2022DILEUA127 Postdoctoral Researcher

Job position requirements (skills/languages/required experience)

We are looking for a postdoc candidate to be part of the Research team of the ERC Consolidator DEMODRIVERS. The selected candidate will carry out research on automatic identification of phytoliths using artificial intelligence (AI) and digital microscopy. The research goals include: 1) building the reference collection of neotropical phytoliths to be used for AI training; 2) identify and tag neotropical phytoliths on samples extracted from archaeological sites and paleosols 3) train and test deep learning algorithms; 4) unveil spatial and temporal patterns of plant use in the Bolivian Amazon during the Holocene. You will be required to take responsibility for all the steps involved in the “Phytolith analysis” work package of DEMODRIVERS. This will involve, but will not be limited to, sampling sedimentary cores; extraction of phytoliths from sediments and from modern plant tissues; building a digital collection of neotropical phytoliths; supervise the use and maintenance of the Olympus VS200 microscope scanner; analysing, synthetizing and publishing results. You will be ready to help in the lab for phytoliths extractions during peak workload. you will coordinate, together with the other postdoc, storage, tagging and accessibility of all the samples. you may be requested to take part to the field work in Bolivia, which could last up to 3 months, between July and October.

Job position requirements (skills/languages/required experience)

We are looking for a postdoc candidate to be part of the Research team of the ERC Consolidator DEMODRIVERS. The selected candidate will carry out research on automatic identification of phytoliths using artificial intelligence (AI) and digital microscopy. The research goals include: 1) building the reference collection of neotropical phytoliths to be used for AI training; 2) identify and tag neotropical phytoliths on samples extracted from archaeological sites and paleosols 3) train and test deep learning algorithms; 4) unveil spatial and temporal patterns of plant use in the Bolivian Amazon during the Holocene. You will be required to take responsibility for all the steps involved in the “Phytolith analysis” work package of DEMODRIVERS. This will involve, but will not be limited to, sampling sedimentary cores; extraction of phytoliths from sediments and from modern plant tissues; building a digital collection of neotropical phytoliths; supervise the use and maintenance of the Olympus VS200 microscope scanner; analysing, synthetizing and publishing results. You will be ready to help in the lab for phytoliths extractions during peak workload. you will coordinate, together with the other postdoc, storage, tagging and accessibility of all the samples. you may be requested to take part to the field work in Bolivia, which could last up to 3 months, between July and October.

Benefits:

You will be part of a team of academic researchers working on state-of-the-art technologies in Geoarchaeology.

You will work in an extremely innovative project with the potential to revolutionize how phytoliths are used in archaeology and paleoecology.

You will have the chance to contribute to and participate in the international research community.

We are located in Barcelona, Spain, one of the most enjoyable cities worldwide.

You will be affiliated to the Institute of Science and Environmental Technology (ICTA-UAB), one of the most prestigious research centres in Spain.

You will have a 3 years contract with a salary of 37.500 €/year plus financial support to attend training courses and international conferences.

Eligibility criteria: Academic curricula; proficiency in English; excellent and proven skills in neotropical phytoliths identification.

Academic record (35)

Relevant Research Experience (15)

Motivation (10)

Interview (30)

Language skills (10)

Selection process:

We expect to interview shortlisted candidates (in person or via Zoom/Skype) within 21 working days after the application deadline.

Starting date between 1/3/2023 and 30/4/2023.

The selection committee reserves the right to not fill this position if no suitable candidate is identified.

Reference Offer: 2022DILEUA127

Submit your application at: https://seleccio.uab.cat

You will find the bases of the call in the following link: https://tauler.seu.cat/pagDetall.do?idEdicte=393146&idens=11

Programme: HERC-2021-COG

Grant agreement number: 101043738