverage (depending on your role and contract)

Wide range of staff discounts

WHAT’S IN FOR YOU?

An equal, inclusive and multicultural environment ready to welcome you with open arms. Discrimination is a big NO for us!

We like contamination and encourage you to mingle and discover what other people are up to in our labs!

If paperwork is not your piece of cake, we got you! There’s a specialized team working to help you with that, especially during your relocation!

If you are a startupper or a business-minded person, you will find some exceptionally gifted professionals ready to nurture and guide your attitude and aspirations.

If you want your work to have a real impact, in IIT you will find an innovative and stimulating culture that drives our mission to contribute to the improvement and well-being of society!

We stick to our values! Integrity, courage, societal responsibility and inclusivity are the values we believe in! They define us and our actions in our everyday life. They guide us to accomplish IIT mission!

If you feel this tickles your appetite for change, do not hesitate and apply!

Please submit your application using the online form and including a detailed CV, university transcripts, cover letter (outlining motivation, experience and qualifications) and contact details of 2 references.

Application’s deadline: 22nd March 2024.

We inform you that the information you provide will be used solely for the purposes of evaluating and selecting professional profiles in order to meet the requirements of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia.

Your data will be processed by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, based in Genoa, Via Morego 30, acting as Data Controller, in compliance with the rules on protection of personal data, including those related to data security.

Please also note that, pursuant to articles 15 et. seq. of European Regulation no. 679/2016 (General Data Protection Regulation), you may exercise your rights at any time by contacting the Data Protection Officer (phone Tel: +39 010 28961 - email: dpo@iit.it ).