MSCA - Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) on "Digital and AI Applications in Archaeology"

Research project description

The research must be carried out in the field of Digital Archaeology and AI applications in Archaeology. In particular, expected research projects should be addressed, but not limited to:

• Data Analysis and Spatial Analysis. Archaeological (big or small) data and/or legacy archaeological data need to be collected, organised, and analysed to reveal new insights. Research projects that, among the others, create and manage datasets and provide statistical, mathematical, and spatial analyses with data from prehistory to the contemporary age are welcome.
• AI application in Archaeology. AI is an up-and-coming field in archaeology. Research projects delivering new applications or case studies of AI models in Archaeology are welcome, as well as solutions to overcome obstacles related to data scarcity, unlabelled data, etc., including, but not limited to, continual learning and representation learning.

Open access or open data dissemination of research data is strongly recommended when possible.

Hosting Lab

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellows will be hosted at MAPPA Lab (https://www.mappalab.eu/en/home-eng/). MAPPA Lab is a research unit of the Department of Civilisations and Forms of Knowledge at the University of Pisa. The Lab has a strong experience in Digital Archaeology, with particular attention to the life cycle of data from acquisition and management to analysis and publication as open data. The Lab works with Big data in archaeology and organises an annual international Winter School dedicated to statistical analysis of archaeological data with R, entitled R4aRchaeologists. The Lab has a robust reputation in AI application in archaeology, having coordinated the H2020 ArchAIDE project on automatic recognition of archaeological pottery and supervising doctoral projects connected to the National PhD programme in AI, related to robotic applications in Archaeology and applications of generative AI models to archaeobotanical data. Working around the methodological field, the Lab has no chronological limits, from prehistory to the present. In the Lab, PhD Students, Postdoc Research fellows and experts in different research fields work together in a stimulating environment with international connections.

Supervisor

Gabriele Gattiglia is an Associate Professor of Archaeological Methods and Theory at the University of Pisa. His field of interest addresses Digital Archaeology (mainly Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Open Data), Archaeological Theory, and Medieval, Postmedieval and Contemporary Archaeology. He coordinates the Winter School R for ARchaeologists, dedicated to quantitative methods in Archaeology and works at MAPPA Lab. He has coordinated the H2020 ArchAIDE Project (2016-19), aimed at the automatic recognition of archaeological potsherds through Artificial Intelligence. He participates in the FAIR (Future Artificial Intelligence Research, 2023-26) project funded by the Next Generation EU programme. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Computer Application in Archaeology (CAA) Association. He has created his dedicated expertise directly from the fields as director of many archaeological excavations and surveys. He authorises more than 90 articles in national and international scientific journals.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must have a PhD degree at the time of the application deadline (September 13^th, 2023). Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but have not formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered eligible to apply.

At the call deadline, the applicant must have a maximum of 8 years of experience in research from the date of the award of their PhD degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks will not count towards the above maximum, nor will years of experience in research in third countries for nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate into Europe.

Mobility Rule: The applicant may be of any nationality but must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Italy (for European Fellowships) or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (in case of Global Fellowship) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before September 13^th, 2023.

Application procedure

Expressions of interest must be sent by email to gabriele.gattiglia@unipi.it no later than June 10^th, 2023 and must consist of two pdf files:

1. Complete and updated CV, clearly demonstrating all 3 eligibility requirements.
2. Motivation letter, maximum one page.