[MSCA-IF-2019] Postdoc Position in Chemistry / Information Science & Engineering / Social Sciences & Humanities / / Environmental Science & Geology/ Mathematics (Spain)

The Pablo de Olavide University in Seville offers positions for researchers willing to implement a 2-3 year project based in Spain within the framework of the H2020 Marie Skłodowska Curie postdoctoral fellowships programme (MSCA-IF 2019).

Research is undertaken by more than 80 groups and the vast majority of the University's academic staff are working in areas which are acknowledged as national and international significance. The University ranks also above the other Spanish universities for its quality certified doctoral programmes.

The University fosters international research partnerships with institutions all around the world through networking and collaborative projects. Currently, the University is an active participant in several European-funded research projects. Specifically, from 2012 to the present day, the university is hosting four high-level researchers who have conducted or are conducting their outstanding research (3 ERC-STG + 2 ERC-POC; 1 ERC-COG). The University's participation in the Marie Curie calls for proposals is also noteworthy.

Supervisor and Research Group:

• Scientist in Charge: Pilar Ortiz (mportcal@upo.es)
• Research Area:Chemistry/Social Sciences & Humanities / Information Science & Engineering / Environmental Science & Geology/ Mathematics  

The team is a large and successful group in a young and attractive University, Pablo de Olavide in Seville (Spain), with an excellent reputation for teaching and research in conservation and diagnosis of cultural heritage. Our objective is to undertake the highest quality fundamental and applied research for protection of our tangible and intangible heritage. We have a interdisciplinary structure founded on strong areas of chemistry, enviroment, architecture and herigate.

The research group is made up of academic, research and technical support staff, postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers. Researchers are integrated into different colleges and institutions of public administration. Our research and teaching covers all aspects of diagnosis and conservation of art-works and Architectural Heritage.

The Technology and Environmental Research Group has been working in lines of work focused on diagnosis and historic preservation, since 2000. The research group has led and / or colaborated in projects nationally and internationally. Furthermore, cooperation with public and private companies and public institutions in research, development and innovation is a very important branch of our work.

Our research has been funded by a number of European, national, regional and private projects, generating publications in most of the related media, thanks to our participation in the most relevant conferences of our research area.

Project description:

The main objective of the research project "Artificial intelligence applied to preventive conservation of heritage buildings" (Art-Risk) is to investigate and develop a new computerized tool for preventive conservation of heritage in urban centers based on models of artificial intelligence. Art-Risk will be available to organizations and companies dedicated to the restoration and rehabilitation.

Developing this new method of vulnerability and risk analysis applied to Monuments implies to meet in the project a multidisciplinary team specialized in the protection and conservation of Heritage. Art-Risk team is researchers and professionals of the following fields of knowledge: Chemistry, Architecture, Archaeology, conservators, art history, geology, biology, mathematics and computer science.

The novelty of this challenge lies in its approach and results, free software to evaluate decisions in regional policies, planning and management of Heritage, with a transversal development that includes urban, architectural, cultural heritage value, and the analysis of environmental and socio-demographic situation around the monuments. This new tool will allow performing decision-making based on scientific criteria and minimize risks of losses cultural assets.

This project will develop a new predictive model based on fuzzy logic (by Xfuzzy 3.3), which for the first time includes a multi-scenario study, assessing environmental risks and climate change, the use level of buildings and structural risks together with historical data from monuments life, through historical series, pre-vulnerability matrices (array cluster) will allow to weight the involvement degree of each variable. Two types of Monuments (very common in Spain) will be study (churches, walls and bastions). The validation of these two models-types will be performed by a blinded inter-laboratory diagnostic exercise in order to establish whether the prediction approaches the decision of separated workgroups.

The expected result is a new Artificial Intelligence program that enables users to reproduce human reasoning to study relations between vulnerability factors, risk factors and the historical parameters of the monument by fuzzy sets theory. All results will be available and will be included in a free application for general public, administrations in charge of cultural management and preservation, and companies engaged in rehabilitation. Moreover this system will grow up with the users’ inputs and will be retro-fed in a continuous cycle of improvement.

The work plan has its own objective of dissemination and transfer, this aims will be developed by international senior researchers (Ph.D.) and professionals of cultural managements and preservation from various countries.

Art-Risk, https://www.upo.es/investiga/art-risk-en/introduction/index.html

Documents to be submitted by applicants:

CVA, motivation letter, Research Project Proposal and 2 letters of support.

Application deadline: 2019-07-15