SUMMARY

The Network Science Institute is seeking researchers at the postdoctoral and associate levels to join the new Social Urban Networks (SUN) group. SUN focuses on developing computational social science tools to address urban challenges, from climate change and inequality to health and economic development. By using large datasets of human behavior, tools and ideas from physics, applied mathematics, complex systems or network science, and collaborations with industry, government, and local communities, we seek not only to advance the understanding of the temporal dynamics of social systems to unprecedented levels but also to transform our findings into tools and policies to help achieve resilient and equitable adaptation of our societies. These positions are for one year with the possibility of extending for a second year.

The SUN group is seeking highly motivated researchers to explore the following subjects:

• Fighting inequality in urban areas: mapping the inequality in the social fabric of cities at an unprecedented scale using high-resolution mobility and activity data.
• Creating resilient labor and urban economies: detecting economic resilience encoded in the dependency networks of agents, businesses, cities, or jobs.
• Understanding behavioral-network determinants of health outcomes in our cities, by modeling physical exposure between people and healthy environments.

The work heavily depends on data-driven, evidence-based modeling and collaboration with practitioners.

If you are interested, please submit the following materials with your application:

• A cover letter detailing your research interests and fit for the position.
• CV with a list of publications.
• Names and contact details for 2 references.

QUALIFICATIONS

PhD in network science, physics, big data, behavior modeling, urban science, complex systems, machine learning, visualization, geospatial analysis or related field. PhD is required by the start of the appointment. Programming (Python, R), statistics, and data science skills are essential.

Successful candidates must be able to undertake substantially full-time research or scholarship and work under the supervision of a senior scholar. More experienced candidates, who will be considered for the Associate Research Scientist position, must demonstrate progressively more responsible experience and ability to plan and execute research.

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