CENTER LEO APOSTEL at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium

Post-Doctoral Fellowships (2011-2013) and
Doctoral Scholarships (2011-2014)
at the Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies

http://www.vub.ac.be/CLEA/news/joboffers/

       1. Post-Doctoral Fellowships

       The Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies offers post-doctoral fellowships, employment for three years, and the possibility for prolongation for an additional three years. Candidates need to have a doctorate degree. The research engages in one of the aspects of the overall scientific activities of the Leo Apostel Centre. Because of the broad scope of the research at the Leo Apostel Centre, candidates with a variety of types of scientific background are welcome, from mathematics and physics, computer science, biology and engineering, to psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics, complex systems and others. More specifically CLEA is interested in candidates motivated to investigate the foundations of one of the scientific disciplines. Hence, foundations of biology, including evolution theory, and question with respect to the nature and origin of life, foundations of mathematics and physics, with special interest for relativity theory and quantum mechanics, foundations of cognition, with special interest for concept theories, decision theories, theories of meaning, foundations of computer science, with special interest for artificial intelligence, semantic analysis theories, and basics of information retrieval, foundations of economics, with special interest in behavioral economics, and fundamental theories of risk and probability, foundations of sociology and anthropology, with special interest for theories of cultural evolution, aspects of science and culture, aspects of constructivism, and world views research, and philosophy, with special interest for philosophy of science, philosophy of meaning and meaningfulness. CLEA is also specifically interested to employ mathematicians engaged in mathematical modeling of different aspects of different domains of the different sciences. Candidates are invited to write down their specific interest and view on the foundations research they would like to pursue in their application. As the already ongoing research in CLEA shows, CLEA is open to original ideas and effectively wants to stimulate researchers to ponder about the 'big questions' in each of the disciplines within an interdisciplinary perspective.


       2. Doctoral Scholarships

       The Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies offers doctoral scholarships, employment for two years and prolongation of an additional two years, hence a total of four years. The purpose is to work towards a doctorate in these four years. Candidates need a university degree equivalent with a bachelor degree to be able to start a doctorate. The subject of the doctorate engages in one of the aspects of the overall scientific activities of the Leo Apostel Centre. Because of the broad scope of the research at the Leo Apostel Centre, candidates with a variety of types of scientific background are welcome, from mathematics and physics, computer science, biology and engineering, to psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics, complex systems and others. More specifically CLEA is interested in candidates motivated to investigate the foundations of one of the scientific disciplines. Hence, foundations of biology, including evolution theory, and question with respect to the nature and origin of life, foundations of mathematics and physics, with special interest for relativity theory and quantum mechanics, foundations of cognition, with special interest for concept theories, decision theories, theories of meaning, foundations of computer science, with special interest for artificial intelligence, semantic analysis theories, and basics of information retrieval, foundations of economics, with special interest in behavioral economics, and fundamental theories of risk and probability, foundations of sociology and anthropology, with special interest for theories of cultural evolution, aspects of science and culture, aspects of constructivism, and world views research, and philosophy, with special interest for philosophy of science, philosophy of meaning and meaningfulness. CLEA is also specifically interested to employ mathematicians engaged in mathematical modeling of different aspects of different domains of the different sciences. Candidates are invited to write down their specific interest and view on the foundations research they would like to pursue in their application. As the already ongoing research in CLEA shows, CLEA is open to original ideas and effectively wants to stimulate researchers to ponder about the 'big questions' in each of the disciplines within an interdisciplinary perspective.

       3. How to Apply

       A candidate who wants to apply for a post-doctoral fellowship or a doctoral scholarship, needs to contact Diederik Aerts, director of the Leo Apostel Centre at before January 11, 2011, and with preference before January 4, 2011. The candidate needs to add a curriculum vitae or a link to a website where his or her curriculum vitae is sufficiently presented. The curriculum vitae also has to include the exact date the PhD was obtained (or the date the PhD is going to be obtained, if this is earlier than June 1, 2011, applications for a post-doc are welcome), and additionally (a) a detailed list of publications (ordered chronologically, for publications in ISI-journals the impact factor needs to be indicated), (b) a list of attended conferences, and (c) any other item of scientific value. The application may also contain a short text where the candidate explains his or her specific interest in working at the Leo Apostel Centre, and any material that the candidate himself or herself decides to be of importance for his or her candidature. This does NOT include a scan of diplomas or proofs of having passed tests such as TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language). Hence in this first stage of the call, there is no reason why an application e-mail including attachments should exceed the 1MB limit.

       For candidates applying for a doctoral scholarship, a description of the studies that have been undertaken has to be included. The short curriculum vitae also needs to include elementary bibliographic data such as nationality and date of birth, and the dates on which master diploma(s) has/have been obtained. If there are publications, they needs to be supplied in the way described in detail for the post-doctoral fellowship applicants.

       A first selection is taken place between January 4 and January 11, 2011. Scientists, who are interested but not able to apply before January 11, are encouraged to take an informal contact, announcing when their application could be expected. Also questions of a more personal nature (working conditions in the Centre; staying conditions in Belgium; etc...) are welcome, and should be directed to Diederik Aerts, via clea@vub.ac.be.