The Department of Computer Science (DIKU), Faculty of Science at University of Copenhagen, invites applicants for two postdoc positions.

The first position will be in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), applying participatory methods with hospital staff and patients, and the second position in applied machine learning.

Both postdocs will conduct research as part of the industry-based research project “iAware” led by Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen and Systematic, which is funded by The Innovation Fund Denmark and involves a strong partner group across industrial- and societal partners in Denmark.

Start date is (expected to be) 1 August 2024. The position in CSCW is funded for a duration of 3 years, and the position in applied ML for a duration of 2 years.

The postdoc’s duties will include research as well as teaching. The post may also include performance of other duties.

The project
Based on unique access to large datasets of care workflows in hospitals and a team of strong industrial and societal partners including Hospitals, The Danish Patient Society, PowerNet and Systematic, iAware will develop a novel approach to tracking workflows with the aim of supporting the well-being of patients and hospital staff by providing better information about the unfolding “flow of work”. Care workflows in hospitals is an area that will be fundamentally reshaped by the shift from multi-patient rooms to single-patient rooms. Patients feel uninformed and isolated, and the risk of adverse events increases. iAware envisions an AI-trained workflow technology that prioritizes the well-being of staff AND patients. It introduces a virtual 'window' that allows patients to stay informed about relevant care workflows and vice versa. By virtually removing the barriers between patients and staff, iAware reduces the need for redundant communication between patients and colleagues. Besides being responsible for the design of the research prototypes (a core product of iAware), the postdocs will answer two questions: What are the concrete scenarios that are relevant for providing better information about care workflows to patients and their relatives? How can prediction (machine learning) be used for better patient information and integrated into screens in the single patient room of future super hospitals?

The iAware project will use co-creation and similar participatory methods to research these questions, which will also be the main responsibility of the first Postdoc concentrating on using and combining CSCW, participatory design and data science methods (e.g. ML) to engage with patients and staff in a relevant way and to promote data literacy and ethics among both partners, patients, and staff. In particular, the Postdoc will be responsible for carrying out prototyping, data analysis and planning. The second postdoc will primarily be involved in processing data from handheld and stationary devices conveying positional information of hospital staff primarily (other data sources may be used in the project), and using these for forecasting, classification, and other tasks related to the relevant workflows; a significant amount of effort will be devoted to learning with sparse data, and to constructing research prototypes – hence both general-purpose programming experience outside ML, and the ability to interact with a highly interdisciplinary team, will be an advantage.

Who are we looking for?
We are looking for candidates having:

• a PhD degree in a field relevant to CSCW, ML, data science, or equivalent
• At least 3-4 research or popular publications in a topic relevant to the project
• practical experience with combining participatory methods and data science, or
• experience with Machine Learning (ML) in applied research
• concrete experience in setting up collaborations with partnerships outside the university
• contribute to frontier international, interdisciplinary research and CSCW or applied ML.

All applicants are expected to be proficient in both written and spoken Danish and English due to the important aspect of fieldwork as part of this project, though concessions can be made to some extent for the postdoc in applied ML.

Our group and research- and what do we offer?

The postdoc projects will be hosted by the Human-Centred Computing Research Section, which is part of the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. The research of the HCC section is focused on aims to fundamentally understand and improve the relation between computational technology and people. Our research focuses on using computing to support people’s activities and well-being; inventing new ways for people to interact with technology, and understanding how human capabilities are influenced by technology. We are a diverse and highly collaborative group of researchers that strives to provide a welcoming, supportive, and caring environment for all. The postdocs will join the Confronting Data Co-lab where the research centers around the concept of collaborative work as a basis for a nuanced understanding of the relationship between data, digitalization and society.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the project, the postdocs will also interact heavily with researchers from different backgrounds and work independently but in close dialogue with the iAware team spanning both DIKU and industrial- and societal partners.

Postdoc supervisors are Associate Professor Naja Holten Møller, Department of Computer Science, [email protected], and Professor Jakob Grue Simonsen, Department of Computer Science, [email protected].

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Terms of employment
The positions are covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff.

Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State.

Negotiation for salary supplement is possible.

The application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Please state in the application which of the two positions you are applying for.

Please include:

• Motivated letter of application (max. one page)
• Curriculum vitae
• Diplomas (Master and PhD degree or equivalent)
• Research plan – description of current and future research plans
• Complete publication list
• Separate reprints of 3 particularly relevant papers

The deadline for applications is 1 June 2024, 23:59 CEST.

Please note that it is possible to apply for one or both possitions. If you apply for more than one position, separate applications must be submitted.

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Interview Committee.

You can read about the recruitment process at http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

Interviews with selected candidates are expected to be held in the end of June 2024.

Questions
For specific information about the Postdoc positions, please contact Naja Holten Møller ([email protected], cell phone: +45 27595792) or Jakob Grue Simonsen ([email protected], cell phone: +45 35321439)

Kilde: Jobnet.dk