<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)">
<style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:PMingLiU;
panose-1:2 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@PMingLiU";
panose-1:2 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
p.MsoBodyText2, li.MsoBodyText2, div.MsoBodyText2
{mso-style-link:"Body Text 2 Char";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
span.BodyText2Char
{mso-style-name:"Body Text 2 Char";
mso-style-link:"Body Text 2";
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
p.Dokumententyp, li.Dokumententyp, div.Dokumententyp
{mso-style-name:Dokumententyp;
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
line-height:14.0pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:bold;}
p.text, li.text, div.text
{mso-style-name:text;
margin-top:7.0pt;
margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:justify;
line-height:14.0pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;}
@page WordSection1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-GB" link="blue" vlink="purple">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Colleagues,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’d be really grateful if you would point good Masters students who have, or soon will, completed their Masters. Note that the expected profiles of the positions are different, and in particular Position A would be well suited to someone
with a good knowledge of computational linguistics methods, and position B to an individual with cartographic expertise.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best wishes,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
Ross<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">2 PhD Positions in the GIScience C<a name="_GoBack"></a>enter, Department of Geography, University of Zurich<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Position A: Place descriptions from user generated content and unstructured text
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Position B: Place-based map generalization<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText2" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText2" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The GIScience Center at the Department of Geography, University of Zurich invites applications for 2 PhDs position to work on a Swiss National
Science Foundation (SNSF) grant investigating the use of user-generated content and unstructured text in the map generalization process to generate place-based maps.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="text" style="line-height:normal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Position A
</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">will focus on the
<b>generation of place descriptions using UGC and unstructured text</b>. These descriptions will address three aspects of place as defined by Agnew (2012):
<i>location</i> (placenames and associated regions), <i>locale</i> (the environment and associated affordances within such a region) and
<i>sense of place</i> (the experiences offered by a place to a group and the shared conceptualization of a place important to that group). Place descriptions will take two forms – population of a schema designed directly to drive the generalization process
with traditional geometric data, and richer, more textually based descriptions, requiring more novel methods of incorporation into place-based maps.
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The PhD candidate will be supervised by Prof. Ross Purves and will be a member of the Geocomputation Unit in the GIScience Center, whose research focuses on the computational methods for
the analysis of a wide range of geographic data sources. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="text" style="line-height:normal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Position B</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> will develop processes that allow controlling
the automated generalization operations, using place descriptions generated in the related PhD project A, such that place-based maps can be obtained. Work will start with a design of the components of place-based map generalization (data types, data flows,
generalization operators, and map designs). Procedures will be developed that allow integrating the geometries, semantics, and textual descriptions of place descriptions into a form that can be usefully displayed on a map. Specialized generalization operators
will be developed that can exploit place descriptions, with a focus on abstraction and schematization. Finally, coherent processes of place-based generalization will be built from these operators.
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The PhD candidate will be supervised by Prof. Robert Weibel and will be a member of the GIS Unit in the GIScience Center, whose research focuses on themes such as digital cartography and
mobile systems as well as movement analysis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">Although clear initial research goals have been developed within the SNSF proposal,</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">
the PhD candidates will be expected to develop and refine these, in collaboration with their supervisory team and colleague, as a first stage of their research work.
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">The GIS and Geocomputation Units form part of the GIScience Centre, which hosts research groups working on diverse topics including language
and space, geographic information retrieval, digital terrain modelling, uncertainty modelling, movement analysis, digital cartography and mobile systems, geovisual analytics, and spatial cognition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">We are looking for highly motivated original thinkers, with a desire to develop a research career and with a passion for science. In return
we offer excellent working conditions, a stimulating environment and Zurich’s high quality of life. Applicants are required to have completed, or to complete before appointment, a Masters level degree at a high standard in a relevant field such as Geographic
Information Science (GIScience), computing science, geography or geomatics. Additionally, computational linguistics (for Position A) or cartography (for Position B). Basic programming skills, as well as a willingness to develop these are a prerequisite.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">Applicants should also have a very good standard of written and spoken English. Fluency, or a willingness to learn, of one or more of Switzerland’s
national languages would also be an advantage, especially for Position A.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">To apply, send a curriculum vitae, a motivation statement relating to the position for which you wish to apply, transcripts, and contact
details for two referees (including e-mail addresses) </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt">in a single PDF document
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">by </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt">1 December 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">For Position A please mark your application with reference “PlaceGenPosA”,</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal"> to
</span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:annica.mandola@geo.uzh.ch"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">annica.mandola@geo.uzh.ch</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">. For further questions with respect
to Position A, please contact Ross Purves (ross.purves@geo.uzh.ch).</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Dokumententyp" style="text-align:justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">For Position B please mark your application with reference “PlaceGenPosB”,</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal"> to
</span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:annica.mandola@geo.uzh.ch"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">annica.mandola@geo.uzh.ch</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:normal">. For further questions with respect
to Position B, please contact Robert Weibel (robert.weibel@geo.uzh.ch).</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>