Postdoc Position in Computational/Artificial Intelligence and Games, SIREN Project at IT University of Copenhagen

A three-year post-doctoral position within computational/artificial intelligence and games (particularly user modelling and procedural content generation) is available at the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen.
The SIREN project aims to create a new type of educational game, the conflict resolution game, which takes advantage of recent advances in serious games, social networks, computational intelligence and emotional modelling to create uniquely motivating and educating games that help shape how children think about and handle conflicts.
The software developed by the project will be able to automatically generate conflict scenarios that fit the teaching needs of particular groups of children with varying cultural background, maturity, and technical expertise, and the desired learning outcomes as specified by a teacher. This will enable the system to be used by school teachers all over Europe, without specific technical train-ing. To realize this vision, a number of advances to the state of the art will be made throughout the various disciplines.
The research activities of the post-doc will focus on the player modelling and the adaptive narra-tion mechanisms embedded in the game. Moreover, the candidate will coordinate the serious game design efforts and be responsible for integrating the above-mentioned technology in the final game. The methodology will focus on affective/cognitive modelling and procedural content generation with an emphasis on quest generation.
We are looking for candidates with a background in artificial and computational intelligence, interactive narrative and user modelling. In particular we are interested in candidates with a good grasp of both adaptive learning methodologies in games and affective modelling. Background knowledge on natural interaction, cross-cultural psychology and serious games design will be considered advantageous.
SIREN is a 3-year EU-funded STREP project. The successful candidate will contribute to managing the work done by the IT University in the project. This entails close cooperation with the other partners in the project. In addition, 1-2 PhD students will be associated with the project at the IT University, and the candidate will contribute to supervising these students. The position may also involve teaching obligations. The project is expected to start in September
2010.
General information:
The IT University is a multi-disciplinary, research-based institution with 55 faculty drawn from computer science to the humanities. We provide graduate education to 1700 students in a range of areas.
The Center for Computer Games Research is a multi-disciplinary research group with backgrounds from the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Computer Sciences. We do basic and applied research, approaching games from a variety of perspectives.
Further particulars are available from Associate Professor Georgios Yannakakis, email:yannakakis@itu.dk, tel +45 7218 5078.
Salary
Appointment and salary will be in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).
Application
The application must be in English and must include:

• A motivated application, including a cogent argument for how qualified you are for the position and brief statements of research and teaching plans.
• A full CV, including name, address, phone number, email, previous and present employment and academic background.
• Documentation of academic degrees (copy of degree certificates etc.).
• Copies of max 3 different publications you wish the evaluation committee to consider.
• A numbered list of publications. The enclosed publications should be marked with an asterisk (*). All application material, including all enclosures in 4 paper copies (see above points 1-5), must be assembled in sets.

The applicant will be assessed according to the Appointment Order from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of 25 April 2008. Please note that all application material will be destroyed after the assessment.
The application including enclosures, in 4 paper copies, marked “ref.no. 2010-228-0007” must be submitted to:

The IT University of Copenhagen
Att. Journalen
Rued Langgaards Vej 7
2300 Copenhagen S
Denmark

You may also submit your application electronically (one per applicant) with enclosures in pdf-format to the following email address: journalen@itu.dk, marked “ref. no. 2010-228-0007”. Please note that applications sent to any other email address will not be taken into consideration.
Application deadline: May 17, 2010 at 12:00 noon (local time).
Applications/enclosures received at the IT University after the application deadline will not be taken into consideration. If you submit an application electronically, it is your responsibility to ensure that it arrives before the deadline.
The IT University invites all qualified researchers regardless of age, gender, religious affiliation or ethnic background to apply for the position.
Application Deadline : 17 May 2010