Sweden: Learning for Model Design Support in Multi-Agent

PhD Studentships in Learning for Model Design Support in Multi-Agent Simulation, University of Örebro, Sweden

A new 3-years PhD position is immediately available at the MoS Modeling and Simulation Center, University of Örebro, Sweden under the supervision of Dr. Franziska Kluegl.

The major part of the PhD studies can be dedicated to research in the area of Learning for Model Design Support in Multi-Agent Simulation: Developing Multi-Agent Simulation Model is a challenging task that is often done in a suboptimal try and error procedure. Our idea is that it can be supported by learning and adaptive agents cooperating with a human modeler. There are various interesting starting points for the development and application of learning agent architectures and mechanisms from Artificial Intelligence such as reinforcement learning, classification learning or evolutionary strategies. Simulated agents shall use such techniques for discovering non-valid situations, selecting interaction partners, revising decision rules, etc. The human modeler evaluates the suggestions of the learning agents or supports them by pointing to particular problematic or interesting situations. Such an interplay between learning agents and human modeler may result in an efficient model development process and finally to a valid Multi-Agent Simulation model. Ideas can be tested in interdiscilinary simulation projects for example in the area of pedestrian simulation.

In addition to interest in the topic, a strong theoretical background and solid programming skills, applicants should have the equivalent of a Masters degree in an appropriate field (for example: Intelligent Systems and Robotics, Computer Science, Physics or Applied Mathematics). It is not necessary to be familiar with the Swedish language but proficiency in written/spoken English is mandatory.

To apply for the position, please send a motivation letter along with an updated CV (including at least two academic references) by e-mail to Dr. Franziska Kluegl: franziska.klugl@oru.se

Applications can be sent immediately and will be considered until the position is fixed.

UK: PhD Studentships in Robotics

PhD Studentships in Robotics, University of Plymouth, UK

Studentship PhD Opportunities
Cognitive Modelling in Developmental Robotics
FACULTY OF TECHNOLOGY

Marie Curie Early-Stage Researchers (Two posts; Fixed-term)

To start 1st January 2010

Supervised by Professor Angelo Cangelosi
Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems
School of Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, PL4 8AA
External collaboration with RobotDoc partners in EU, USA, Japan and Taiwan

RobotDoc (Robotics for Development of Cognition) is a multi-national doctoral training network for the interdisciplinary training on developmental cognitive robotics. The PhD students will develop advanced expertise of domain-specific cognitive robotics research skills and of complementary transferrable skills for careers in academia and industry. They will acquire hands-on experience through experiments with the open-source humanoid robot iCub, complemented by other existing robots available in the network’s laboratories.

The two PhD studentships at the University of Plymouth will be in the following topics:

(1) The emergence of symbol composition capabilities, and

(2) The grounding of abstract categories.

For further information contact Professor Angelo Cangelosi by email acangelosi[ at ]plymouth.ac.uk Background information on the supervisors’ research profiles can be found on the University of Plymouth website.

Applicants for the post should have a very good first degree in a computer science, or robotics, or in a cognitive science discipline. Applicants with a relevant Masters degree would be particularly welcome. The scholarship is for 3 years and the candidate will receive an annual salary starting from £19,645 per annum. A mobility, travel and career exploratory allowance will also be available.

The following conditions apply:

Applicants must be nationals of any country other than the UK.

Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the UK for longer than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment.

Early-stage researchers are defined as those who are, at the time of selection, in the first four years (full-time equivalent) of their research careers. This is measured from the date when they obtained the degree which would formally entitle them to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the country in which the research training is provided, irrespective of whether or not a doctorate is envisaged.

Applicants should send a CV, a letter of application and contact details of two academic referees to carole.watson[ at ]plymouth.ac.uk Faculty of Science and Technology Research Office, Portland Square, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA.

Closing Date: 12 Noon, Monday 21 September 2009

Denmark:PhD Scholarships in Information Technology

PhD Scholarships in Information Technology, The IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark

IT University of Copenhagen (ITU) invites applications for a number of PhD scholarships starting in February 2010 in any of the faculty groups represented at ITU.

FIRST Research School: theoretical computer science and fundamental software technologies, sensornets, databases, algorithms for large amounts of data, automated reasoning, business processes, category theory, complexity, concurrency, domain theory, distributed and mobile computing, model checking, planning, software engineering, scheduling, verification, test, and configuration; efficient computation, electronic health records and electronic voting, logical frameworks, software architectures, objectoriented methodology and notations, functional and object-oriented programming languages, proof assistants, semantics, ubiquitous computing, user interfaces , workflow languages. http://www.first.dk

Center for Computer Games Research: Game aesthetics, game ontology, games and narratives, game culture, game play, player communities, games and human computer interfaces/game testing, game artificial intelligence, player (cognitive and affective) modeling, computational intelligence and games. http://game.itu.dk/

Design of Organizational IT Group: Computer supported cooperative work, science and technology studies, health care IT, organizations and IT, globalization and technology, mutual shaping
of culture, organizations, people, and technologies, through practices of design and use. http://www.itu.dk/research/doit/

Innovative Communication Group: Advanced and innovative communication trends, historical and rhetorical methods of innovation, theories and applications of new media, design and development of interactive technologies in the contexts of prior and emerging cultures of information. http://www.itu.dk/research/inc/

Scholarships:
Applicants accepted will be employed and enrolled at the IT University for a period of 3 or 4 years.
Appointment and salary will be in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). For example, the basic salary of a 3 year PhD student amounts to DKK 24,594.08 per month.

Application deadline: October 7, 2009 at 12.00 noon (local time). The deadline is firm.

Applications and enclosures received at ITU after the application deadline will not be taken into
consideration.

Questions regarding this call may be directed to individual faculty members, or the ITU PhD
Administration, phdadm@itu.dk, phone: +45 7218 5065

The IT University invites all qualified candidates irrespective of age, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation or ethnic background to apply for the scholarships.

For more information visit >>

France : PhD Scholarship in Computer Science

PhD Scholarship in Computer Science / Economy at IRIT and GREMAQ, Toulouse, France

Description:
We invite, applications for an interdisciplinary 3 years PhD position in computer science and economics. The projects title is: “Epistemic states, Trust and responsibility of economical agents: from theoretical aspects to experimental studies”

Project description:
Recently computer scientists’ interest in more and more complex systems has lead to an increased use of multi-agent approaches. Multi-agent analysis allows the investigation of the interaction of autonomous agents able to make decisions and to execute the necessary actions. The characterization of these agents is done with help of a number of theoretical models, among which modal (in particular epistemic) logics. This implies that the systems and their agents are described in terms of their knowledge, beliefs, goals and intentions.

The concept of trust has been recently studied at the same time in the domain of multi-agent systems as concerning interactions of economic agents. The interaction of economic agents has been traditionally studied concerning monetary profits for the involved actors. However, today it is widely believed that decisions in economic interactions are influenced by beliefs, trust and emotions.

The objective of this research project is to study situations requiring responsibility and trust with experimental economic paradigms. We will evaluate how and when responsibility will lead to trust when interactions are repeated. The resulting states will be formally characterized by using epistemological concepts of trust and responsibility.

The ideal candidate for this position should have training in either computer science or economics, with knowledge in at least one of the areas of formal logic, game theory, simulations.

The position will be co-supervised by Andreas Herzig (IRIT, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse) and Astrid Hopfensitz (GREMAQ, Université des Sciences Sociales, Toulouse). Both institutions are world renowned research institutions in their discipline and the candidate will have the opportunity to participate and interact with researchers from both fields. Monthly salary will be according to French standards (gross salary 1650 Euros, i.e. 1360 Euros of taxable income (with approximately 10% income tax to be subtracted)). Research language in Toulouse is English however some basic knowledge of French is an advantage.

For further questions please contact:

Andreas Herzig, http://www.irit.fr/~Andreas.Herzig

or Astrid Hopfensitz, http://hopfensitz.googlepages.com

Application Deadline: August 18, 2009

Contact:
Hopfensitz, Astrid
Toulouse School of Economics (GREMAQ)
astrid.hopfensitz[ at ]univ-tlse1.fr

Austria : PhD-position in Logistics/Supply Chain Management

PhD Studentships in Quantitative Methods / Logistics, University of Vienna, Austria

PhD-position in Logistics/Supply Chain Management and Quantitative Methods

The chair of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the University of Vienna offers a PhD-candidate position in its expanding international research team. The position includes participation in the faculty’s PhD program in Logistics and Operations Management and the opportunity to conduct a research project under the supervision of experienced senior researchers. A four year scholarship, the possibility to spend some time at a foreign research institution, and to present research results at leading international conferences are provided. The position further offers the opportunity to gain teaching experience (all Logistics and Supply Chain courses are taught in English) and to disseminate the research results within projects with industry. Our research areas include supply chain inventory management (especially service parts and retail applications), supply chain coordination (using game theoretic approaches), and strategic network design.

The Department of Business Administration is, according to the latest ranking by Handelsblatt, the #1 research institution in Business Administration in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The city of Vienna, according to the latest Mercer survey, offers the highest quality of life worldwide.

If you are interested you should have completed (or be close to completion) of a master degree (Diploma / Magister) in Business Administration, Mathematics, Statistics, Operations Research, Management Information Systems, or Mathematical Economics with excellent records. Please send us your full application, including

• letter of motivation,
• resumé,
• transcript of records,
• relevant certificates.

to alexandra.ederer@univie.ac.at

Application Deadline: July 13, 2009

Contact:
Minner, Stefan
University of Vienna
stefan.minner@univie.ac.at

UK:PhD Studentship, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

PhD Studentship in Uncertainty Quantification Project, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

PhD studentship in Uncertainty Quantification project

Subject: PhD studentship at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

Machine learning for uncertainty quantification of reservoir models

Uncertainty of complex natural systems is difficult to describe effectively within traditional parametric modelling approach. Many of relations in natural systems are vague and not transparent to capture and describe analytically. Machine learning provides an alternative way to detect dependencies from uncertain data and propagate them into forecasting models.

Machine learning will enable to integrate oblique data, which are not directly related to the modelling subject but still bear non-parametric relation with the modelled dependencies, into the uncertainty modelling framework. Data-driven statistical learning methods such as Support Vector Machines and Artificial Neural Networks are foreseen to be used to capture and describe dependencies in regression and classification problems, and define informative multidimensional prior models. Machine learning approach fits perfectly to tackle the task to eliciting and modelling prior information in high dimensions from multiple sources with feature selection/extraction techniques. Geomanifold modelling based on a recently emerged theory of semi-supervised learning is capable of integrating different sources of information from high dimensional input space.

The challenge of the project is to link contemporary machine learning algorithms with the state-of-the-art Bayesian framework for uncertainty quantification developed in the group. The work will involve application of advanced machine learning methods and recent achievement in multiple point geostatistics.

The candidate will join a dynamic and diverse team of post-docs and PhDs lead by Prof. Mike Christie. The research carried out by the team addresses aspects of uncertainty quantification including stochastic optimisation methods, geostatistics, machine learning, and employs high-level scientific computation (including a 84 node Linux cluster). The research is funded by a consortium of oil companies, and the skills acquired in while studying for the PhD are likely to be applicable to a wide range of areas, including the oil industry.

Desired skills:
The successful candidate must have a strong background in machine learning and numerical methods as well as advanced computational skills. Knowledge of geosciences modelling, geostatistics and petroleum engineering in particular will be beneficial.

To apply send a CV to Dr V Demyanov, vasily.demyanov@pet.hw.ac.uk

Closing date: 31st July 2009.

FRANCE: Scholarship in Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computing

PhD Scholarship in Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computing, FEMTO-ST, Besançon, FRANCE

Applications are invited for a three year PhD scholarship in the FEMTO-ST Institute (see www.femto-st.fr) at Besançon FRANCE.

This PhD project will form part of a wider project which aims to develop new mathematical tools and a general software dedicated to Arrays of Microsystems. Arrays of Microsystems have been developed and continue their expansion in a number of scientific and technical fields. The research of the project will focus on deriving general multi-scale multi-physical models able to cover large classes of such systems. The multi-scale mathematical methods will be rooted in recently developed techniques by our group or collaborators. Part of mathematical modeling will be done in collaboration with a Laboratory of Mathematics.

The scholarship is valued at about €1.000 net per month for three years. It will be available from 1 October 2009. Application to a room on the campus is possible for low rate. Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree and, preferably, a master’s qualification in Applied Mathematics, Computational Mathematics or Mechanics, or comparable postgraduate work experience.

Closing date for applications: July 15th, 2009.

Please email a CV and letter outlining your areas of research interest, along with names and contact details of two referees who can comment on your academic suitability to Dr Michel Lenczner (michel.lenczner@utbm.fr).

Further information on this project can be obtained by contacting:
Professor Michel Lenczner
FEMTO-ST
26, Chemin de l’épitaphe
25030 Besançon
phone: +33 (0) 81 40 28 27
email: michel.lenczner@utbm.fr

Italy : PhD schlarship in Economics

PhD Scholarships in Economics and Business Management, University of Venice, Italy

Admission 2009 - 2010
The School offers two doctoral programs: Economics (DEC) and Business Management (DEA). They cooperate and share most activities.

There are 5 three-year fellowships available for DEC and another 5 for DEA.

Classes start on September 1st, 2009. Most first-year classes are common across the two programs.

The general application procedure is similar for the two programs, with minor differences. Please make sure to carefully read the relevant information for the program you wish to apply for: DEA or DEC.

Separate applications are required for either program. Simultaneous applications to more than one program are possible.

An application must abide by the statute of their respective “Bando” (Official Advert) as published on the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana. The official version of each Bando is available from the website of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice following the path Offerta Formativa -> Dottorati di Ricerca -> Scuola Superiore di Economia - SSE. (With a bit of luck, this dynamic link should get you there in one click.) Links to the necessary documents are in the grey box on the right-hand column. You can also download a copy of each Bando using the links posted in the admission page of the program you wish to apply for.

Brief GUIDELINES ON HOW TO APPLY - CALL FOR APPLICATIONS A:Y 2009/2010
These are guidelines to assist you in making your application to the SSE Doctorate programs 2009 and should be considered as informal information and are in no way legally binding.
1- Read official announcement carefully
2 – Download attachments A, B & C
3 – Read all attachments carefully
4 – Compile attachment B (application form)
5 - Ensure you have the obligatory documents to include with the application form Attachment B - see list below
6 – Where necessary (original foreign qualifications without legal translation) fill out attachment C
7 – You should put your application and all attachments in an envelope and put the following phrase on the envelope:
Domanda di ammissione alle Scuole di dottorato di ricerca 25° ciclo (A.A. 2009/2010)
(Application for admission to Research Doctoral schools 25th cycle – AY 2009/2010)
Dottorato di ricerca in
(Research doctorate in) [please indicate the doctoral course]

8 –Deadline: Ensure that your application arrives by and not after June 23rd, 2009 at 12.30. Applications arriving after this time will not be accepted.

You can hand deliver your application to e Accoglienza studenti, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venice (1st floor), during opening times to the public: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, from 9.30am to 12.30pm; Wednesday also from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

or
you can send it via express/registered mail (with note of receipt) or by private courier to Università Ca’ Foscari
Ufficio Protocollo Informatico, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venezia, arriving no later than Tuesday 23rd June 2009 at 12.30pm. It must arrive by this time and not sent by this time
You must attach a photocopy of your identity card (or other proof of identity) to the application form.

Obligatory attachments to the application form:

• Statement of purpose written in English language -The candidate should describe his/her professional goals and research interests, as well as providing any information useful to evaluate him/her (but not implied by the other attached documents) (no more than 15.000 characters)
• Curriculum Vitae
• Degree Certificate –or equivalent qualification: Grade/marks of degree, title of the dissertation and a dissertation abstract of no more than 30.000 characters.

At least two letters of recommendation from university professors or scientific researchers (one letter has to attest the candidate’s adequate knowledge of English language) Please use the online form.

Foreign academic qualifications: if you have foreign academic qualifications you are required to attach the following:
- the academic qualification certificate including the list of exams taken, with sworn translation into Italian and Apostille;
- a “statement of value”, issued by the Italian embassy/consulate in the country where the institution issuing the academic qualification is based certifying that the qualification is valid for registration at a university course – in that country - equivalent to the Research doctorate in Italy.

If you are unable to provide the “statement of value” document within the application deadline, you must fill in attachment “C”.
In this case candidates will be admitted to the competitive examinations “under reservation”. Therefore, if they qualify for admission as winners, they will have to submit the required original documents at the time of enrolment

All candidates must be in possession of the qualifications requested at the time of applying for the doctoral program, 23rd of June 2009, otherwise they will be excluded from the competitive examination.

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS/ DOCUMENTS to include with your application – not obligatory

• Curriculum studii (w.marks)
• Publications consistent with the Doctoral program aims, including working papers
• Masters and other advanced courses
• Research experiences with university or research institutions
• Prizes, grants
• Score in GRE, GMAT, TOEFL or similar standard tests

Please note:
-You can not apply electronically
-All applications must be sent to address stated above
-All documentation must be in English (preferred) or in Italian

CLOSING DATE: 23rd of June 2009

For more information about applications to DEA and DEC, please contact (scuoledottorato@unive.it); tel.: +39-041-234-7962).

website link: Click here >>

UK : PhD Studentships at Thames Valley University

PhD Studentships, Thames Valley University, UK

Research Studentships
The Vice-Chancellor’s full-time research studentships at Thames Valley University

Thames Valley University (TVU) is among just three London universities to climb 17 places or more in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008. To celebrate TVU’s performance in the RAE2008 and strengthen our research student base, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter John is pleased to announce a number of research scholarships, ranging from Art and Design to Nursing.

The scholarships will cover full UK/EU tuition fees and provide a maintenance allowance of £15,290 per annum for up to three years, subject to satisfactory progress.

Applications are invited from suitably qualified students to commence study in September 2009. You should hold or expect to be awarded a 2 (i) Hons degree or above. A Master’s degree in an appropriate subject area is desirable. Those candidates whose first language is not English must demonstrate evidence of appropriate English language proficiency, normally defined as a minimum IELTS score of 7. In addition to their PhD studies, duties will include up to 6 hours per week (during term time) assisting with teaching on appropriate modules.

Informal academic enquiries may be directed to Professor Sibel Roller, Head of Graduate School, sibel.roller@tvu.ac.uk

To apply, send your full Curriculum Vitae and a covering letter indicating your area of interest and including a supporting statement of no more than 500 words describing your reasons for wishing to undertake a research degree to Maria Pennells, Graduate School, Thames Valley University, St Mary’s Road, London W5 5RF (researchdegrees@tvu.ac.uk). If applicable, evidence of English language proficiency should also be included.

Closing date for receipt of applications: Friday 12 June 2009.

If short-listed for one of these awards, you should be prepared to attend an interview at TVU in London in June/July 2009.

Italy : PhD Scholarships in Economics

PhD Scholarships in Economics at LUISS Guido Carli, Rome, Italy

Positions available for enrollment in the PhD in Economics, academic year 2009-2010

For the academic year 2009-20010, eight positions are available. All positions are tuition free. Four positions come with a scholarship.

The deadline for submitting an application is May, 29, 2009. Courses start October 2009.

Requirements:
Students applying for the Doctoral Program must have completed a Laurea Magistrale or a Laurea (vecchio ordinamento) or any other equivalent foreign (bachelor) degree. If you hold a bachelor degree granted by a foreign institution, you have to obtain a legal transcript translated in Italian along with a certificate of validation (dichiarazione di valore) issued by an Italian diplomatic office in the same country where the degree was granted.

Deadline:
May 29 2009. Applications from students who will complete their degree by July 31 2009 will also be considered. Along with the application form, students must provide:
1. one reference letter,
2. a transcript showing exams passed, date of completion and marks awarded.

Admission procedure.
Based on the above documents, the personal resume and any other academic degrees and certificates that the candidates may want to submit along with their application (such as the GRE, GMAT or certificates of English proficiency), a subset of candidates will be selected for a colloquium to be held at LUISS G. Carli (viale Romania 32), July 3, at 9am. In the colloquium, the Selection Committe will test the candidate potential and ability to carry out academic research in economics.

Notification of the colloquium.
By June 18 we will notify by certified e-mail the applicants who are admitted to the final colloquium.

Download the official call.

Summing-Up
Deadline for application May 29, 2009
Notification of the adimission to the colloquium June 18, 2009
Colloquium July 3,2009
Notification of admission July 3, 2009
Course starting Mid-September

Applications must be sent to: Ricerca e Didattica - Dottorati di Ricerca - LUISS Guido Carli - Viale Romania, 32 - 00197, Rome.

For additional information and enquires, write to phd.economics@luiss.it

website link: click here

Sweden : PhD Studentship in Chemical Engineering

PhD Studentship in Chemical Engineering on “Flow of Pulp Suspensions” , Chalmers University, Sweden.

Reference number 2009/59
Application deadline 2009-05-15

The project aims at developing a deeper understanding of the flow behaviour of pulp fibre suspensions at concentrations above 3% by weight. At these concentrations, of outmost importance in pulp processing, the suspension shows a complex rheological behaviour. A better understanding of the system could lead to a better utilization of the turbulent energy with reduced energy costs, and /or equipment dimensions, and less fibre damage. Thus, an understanding of the flow behaviour of fibre suspensions is of great interest for the design, scale-up and operation of pulp processing equipment. In particular flow and dewatering effects in the near wall region will be studied in detail, theoretically using mathematical modelling (CFD) and experimentally using PIV, LDA and UVP.

Job description
The project is a joint venture between Metso Paper in Sundsvall, Södra Cell in Värö and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers and is funded by the Swedish National Energy Administration.

The position is limited to maximum five years and corresponds to full-time research studies during four years. In addition, teaching in the undergraduate or masters curriculi at Chalmers could be included corresponding to one year, teaching work distributed over the whole time of the position.

Qualifications
A suitable background is Master of Science in Chemical engineering, Chemical Engineering with Physics, Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Physics; specifically with interest in applied mathematics and transport phenomena.

Application procedure
The application shall be written in English and include the following items:

1. An application of a maximum of one A4 page containing your specific qualifications for the position
2. Attested copies of education certificates, including grade reports and other documents
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Letters of recommendation and name of reference persons (optional)

The application shall be sent electronically as pdf or zipped documents. Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.

If any material is not available electronically or cannot be transferred to pdf format, the material can be sent as a hard copy to Registrar. The applicants name and the reference number (2009/59) must be written on the first page of the application.

Address:
Registrar
Chalmers University of Technology
SE-412 96 Göteborg
Sweden

Further information
For further information, please contact:

Professor Anders Rasmuson,
Chemical Engineering, Chalmers,
+46 31 772 2940, rasmuson@chalmers.se

or

TeknD Tomas Wikström,
Metso Paper, Sundsvall, +46 60 165690, tomas.wikstrom@metso.com

Union representatives
SACO: Jan Lindér
ST: Marie Wenander
SEKO: Ralf Berndtsson

All reachable via Chalmers exchange: +46 31 772 10 00

Apply for this position

USA : Graduate Students Internship

Graduate Students Internship, United Nations Center for Social Development, USA

The United Nations provides opportunities for students enrolled in a graduate programme to undertake an internship at its Headquarters in New York.

This Internship Programme is for the United Nations Headquarters in New York only.

Eligible candidates interested in doing an internship at the United Nations Headquarters in New York can apply.

The objective of the Internship Programme is threefold:

1). To provide a framework by which graduate and post-graduate students from diverse academic backgrounds may be assigned to United Nations Offices where their educational experience can be enhanced through practical work assignments.

2). To expose them to the work of the United Nations.

3). To provide UN offices with the assistance of highly qualified students specialized in various professional fields.

The United Nations Headquarters Internship Programme is offered on a two-month basis three times a year:

• Mid January to mid March (Spring Session): The vacancy announcement is posted mid May, the deadline for applications is mid September.
• Early June to early August (Summer Session): The vacancy announcement is posted mid September, the deadline for applications is end of January.
• Mid September to mid November (Fall Session): The vacancy announcement is posted end of January, the deadline for applications is mid May.

Application
To qualify for the United Nations Headquarters Internship Programme, the following conditions must be met:

1. Applicants must be enrolled in a degree programme in a graduate school (second university degree or higher) at the time of application and during the internship; or

2. Applicants pursuing their studies in countries where higher education is not divided into undergraduate and graduate stages must have completed at least four years of full-time studies at a university or equivalent institution towards the completion of a degree.

Any work produced by interns during their internship within the framework of the duties assigned to them should be used for academic purposes exclusively. All economic and moral rights (copyright) pertaining to such work will remain the exclusive property of the United Nations.

Interested graduate students should write via EMAIL ONLY to the Ad Hoc Internship Coordinator, Human Resources Operations Section, Human Resources Management Service, United Nations Office enclosing:

Applications (in English) should include the following:

a) A covering letter stating the grounds for their application;
b) Recent curriculum vitae (CV);
c) Copies of their university degrees or a list of courses attended;
d) Abstracts of academic papers they have written.

After careful consideration of all documents submitted, only successful candidates will be notified of their selection.

Kindly send your electronic applications to the following email address: intern@uncsd.net

Denmark : PhD Scholarship in International Communication and Culture

PhD Scholarship in International Communication and Culture, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

The Department of International Communication and Culture Studies (ICC) at the CBS invites applications for a vacant PhD scholarship within the following specific research themes:

• Language and language policy in the EU with a special view to culture and national identity
• The use of foreign languages in corporate communication
• Aspects of international business negotiations
• Business rhetoric – rhetorical aspects of modern corporate communication
• Politics and culture / Economics and culture in the Americas; a comparative transatlantic perspective would be welcome
• Power and power hierarchies – correlations between church, type of governance and organizational structure of corporations in two or three specific countries
• Innovative naming and product development with a special view to online ‘sense making’ in the daily purchase of consumer goods, specifically foods that use country of origin as a marketing element
• Sovereignty and division of power, at a national and supranational level in European states and in the EU, in a cultural-historical and legal perspective.

The research profile of ICC is as follows:
With the purpose of reducing the complexity of globalization for individuals, companies and organizations, ICC conducts interdisciplinary research into social, linguistic, and communicative problems as reflected in international collaboration. Based on business humanities and the social sciences, ICC applies these theories to problems related to economic, legal, social and cultural issues. ICC focuses on the synergy between research and teaching and produces reflective and independent candidates through a cross-disciplinary and practice related approach.

Please visit the department’s profile (www.cbs.dk/ikk)

In awarding the scholarship, the department will give priority to applicants who demonstrate general research competencies as well as knowledge relevant to the specific research theme proposed in the research application submitted. An educational background in the social sciences or humanities is necessary.

Closing date: 2nd June 2009 at 12.00 noon.

Further information can be obtained from Anette Villemoes, please phone +45 3815 3240, e-mail av.ikk[ at ]cbs.dk. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact the Department well in advance of the closing date in order to develop a project proposal.

General information:
To be awarded the scholarship, one must be enrolled as a PhD student. To be considered for enrolment, the candidate should have a basic training at the Masters level, and must be fluent in Danish and/or English. Enrolment in the PhD programme furthermore depends on the acceptance of the application, which must include a short project description, usually prepared in co-operation with the Department. This research proposal should contain a presentation of the intended research question, including the theory and methodology expected to be used.

In addition to the research proposal, the application must include a completed compulsory form, copies of a Master’s degree certificate or other certificates of a corresponding level, brief curriculum vitae (CV), a list of papers and publications, and one copy of a selected written work (e.g. Master’s thesis).

All parts of the application must be submitted in four copies, except the selected written work, which may be submitted in only one copy. Electronic submissions are not accepted.

A PhD scholarship runs for a period of 3 years, and includes teaching obligations equivalent of ½ year’s work (840 work hours).

The salary level and appointment is determined by the Ministry of Finance’s collective agreement with the Central Academic Organisation.

A committee of experts in the field in question will assess the applications. The assessment of the applicants will be based on the quality and relevance of the project, including an evaluation of the applicant’s ability to accomplish it. Following this assessment, the management of the department together with the doctoral school will select the winner of the scholarship.

Please find compulsory application form, guidelines, and further information on scholarships and the Doctoral Programme (www.cbs.dk/phd)

The application must be submitted to:

Copenhagen Business School
Institutadministrationen IADH
Att.: Vivi Rønne
Dalgas Have 15
DK-2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

Marked “PhD – 33-3522”

Applications received by e-mail or discs will not be taken into consideration.

All interested researchers irrespective of age, sex, race, religion, or nationality are invited to apply for the position.

CBS focuses on innovation, partnership with the business community and internationalisation. As a Learning University CBS demands high quality in teaching, research and staff. CBS has around 15.000 students distributed among a wide range of degrees in social science and humanities including a very dynamic environment for executive programmes. CBS has around 400 full-time researchers and around 500 administrative employees.

CLOSING DATE: 2009-06-02

For further scholarship information and application, please visit this page.

Master & PhD Scholarships in Economics : Madrid, Spain

Master and PhD Scholarships in Economics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain

Graduate Scholarships, Economics
Department of Economics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain)
Graduate Program in Economics

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain

The Department of Economics of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid offers a distinguished Graduate Programin Economics to outstanding young graduates in a full time basis. The program is composed by a two-year Master in Economic Analysis aimed at training students in advanced economics, followed by two or three additional years of research towards the completion of a PhD dissertation.

All entering students can benefit from scholarships covering living expenses and fees financed by the Department of Economics (conditional on satisfactory academic performance and collaboration in academic tasks).

As a result of the University’s strong commitment to research, in a recent comparison of economics departments, sponsored by the European Economic Association, it has been recognized as number 51 in the world, number 10 in Europe, and number 1 in Spain. There is a large, international faculty, highly commited with quality in teaching and research. Furthermore, the quality of our PhD Program in Economics has been confirmed by a recent study (Amir and Knauff, Ranking Economics Departments Worldwide on the Basis of PhD Placement, available at http://www.ssrn.com), which ranks our PhD Program among the best in Europe.

Our Graduate Program is member of the European Network for Training in Economic Research (ENTER), http://www.enter-program.com, an initiative by eight of the leading economics departments in Western Europe: Barcelona (Universitat Autonoma), Brussels (Free University), Mannheim, Stockholm (joint graduate programme), Tilburg, Toulouse, UCL and Universidad Carlos III. The network organises extended exchanges of research students between the participating departments.

All academic activities of the Graduate Program are conducted in English, and therefore an adequate level of written and spoken English is required to all the applicants. In addition, graduate students are
expected to achieve an appropriate level of written and spoken Spanish at the end of their first year in order to accomplish their duties within the department.

Applications are welcome from those students with outstanding grade in Bachelor degree or equivalent and a strong quantitative background as well as interest to conduct independent research. Admissions criteria are based on the level of academic excellence demonstrated by the candidate, and on appropriate candidate background for the rigorous study of economics. Notice that applications must be done to the Master in Economic Analysis. You can find more information, as well as the application form, at this page.

Exceptionally, students with a Master degree in economics or a closely related field, passed with distinction, can be considered directly for application to the PhD in Economics. Nevertheless, they should apply to the Master in Economic Analysis indicating their desire to be admitted directly to the PhD.

For any further query, please contact doctorado2@ceaes.uc3m.es

Germany : PhD Studentships, International Graduate School

PhD Studentships, International Graduate School on Self-organization in Mobile Communication Systems, Germany

The International Graduate School on Mobile Communications at the Ilmenau University of Technology requests applications for the following positions:

• 14 full-time research positions for doctoral students
• 1 full-time postdoc position
• 4 qualification stipends to prepare for doctoral studies

The Graduate School guides students to complete the doctoral program in three years.

The research focus is on the interdisciplinary development of mechanisms for self-organization in mobile communication systems considering protocol, network and radio aspects. Self-organization allows for the fast adaptation of highly complex systems to changing environments. This will provide the foundation for flexible future mobile communication networks.

The research goal of the School is the development of mechanisms for the autonomous, dynamic, distributed coordination of future mobile communication systems. Self-organization is applied to the radio system, protocols and the network as a whole. Our specific application scenarios are disaster networks, requiring an aggressive approach to network operation.

Details on the Graduate School can be found at www.gs-mobicom.de. The detailed job announcement is available at this page.

Due to numerous requests, the deadline for applications has been extended to April 20, 2009.

UK : PhD Studentships in International Public Health Policy

PhD Studentships in International Public Health Policy, University of Edinburgh, UK

University of Edinburgh
Two PhD Studentships
International Public Health Policy

The Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh is offering two fully funded PhD studentships, covering fees (either UK/EU or international) and an annual stipend (for current academic year of £12,940), to commence in September 2009.

The successful candidates will have demonstrable skills in research and an understanding of issues in global health policy. They will have a postgraduate qualification in a relevant subject, or equivalent research experience. It is anticipated that students will be offered funding for three years for MPhil and subsequent progression to PhD.

Opportunities will exist for students to contribute to teaching and to the development of teaching materials, especially for e-distance learning.

We welcome proposals from outstanding candidates for research projects into any area of international public health policy that fits with CIPHP’s research portfolio.

If you wish to apply, you should make a formal application to the University of Edinburgh’s PhD programme in international public health policy at this link.

You should also send a covering letter and an outline proposal of no more than two pages to James Lancaster, james.lancaster@ed.ac.uk , +44 131 651 3963. Please contact him in the first instance if you have any enquiries or would like further information.

The deadline for applications is Monday 11 May 2009.

Interviews will be held shortly afterwards, if necessary by teleconference or videoconference.

The Centre for International Public Health Policy (CIPHP) offers an outstanding environment in which to study for a PhD. It was established at the University of Edinburgh to conduct and disseminate research of the highest standard, and to provide exceptional postgraduate teaching. Focusing on the principles of equity, access, and universality, Prof Allyson Pollock and her colleagues have gained an international reputation for the quality and policy significance of their research across the following areas:

• globalisation and health
• comparative health systems
• public private partnerships and marketisation
• the role of pharmaceuticals in health services and clinical research
• transnational corporations and international health policy
• long term care
• regulation, intellectual property, and freedom of information
• child injury surveillance

CIPHP staff play a leading role in debates around the impact of current policies on public health and social inequalities. They contribute to the world’s leading peer-reviewed journals, and to professional journals, newspapers and magazines, and radio and television programmes.

CIPHP’s research agenda is interdisciplinary and international, and its research activities directly inform its innovative postgraduate teaching.

Current and recent work in CIPHP includes

Tracing pharmaceuticals in South Asia: regulation, distribution, and consumption - analysing how pharmaceuticals reach individual users in India and Nepal with respect to child and maternal health and mental illness.

Transnational tobacco companies, globalisation, and public policy - uses secret industry documents to examine strategic reliance on smuggling across Asia, the erosion of health legislation in Kenya, Thailand, and Uzbekistan, and industry efforts to undermine the WHO’s first international public health treaty.

Multilateral trade agreements - the impact of international economic law on health system administration.

Public private partnerships in England and Scotland and beyond - evaluates the role of private banks, venture capitalists, and multinational corporations in the provision of public services, including health, education, and transport.

The economic and social aspects of clinical trials - what are the implications of the expansion of clinical research for regulation, research ethics, patient welfare, intellectual property, the wider economy, and public engagement with medical science?

Targeted child health surveillance in Scotland - what impact does this have on child health improvement and health inequalities?

International experience of not-for-profit organisations - evaluating the implications for government control and the public interest of the increasing role of not-for-profit organisations.

For more information about CIPHP: www.health.ed.ac.uk/ciphp

Australia: PhD Positions in Analytical Chemistry

PhD Positions in Analytical Chemistry Related to Rock Lobster Aquaculture, University of Tasmania, Australia

UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA
AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR RESEARCH ON SEPARATION SCIENCE (ACROSS)
PhD position in ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY RELATED TO ROCK LOBSTER AQUACULTURE

The Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science (ACROSS) is a collaborative research centre involving some 50 researchers at the University of Tasmania in Hobart and RMIT University in Melbourne. ACROSS undertakes research over a broad range of topics related to separation science. A description of ACROSS and a copy of the 2007 Annual Report can be accessed at Http://www.across.utas.edu.au

There currently exists a position to work with this exciting and dynamic research centre on a project with direct relevance to hatchery production of rock lobster seedstock for aquaculture and enhancement with emphasis on ozonation of culture water to reduce disease. ACROSS holds an ARC Linkage grant in collaboration with the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) on the farming of the rock lobster employing ozonolysis as a method of disinfection of the sea-water. For this grant the role of the APA-I candidate will focus on the ozonation chemistry procedures currently used at TAFI Marine Research Laboratories. Experiments will be conducted to ozonate sea-water under different conditions and new analytical methods based on ion chromatography (IC) will be developed to measure the levels of ozonation by-products (OBPs) at each condition. The instrumentation will be adapted for routine on-line analyses. The larger objective of this study is to develop a theory of ozonation in which component parts can be individually manipulated. Due to the multidimensional nature of the ozonolysis conditions, soft-modelling applications, such as the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN’s) will be employed to derive the optimum ozonolysis conditions producing the minimum levels of harmful OBPs. The successful candidate would be awarded a tax-free APA indexed scholarship of A$20,427 per annum for up to 3.5 years. A relocation assistance allowance may also be available to the successful candidate.

Persons interested in applying for this PhD scholarship should send an expression of interest and a CV directly to Professor Paul Haddad, Director of ACROSS, Private Bag 75, Hobart, TAS, 7001 or by email (paul.haddad@utas.edu.au). Further information can also be requested by email or by calling Prof Paul Haddad on (0061)36226-2179.

Italy: 44 PhD Positions in Information Technology

Italy: 44 PhD Positions in Information Technology, Politecnico di Milano

44 PhD positions in Information Technology at Department of Electronics and Information at Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

The Department of Electronics and Information is actively looking for applications from international students for the PhD program in Information Technology. The Department is striving to increase the number of students international students and of students from other universities in Italy, so as to strengthen our active international community.

The Department is active in the international research community with international publications, participation in international bodies, and participation in international research projects.

The competition for the admission to the XXV cycle of the Doctoral Programs has been published on the website.

Deadline for the applications April 30th, 2009.

44 positions are open in Information technology, 22 scholarships are available for students for the PhD program starting in January 2010, as well as a number of thematic scholarships for PhD thesis topics supported by industry.

Accommodation grants are available for international students on a competitive basis.

Detailed information about the PhD program in Information technology is given at the following pages

Teaching and all activities are in English.

RESEARCH TOPICS
The Department of Electronics and Information at Politecnico di Milano offers a common degree for PhD in Information technology. Students can specialize in one of the research areas in the Department:

- Systems and Control
- Electronics
- Computer Science and Engineering
- Telecommunications

Research areas and research groups are described in the DEI web site.
(see http://www.dei.polimi.it/index.php?&idlang=eng)

Proposed titles for PhD research by advisors in the Computer Science and Engineering area
are listed in the following page.

CONTACTS
Further information can be requested to the PhD Program area coordinators:
- Systems and Control: Prof. Paolo Rocco, rocco@elet.polimi.it
- Electronics: Prof. Carlo Fiorini, fiorini@elet.polimi.it
- Computer Science and Engineering: Prof. Barbara Pernici, barbara.pernici@polimi.it
- Telecommunications: Prof. Arnaldo Spalvieri, spalvieri@elet.polimi.it

To get in contact with current PhD students you can contact the PhDDei association:
http://ph.dei.polimi.it/

Administrative information: Dr. Danila Ferrara, ferrara@elet.polimi.it

PhD Studentship : School of Engineering Radio Resource Management

PhD Studentship in Radio Resource Management for Future Mobile Cellular Radio Networks, University of Swansea, UK

PhD Studentship
Radio Resource Management for Future Mobile Cellular Radio Networks
School of Engineering

The Institute of Advanced Telecommunications within the School of Engineering at Swansea University wishes to invite applications for a prestigious PhD Studentship to work on the EPSRC/MobileVCE Core-5 research programme entitled Green Radio.

This prestigious studentship in Radio Resource Management for Future Mobile Cellular Radio Networks is available now to UK, EU and overseas applicants.

Introduction:
Green Radio is one of three exciting and innovative research programmes sponsored by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (www.epsrc.ac.uk) and the Mobile Virtual Centre of Excellence in Mobile & Personal Communications (www.mobilevce.com) as part of its Core-5 research programme. Green Radio is an industry-led collaboration with the Universities of Edinburgh, Bristol, Kings College London and Swansea. Given the World wide growth in the number of mobile subscribers and the increasing contribution of information technology to the overall energy consumption of the world, there is an urgent environmental need to reduce the energy requirements of radio access networks. From an operator perspective, reduced energy consumption translates directly to lower Operating Expenditure (OPEX). These are the key drivers of the Green Radio programme. Both wide area public networks (traditionally “cellular”) and local area private networks (traditionally “wireless LAN”) will be considered, recognising that the structure of a Green Radio Network may differ from today’s radio networks.

PhD Project Definition:
Green Radio will develop new energy efficient cellular deployment architectures based on bringing BSs closer to mobile users. Increasing BS and/or relay densities increases inter-cell interference levels. Consequently inter-cell interference is a major barrier that impedes the realisation of energy efficient mobile cellular networks. Your role will be to exploit cooperation between BSs (and relays) in an LTE-advanced RAN in order to limit inter-cell as well as intra-cell interference by the appropriate use of radio resource management (RRM) techniques.

Eligibility:
You should hold a 1st class Honours degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering or a closely related discipline. Preference will be given to applicants who hold a related master’s degree at distinction level. The studentship would also suit mature individuals with relevant industrial experience. For UK and EU applicants, the studentship will cover the full university tuition fees and provide a minimum starting stipend of £12,940 pa. In respect of overseas applicants, the studentship will cover the full university tuition fees including the overseas contribution and provide a minimum starting stipend of £12,940 pa. Minimum stipends are fixed annually by EPSRC. The scholarship is available now and must be taken up before 1st June 2009. For informal enquiries please contact Professor Tim O’Farrell (t.ofarrell[ at ]swansea.ac.uk)

Prospective applicants are invited to follow the University’s application procedures as detailed online at http://www.swan.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply/

Please mark your application form “EPSRC/MVCE Studentship Green Radio” in the space for funding organisation and highlight the project you wish to apply for, in order of preference, in the section additional supporting information. Applications submitted without an up to date CV and suitable referees will not be considered.

Application closing date: Friday 17 April 2009

Italy : Master Scholarships in Petroleum Engineering

Master Scholarships in Petroleum Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Master of Science in Environmental Engineeering (Petroleum Engineering)

The Eni Project offers international students the possibility to receive a scholarship and other benefits to graduate from the Politecnico di Torino attending a Master of Science program in Environmental Engineering (Petroleum Engineering) .

The project, promoted by the Politecnico di Torino and financed by Eni - Exploration & Production Division and Eni Corporate University, will offer for the 2009/2010 academic year up to 40 scholarship to international students.