| Postdoc in music cognition |
| Last updated: 2011.09.17 |
|
Postdoc in Cognitive and Computational Musicology 1.0 fte (38 hours/week) for three years vacancy number W11-175 The postdoctoral researcher will take part in a collaborative research project cutting across the boundaries between music cognition and computer science. The project named COGITCH (COgnition Guided Interoperability beTween Collections of musical Heritage) was recently funded by NWO-CATCH and is an collaboration of the Utrecht University, University of Amsterdam, The Meertens Institute, Netherlands Public Broadcasting, and Sound & Vision. It aims to develop generic techniques for relating music from different Dutch music collections. In developing retrieval methods, we will take a top-down approach, working from musical knowledge and cognitive psychology towards the identification and processing of audio features. On-line annotations provided by listeners will support establishing the relationships between ‘hooks’ (perceptually salient musical patterns) and the music. Further Information The full project proposal is available here. In addition, feel free to contact prof. dr. H. Honing (honing at uva dot nl). Tasks A web-based environment, so-called ITCH environment (Identification, Tagging and Characterisation of Hooks) will be designed and constructed to obtain large amounts of judgments from the lay audience on what makes a fragment of music easy recognizable and/or stick in one’s mind. This will allow for evaluating —in an empirical and controlled way— the explanatory power of cognitive models of melody and rhythm perception in their prediction of what structural (e.g., pitch, key, rhythm, meter) and non-structural (e.g., associative, emotional, cultural) aspects of a melody play a role in the memorization, recall and appreciation of music. Next to coordinating the development of the ITCH environment, the candidate will occasionally contribute to courses related to music cognition and the computational humanities. Requirements
The Postdoc position will be on a temporary basis for the period of three years. The starting date will be December 1st 2011. The gross monthly salary will be between €3195 and 4374 [‘Onderzoeker 3’; salary scale 11] in the case of a full-time position (38 hours/week). Depending on experience and date of completion of the PhD an appointment as ‘Onderzoeker 4’ (salary scale 10) may (initially) be necessary. Secondary benefits at Dutch universities are attractive and include holiday pay and an end of year bonus. Job application Applications including a cover letter, curriculum vitae, two letters of reference, and two key publications should be received by us October 16th 2011 at the latest. The cover letter should contain an indication of the research plan the candidate proposes to carry out. Please send your documents to the attention of the vice-dean of the Faculty of Humanities, prof. dr. J.W. van Henten, Spuistraat 210, 1012 VT Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Please state the vacancy number and ‘strictly confidential’ in the upper left corner of the envelope or in the subject field of your e-mail. You can also submit your application by e-mail: solliciteren2011-fgw@uva.nl. Please state the vacancy number in the subject field. Organisation University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is a university with an internationally acclaimed profile, located at the heart of the Dutch capital. As well as a world centre for business and research, Amsterdam is a hub of cultural and media activities. The University of Amsterdam is a member of the League of European Research Universities. Faculty of Humanities The Faculty of Humanities provides education and conducts research with a strong international profile in a large number of disciplines in the field of language and culture. Located in the heart of Amsterdam, the Faculty maintains close ties with many cultural institutes in the capital city. There are almost 1,000 employees affiliated with the Faculty, which has about 8,000 students. ILLC The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is a research institute of the University of Amsterdam, in which researchers from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities collaborate. ILLC’s central research area is the study of fundamental principles of encoding, transmission and comprehension of information. Emphasis is on natural and formal languages, but other information carriers, such as images and music, are studied as well. Research at ILLC is interdisciplinary, and aims at bringing together insights from various disciplines concerned with information and information processing, such as logic, mathematics, computer science, linguistics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence and philosophy. For general information on the University of Amsterdam (UvA), see here. |