Open Positions

Call for applications

We are seeking applications for  three 2-year postdoctoral positions  funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) under the FIS1 Advanced Grant Reasoning with Data (ReDa)  led by Hykel Hosni  

Deadline for application: 4 June 2024  

Expected starting date:  1 September 2024 (negotiable) 

The appointments. Appointments will be made in either of the work packages below. Please specify in your application which WP would suit you best. Each candidate can put in one application only.  There are no teaching duties attached to the posts, and proficiency in Italian is not required.  

Work package 1:  Non-monotonic formalisation of data-driven inference. 

The appointee is expected to work on the identification of suitable constraints for consequence relations capable of expressing salient patterns of data-driven inference. (The background and general idea are discussed informally here https://projects.illc.uva.nl/lgc/seminar/2023/03/lira-session-hykel-hosni/) .  

Candidates for this work package must have a strong background in logic, acquired through a Master and a PhD in any of the relevant paths, including and possibly combining, Mathematics, Philosophy, and Computer Science. Familiarity with the preferential approach to nonmonotonic reasoning is a plus. Applicants are also expected to be conversant with elementary probability and statistics.  

Work package 2:  Logic for the methodology of data-intensive and AI-driven science 

The appointee is expected to identify suitable roles for logical methods in the construction of a scientific methodology capable of encompassing AI-driven science. Logicians have traditionally followed Tarski in restricting the applicability of logic to the methodology of deductive sciences. In the age of data-intensive and machine-learning-driven science, this is overly restrictive both for logic and for science. To overcome this, the appointee will pin down patterns reasoning from any area of data-intensive and AI-driven science (preferably biology) and work towards their logical formalisation. 

Candidates for this work package must have a strong background in logic or philosophy of science, preferably both, acquired through a Master and a PhD in any of the relevant subject. Familiarity with the methodological and epistemological questions revolving around “big data” are a definite plus. Applicants are also expected to be conversant with the current literature on AI for scientific research, including explainable AI. Familiarity with the history of logic from Boole onwards is desirable. 

Work package 3:  The construction of probabilistic evidence in rare cancers 

The successful candidate is expected to work on methodologically rigorous approaches to the personalisation of probability in clinical decision-making about rare cancers. The key goal is to put forward principled ways to come up with patient-specific, meaningful, probabilities from data about “the average patient” arising in clinical studies. Since this work package will contribute to developing decision-theoretic tools to be used at the patient’s bedside, the appointed researcher will be based at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori in Milan, and will work in close collaboration with the Biostatistics for Clinical Research, Sarcomas, and Head-and-Neck Cancers Units.   

Applicants for this WP must have a strong background in medical statistics, clinical epidemiology and probability applied to those fields, acquired through any relevant postgraduate degree. Familiarity with medical decision making and the construction of probabilistic and statistical evidence is a definite plus. 

How to apply 

Please read carefully the official call for the posts, which is available in Italian and in English at  

https://www.unimi.it/it/ricerca/ricerca-lastatale/fare-ricerca-da-noi/assegni-e-borse/bandi-assegni-di-ricerca/bando-di-tipo-b-prof-hosni-id-6648

To apply, you must send two emails to two distinct addresses, one with the application and all the relevant attachment, and one with your CV only.   

First, please fill out carefully all of the forms/templates below 

• Curriculum Vitae – english (mandatory) 
• Application form Research fellowships type B – declarations (mandatory) 
• Application form Research fellowships type B – Data form (mandatory) 

and attach them, along with all the relevant publications, to unimi@postecert.it by 4 June 2024 11.59 pm (Italian time). Please make sure you have signed the forms as specified. When filling out the forms bear in mind that University regulations prevent us from evaluating any aspect of your work which is not mentioned explicitly in your CV and in the application form, so  do repeat in the application form any relevant information even if already available from your CV.   

Please write 

“Domanda concorso Assegno di Ricerca Prof. Hosni Hykel, code ID 6648” 

in the subject of your application email. Note that in addition to the above three forms, the following should be attached to your application email: 

1. Certificate of your Master Degree with final mark; 
2. Certificate of Phd degree / specialization degree; 
3. Publications (Note: you should both attach your publications and  list them in the last page of the application form under “assessable qualifications”) 
4. Evidence for the Scientific qualifications, diplomas, scholarships, attendance of post-graduate courses mentioned in your CV. 

To finalise your application, you must also email your CV to  curriculum.assegni@unimi.it . Please write  

“Assegno di Ricerca Prof. Hosni Hykel, code ID 6648” 

in the subject. 

Note that the application procedure is handled by the central administration of the University of Milan, and that the deadline is strict. 

Please address informal enquiries to hykel.hosni@unimi.it 

Call for applications

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a very strong background in logic who specialises in non monotonic reasoning and belief revision. Fluency with statistical inference and ordered structures are a definite plus. The successful candidate will investigate consequence relations capable of capturing relevant aspects of inference based on statistical significance. 

The duration of the contract is one year, but it can be extended to two further years depending on performance. The salary is around 22000 Euro after tax. We are aware of the difficulties raised by moving to a new place for a temporary position. Hence flexible working arrangements are possible and will be discussed on an individual basis during the interview.  

The successful candidate will join the Logic Uncertainty Computation and Information (LUCI) Lab. The group includes logicians from the mathematics, computer science and philosophy track.  Please see https://luci.unimi.it/ for further details.  

Please address informal enquiries to hykel.hosni@unimi.it 

Expressions of interest

We will shortly be advertising calls for up to five more full-time postdoctoral researchers. We will be seeking applications with strong skills in 

• Nonmonotonic logics
• Logics for AI 
• Statistical inference and decision-making under uncertainty
• Temporal Logics
• Markovian Semantics
• Computational Logics and Proof Theories for uncertainty 

Flexible working arrangementswill be possible.

Please see the LUCI website for further details about the Lab members and our research.

We are planning to post the call for applications for at least some of the positions before the end of 2023, but we encourage potential applicants to get in touch with us to express their interest.

Marcello D’Agostino (marcello.dagostino@unimi.it)

Hykel Hosni (hykel.hosni@unimi.it)

Giuseppe Primiero (giuseppe.primiero@unimi.it)

2 Years post-doc position in Logic within the Logic, Uncertainty, Computation and Information (LUCI) Group, Department of Philosophy, University of Milan.

PROJECT:
This project aims to develop logics for the verification of properties of interest in the development and use of machine learning systems in Artificial Intelligence. In particular, the aim is to develop methods for demonstrating or verifying models that simulate the probabilistic structures underlying supervised, unsupervised and/or reinforcement learning methods and to check for biases and assess their risks.
The project activities consist of:

1) Formulation of multi-agent models and/or probabilistic deductive reasoning checking for forms of bias and risk
2) Presentation of scientific results at international conferences
3) Publication of research results in international journals
4) Supporting the organisation of scientific events

PROFILE OF THE RESEARCHER
The ideal candidate has obtained a PhD in Logic or related field (Philosophy/AI/CS/Mathematics), with knowledge of least two of the following disciplines:

– proof theory and automated theorem proving
– probabilistic extensions of Curry-Howard isomorphisms and lambda-calculus
– temporal logics and model checking
– formal models of Bias and Risk in AI

In addition, the ideal candidate has a great aptitude for teamwork, with good organisational skills.
HOW TO APPLY & DEADLINE
The deadline for application is on 18th January 2023 at 23:59 CET (strict – please note that late applications cannot be considered). Please follow carefully the instructions available on the official call, published at

https://www.unimi.it/it/ricerca/ricerca-lastatale/fare-ricerca-da-noi/assegni-e-borse/bandi-assegni-di-ricerca/bando-di-tipo-b-prof-primiero-id-5590

Online interviews are scheduled on 27th January 2023 at 10:00am CET.

For any informal inquiry please write to giuseppe.primiero@unimi.it

Post-doc Position in Logic (1 year renewable)(Closed)

This post-doc position is within the BRIO Project (PI Giuseppe Primiero) funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research. All details and instructions to apply are available here.

Assistant Professor of Logic (three-years fixed-term)(Closed)

The LUCI group is very happy to advertise a post for a fixed-term Assistant Professor (RTD-a) in “Logic for AI“
Deadline 23 March 2022 (12 noon, strict deadline)

What we are looking for

The ideal candidate has a strong background in logic and is fluent in at least one of the following areas of logic-based AI:

• knowledge representation and reasoning
• reasoning and decision-making under uncertainty,

in which the successful candidate is expected to do research. Competence in fair and trustworthy AI is a welcome plus.

The successful candidate will be teaching in English up to 40 hours in the newly established Bachelor in Artificial Intelligence https://bai.unipv.it/.

How to apply

Please apply online by 23 March at 12 am (Italian time, strict deadline) at https://www.unimi.it/it/ateneo/lavora-con-noi/reclutamento-ricercatori/selezioni-ricercatori/ricercatore-tipo-dm-737-21-sc-11/c2-ssd-m-fil/02-codice-4961

The online application form is available by following the “Presenta la domanda” link on the page. Please note that this link is currently unavailable on the English version of the page.

We apologise to non-Italian speaker applicants for the inaccurate English translation of the official documentation which is available from the link above, and we invite all candidates to address informal enquiries to hykel.hosni@unimi.it

Milan

Among the most attractive Italian cities, Milan is highly international and dynamic, with much to offer in terms of culture, entertainment and research. For more information, we refer to https://www.yesmilano.it/en

Postdoc in Logical Foundations of AI – Deadline 30th June 2021 (Closed)

The Logic Group is thrilled to advertise a postdoc position (two years, renewable) within the project “Logical Foundations of AI“

THE PROJECT

The project will be developed within a research line contributing to bridging the gap between statistical methodologies at the basis of (supervised, unsupervised) Machine Learning and Logic in the development of AI. We aim to develop Logics for Reasoning under Uncertainty and with limited resources to analyse and check transparency and trustworthiness of AI systems. Properties of interest include but are not limited to: Causality, Safety and Fairness.

THE LOGIC GROUP

The selected candidate will join a thriving research group based at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Milan, and will be working under the joint supervision of Marcello D’Agostino and Giuseppe Primiero. Check out the members page for more information about our group and research interests.

MILAN

Among the most attractive Italian cities, Milan is highly international and dynamic, with much to offer in terms of culture, entertainment and research. For more information, we refer to https://www.yesmilano.it/en

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal applicant will hold a Ph.D. in Logic, obtained either within a philosophy, mathematics or computer science programme. The candidate is also required to have good basic knowledge of one or more of the following areas: Foundations of Resource-Bounded Logics; Epistemic and Non-Monotonic Logics; Logics of Uncertainty and Probabilistic Logics; Temporal Logics; Proof Theory; Verification (both model-checking and automated theorem proving).

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to get acquainted with the Logic Group’s style of research. We expect the candidates to propose projects in line with the Group’s research interests and results, as illustrated in the following publications:

[1] Paolo Baldi, Hykel Hosni. Depth-bounded Belief Functions, International Journal of Approximate Reasoning, vol. 123, pp. 26-40, 2020.
[2] Taolue Chen, Giuseppe Primiero, Franco Raimondi, and Neha Rungta. A computationally grounded, weighted doxastic logic. Studia Logica, 104(4):679–703, 2016.
[3] Giorgio Cignarale, Giuseppe Primiero, A Multi-Agent Depth-Bounded Boolean Logic, SEFM 2020: 176-191.
[4] Marcello D’Agostino and Sanjay Modgil. Classical logic, argument and dialectic. Artif. Intell., 262:15–51, 2018.
[5] Marcello D’Agostino and Sanjay Modgil. A fully rational account of structured argumentation under resource bounds. In Christian Bessiere, editor, Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, IJCAI 2020, pages 1841–1847. ijcai.org, 2020. Scheduled for July 2020, Yokohama, Japan, post-poned due to the Corona pandemic.
[6] Fabio D’Asaro and Giuseppe Primiero. TPTND: Probabilistic typed natural deduction for trustworthy computations. In Proceedings of the 22nd International Workshop on Trust in Agent Societies, co-located with 20th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2020), London, UK May 3rd, 2021, CEUR Workshop Proceedings. CEUR-WS.org, forthcoming. Preprint: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yKdg0kQrUCSoyZK6EWpi78V6N5fDryrb/view
[7] Tommaso Flaminio, Lluı́s Godo, and Hykel Hosni. Boolean algebras of conditionals, probability and logic. Artif. Intell., 286:103347, 2020.
[8] Giuseppe Primiero. A logic of negative trust. J. Appl. Non Class. Logics, 30(3):193–222, 2020.
[9] Alberto Termine, Alessandro Antonucci, Alessandro Facchini, Giuseppe Primiero: Robust Model Checking with Imprecise Markov Reward Models. CoRR abs/2103.04841 (2021).

The appointed researcher will be expected to contribute to the activities of the Logic Group, to present and publish their results at high-standard conferences and journals.

FAQs

“How do I submit my application?”

The candidates must fill in the application form available on-line at https://air.unimi.it/rm/public/postDocFellowship.htm. The application form must be completed and validated before June the 30th 2021 at noon 12:00 CET, otherwise it is inadmissible. The candidate will have to save the PDF file generated by the system, sign and upload it on the procedure after it is scanned, following the instructions in the procedure.

“What will this procedure require me to declare/state?”

• your BA/BSc and MA/MSc (or equivalent) with obtained final mark and date
• your Ph.D. thesis, with defense details
• all your higher-education degrees, e.g. specialization
• details of your scientific publications
• post-doc positions held, and any research fellowship you have been granted
• research activities, e.g. attendance at conferences
• any other relevant experience

“What will this procedure require me to upload?”

• a research project appropriate for the chosen research line (see above)
• Ph.D. Thesis, approved by the supervisor
• CV (in the format required by the application)
• scan of a valid ID document
• a (non-official) translation of the highest degree held and a signed declaration that the applicant owns it (if obtained at a non-italian university; the selected candidate will be required to provide an official translation after the job offer)

“If I am shortlisted, can I be interviewed remotely?”

Yes, shortlisted candidates can be interviewed remotely. If you have been shortlisted, the Human Resources Department will be in touch, and you will be able to request an online interview.

“How do I know whether I have been offered the position, and what do I do afterwards?”

If you are the chosen candidate, you will be informed by email from the Human Resources Department. This email will contain instructions and documentation for accepting the position.

PhD projects – Deadline 28th June 2021 (Closed)

4 Scholarships are available in the Doctoral Programme in
Mind, Brain and Reasoning at the University of Milan.

The Group is active in the Mind, Brain and Reasoning doctoral programme, which is now advertising for 4 fully funded three-year PhD scholarships. If you are interested in applying to work with us, please note that we have a list of projects for which we are offering supervision (subject to funding).

Master’s (Laurea Magistrale) – Deadline 28 August 2021

The Logic Group teaches four Master courses in the Reasoning Analysis and Modelling curriculum of the Laurea Magistrale (MA) in Philosophy. Please see the degree’s official webpages for further details. Non-Italian students are welcome to get in touch via DM for any clarifications on the admission requirements.

Postdoc – Deadline 28th December 2020 (Closed)

The Logic Group is thrilled to advertise a postdoc position (one year, renewable) on the project “Depth-Bounded Logics for non-ideal agents: theory and applications“

Postdoc – Deadline 16 November 2020 (Closed)

The Logic Group is thrilled to advertise a postdoc position (one year, renewable) on the project “Foundations and applications of depth-bounded uncertainty measures“.

PhD Mind, Brain, Reasoning – Deadline 14 September 2020 (Closed)

4 Scholarships are available in the new Doctoral Programme in 
Mind, Brain and Reasoning at the University of Milan.

Research Areas include: Logic for Practical Reasoning; Philosophical Logic; Computation; Probability; Logic for Artificial Intelligence.

Application period closes 14/09/2020. Details on the Programme and how to apply are available at this link.

Postdoc – Deadline 3 September 2020 (Closed)

The Logic Group is thrilled to advertise a postdoc position (one year, renewable) on the project “Quantitative and qualitative approximations of reasoning“.