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PhD Fellowships 2021 in Statistics and Machine Learning, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Publish Date: Mar 01, 2021

Deadline: May 01, 2021

The Operations Management department at the Amsterdam Business School (University of Amsterdam) invites applications for a PhD position in Statistics with a computer science orientation. We are looking for candidates with the ambition to work and succeed at the highest international academic level.

What are you going to do?

The research area is Predictive Process Modeling (PPM), which focuses on forecasting potential problems during process execution before they occur. Applications have been developed in a wide range of domains, such as manufacturing, healthcare, networking, and business processes. Increasingly comprehensive data collection provides more process visibility. Advances in machine learning make use of this increase in detail and frequency of data. Data-driven techniques in this area can be used to improve process quality control by forecasting and monitoring potential process problems. Prediction methods include regression techniques, support vector machines, decision trees, random forest, elastic nets, neural networks, and gradient boosting.

Predictive monitoring starts with defining an (unwanted) process outcome. Subsequently, a model is specified for the process. The parameters of the model are then estimated using the available data. When monitoring commences, the estimated parameters are used to generate process predictions. The probability of the defined process outcome is then calculated. If the probability exceeds a predetermined threshold, the procedure signals. The parameters can then be re-estimated and the monitoring continues. Note that machine learning techniques require less formal modeling, but more data and computing power to perform predictions. Furthermore, as with Statistical Process Monitoring, the threshold to signal will determine the expected false alarm rate. The performance of a PPM procedure can be evaluated using the precision and recall metrics.

The PhD student will work in close collaboration with the supervisory team and other faculty on tasks that include:

  • understanding statistical modeling and applying machine learning techniques;
  • identifying novel research questions based on real-world phenomena or extant theory;
  • presenting research findings at international conferences;
  • writing up findings for publication in international journals;
  • basic programming skills;
  • attending classes and seminars (including those offered at other universities) to further develop thinking and research skills;
  • participating in and contributing to departmental research functions (PhD Day, research seminars, research meetings);
  • teaching-related activities (to a limited degree), including undergraduate tutorials and the supervision of MSc and/or BSc thesis projects.

What do we require?

Formal requirements:

  • Masters’ degree (preferably a Research Master´s or MPhil degree) in Econometrics, Mathematics or a related field;
  • GMAT or GRE score of no more than five years old (for students with a Master degree obtained from a non-Dutch university). An indication of the minimum score required is 85%;
  • proof of English proficiency through a TOEFL test (score of at least 100 on the internet based test and 600 on the paper based test) or IELTS test (minimum score of 7.5), where the scores were obtained no more than two years before the application.

Task-related requirements:

  • excellent speaking and writing ability in fluent English, ideally with experience writing for a scientific audience;
  • willingness and motivation to independently formulate research projects and carry them through to completion;
  • excellent organizational skills;
  • experience conducting empirical research;
  • statistical skills and command of standard software packages for analysing data (e.g., R, Python), and a strong willingness to develop these skills further.

Additional requirements:

  • strong motivation to pursue an international career as a leading scholar;
  • strong commitment to methodological rigor and scientific integrity;
  • energy and passion for statistics and machine learning;
  • intellectual curiosity, eagerness to learn, and openness to criticism;
  • proof of 'good citizenship' beyond academic achievements (i.e., volunteering experience).

Our offer

The employment contract will be for an initial period of 12 months, with an intermediate evaluation after 18 months with a possibility to extend it for 36 months (in total 4 years). End-result should be a PhD thesis. An educational plan will be drafted that includes attendance of courses and (international) conferences. Preferred starting date is 1 July 2021.

The gross monthly salary will range from €2,395 in the first year to €3,061 in the last year. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.

Further Official Information

Link to Original

Similar Opportunities


Disciplines

Mathematics

Statistics

Study Levels

PhD

Opportunity Types

Fellowships

Eligible Countries

International

Host Countries

Netherlands