Diagnostics of large Cyber-physical systems is a highly complex process involving both (sensor and other quantitative) data about the machines, as well as rich sources of highly diverse knowledge, that comes in form of tribal knowledge, expert knowledge, design knowledge, documentation and formal specification, and present in numerous different modalities, such as texts, table, diagrams. In order to reason about system failures, we need to extract this knowledge formally in to make it suitable for (diagnostic) reasoning and other applications to support field engineers and design new generation systems.

In this project, which is a collaboration between the VU Amsterdam, the University of Amsterdam and ASML, the main challenges will be:

• to develop new methods and models for the construction of knowledge graphs from multimodal data sources in the long tail,
• extraction of rich semantics for this graphs that are able to be used with advanced reasoning methods,
• to develop new efficient LLM based methods that are able to rapidly extract such knowledge.

To maximally benefit from the collaboration between the academic and industrial partners, the successful candidate will spend about 50% of their time at ASML and 50% at the UvA.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• conducting independent research in artificial intelligence and data management, resulting in academic publications in peer-reviewed international journals and/or books;
• delivering high quality research code and experiments;
• engaging deeply with research partners
• developing, coordinating and teaching courses in both Dutch and English, in the bachelor and master programmes;
• supervising Bachelor and Master theses and tutoring students; co-supervising PhD theses;

We are looking for a postdoc candidate passionate about the intersection of artificial intelligence and data management. Expertise in Large Language Models/Foundation Models and experience in knowledge representation and reasoning strategies, who is interested in developing new systems, demonstrators, and working within a team environment. You will be working with knowledge graphs and foundation models with a strong focus on supporting the system- diagnostic processes. Information will be extracted from various multi-modal sources (text, graphics, structured information sources etc). Candidates are expected to have completed a PhD in Computer Science or Artificial Intelligence  or a closely related field.

Your experience and profile:

• PhD in Artificial Intelligence (including NLP/Vision), Computer Science or related field;
• Demonstrated experience in software engineering and model development;
• committed researcher, demonstrated by publications in international refereed academic journals and academic publishers;
• experience in supporting tasks and the willingness to take the responsibility for administrative tasks, such as organisation and coordination;
• flexible, readiness to participate in interdisciplinary cooperation and multidisciplinary development (verifiably focused on collaboration with other disciplines);
• Professional command of English and the willingness to learn Dutch
• Knowledge of semantic technologies, natural language processing, multimodal foundation models is a plus.

We offer a temporary employment contract for 38 hours per week for a period of 12 months. The preferred starting date is as soon as possible. If we assess your performance positive, your contract will be extended with 24 months. Hence, the total duration will be 3 years.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between €3,378 to € 5,331 (scale 10).This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile Researcher 4 is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;
• multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• a complete educational program for PhD students;
• multiple courses on topics such as leadership for academic staff;
• multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;
• 7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary;
• partly paid parental leave;
• the possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• a pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;
• the possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch;
• help with housing for a studio or small apartment when you’re moving from abroad.

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.