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Postdoctoral Researcher - Center for Information Technology in the Interests of Society

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Position description

Postdoctoral Scholar – Center for Information Technology in the Interests of Society (CITRIS) ORU

CITRIS, an Organized Research Unit at the University of California, Berkeley, invites applicants for a postdoctoral research position to work with Professor Phil Kaminsky and Professor Ram Akella within their research group which is a collaborative for Cognitive, Contextual, Industrial, Big Data Analytics (CIBDA). Research areas currently being pursued by the group include: (1) AI/Deep Learning/Deep Reinforcement Learning, (2) Machine Learning, (3) Data Science, (4) Statistics (Bayesian, Causal, Frequentist, Time Series), (5) Stochastic Optimization, (6) Operations Research, (7) Very large-scale data mining and analysis, (8) Controls and Signal Processing, and (9) AI-based Text Analytics/Image Vision.

Candidates with backgrounds, training, expertise, and experience in one or more of the research areas being pursued are encouraged to apply.

The successful applicant will have the opportunity to collaborate and participate in the intellectual community at UC Berkeley, Davis, Merced, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and other campuses, as well as leading edge firms from Silicon Valley.

The position, starting in 2020 Fall or 2021 Spring, is for one year, full time 100%, with the possibility of renewal contingent on performance and funding.

Responsibilities
CIBDA is seeking creative, accomplished, and highly motivated postdoctoral scholars to work on identifying and modeling new research problems based on leading edge industry needs. The scholars will work closely with the PI’s to develop and adapt fundamental and new methods to solve these problems, and publish in major journals and conference outlets. The scholars will contribute to, assist or enable the creation of open source algorithms, software, and platforms, as well as testbeds, and assist with potential industrial deployment, to obtain feedback to identify key problem features, and create new theory that is industrially relevant.

CIBDA is particularly interested in scholars who have strong disciplinary, modeling, computational and mathematical skills, with a demonstrated ability and desire to engage in transformational research with industry or other real world contexts. Candidates should be capable of fundamental concept development, resulting in both high impact publications and deployment and translation of research that will have global impact.

While being based at UC Berkeley, the scholar will be interacting with faculty from several campuses and several industries. This will require the ability to be flexible and mobile to achieve the research and impact goals.

Minimum/Basic Qualification (at the time of application):
Candidates must have completed all Ph.D degree requirements except the dissertation or be enrolled in an accredited Ph.D or equivalent international degree program.

Additional Qualification (by the start date):

  • PhD degree or equivalent international degree.
  • No more than four years of post Ph.D. research experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • PhD or equivalent international degree in a relevant technical or interdisciplinary field such as AI/Machine Learning, Information Retrieval and Extraction, Data Science, CS, EE, ME, Statistics, or IEOR/Stochastic Optimization. - Outstanding individuals from adjacent areas such as Applied Mathematics and Physics will also be considered
  • Candidates should have a record of superior academic performance; the ability to be self-directed with broadly-defined limits on assignments
  • Excellent communication skills, both oral and written; and a demonstrated ability to interact effectively with diverse people in a highly multidisciplinary environment, including academics and industry.

Salary and Benefits:
Salary range is $60,000 - $65,000, commensurate with experience and qualifications.

The department is interested in candidates who will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity in higher education through their work. UC Berkeley offers excellent health and welfare packages. It also has a number of policies and programs in place to support employees as they balance work and family.

Information on available benefit plans and eligibility can be found at:
https://clients.garnett-powers.com/pd/uc/plans_benefits/

To apply:
Please submit applications electronically at: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF02700

This position will remain open until filled.

Contacts
Please direct questions to: tturner@berkeley.edu

We will seek your permission before contacting your references.

All letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. Please refer potential referees, including when letters are provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service or career center), to the UC Berkeley statement of confidentiality
(http://apo.berkeley.edu/evalltr.html) prior to submitting their letters.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see:
http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct

ABOUT CITRIS/CIBDA
The Center for Information Technology in the Interests of Society (CITRIS) is a national and international leader in conducting state-of-the-art research and developing, scaling and commercializing data science-enabled technology solutions. As a multi-campus (UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz), interdisciplinary program, we have numerous research and development opportunities that would benefit a postdoc. This position would be especially beneficial for postdoc applicants interested in active research initiatives across multiple departments, campuses and industry, who are interested in developing theory and tools in areas and contexts such as AI, data science, sensor networks, IoT, to solve societal and industrial problems at scale. CITRIS has over 300 faculty who serve as PIs from all the participating campuses. The total funding of faculty, leveraging the seed funding from the state, is over $100M per year. Furthermore, this position would be in an extremely attractive position to participate in UC Berkeley’s new Data Sciences program.

At CITRIS, the Collaborative for Cognitive, Contextual, Industrial, Big Data Analytics (CIBDA), comprises faculty, students, and postdocs focused on developing methods and tools using AI, Machine Learning, Stochastic Optimization, Controls/Signal Processing, and Statistics to solve key problems in various industry horizontals and/or verticals, working with leading industries. Specific areas/topics of interest currently include Internet of Things (IoT), Healthcare, FinTech/Digital Services/Digital Marketing, Networks, and AI/ML based Industrial Automation and Smart Factories.

Our graduates work at well-known Bay Area companies that include Apple, Google, Facebook, Uber, Pandora, and LinkedIn, as well as at established businesses like Wells Fargo and Cisco. Many of our graduates take advantage of the opportunity to get in on the ground floor to create or work for start-ups.

Application Requirements

Document requirements
  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

  • Cover Letter

  • Statement of Research

Reference requirements
  • 3 required (contact information only)

Job location

Berkeley, California