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Jobs: Post-doctoral fellows, PhD Students and Research Associates Department of Digital Games, University of Malta

Call for Applications
Post-doctoral fellows, PhD Students and Research Associates
Department of Digital Games, University of Malta

Applications are invited for researchers (Post-doctoral fellows, PhD students and Research Associates) to work on the Creative Emotional Reasoning Computational Tools Fostering Co-Creativity in Learning Processes (C2Learn) and the Integrated Intelligent Learning Environment for Reading and Writing (ILearnRW) projects. Both research projects are supported by the European Union within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) – ICT.

More after the jump


We are looking for excellent candidates with a background at the crossroads of artificial and computational intelligence, user modelling, and experimental game design. In particular we are interested in candidates with a good grasp of as many of the following areas as possible: adaptive learning methodologies in games, computational creativity, procedural content generation, affective modelling, and experimental game design. Prior experience with serious or persuasive game design will be considered advantageous.

The successful candidate will be responsible for the execution of a number of tasks related to the C2Learn or the ILearnRW projects supported by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The successful candidate will contribute to managing the research activities of the University of Malta in the projects. This entails close cooperation with the other partners in the projects. At the post-doctoral level, a number of PhD students will be associated with the project at the University of Malta, and the candidate will contribute to supervising these students. The position may also involve teaching obligations.

*C2Learn Project Description*

The C2Learn project aims to introduce an innovative digital gaming and social networking environment incorporating diverse tools for fostering co-creativity in learning processes in the context of both formal and informal educational settings. The design of the environment will be based on recent cognitive science research into the roots of reasoning and its relation to emotion and representation. The C2Learn environment will be an open-world game-like sandbox space enabling learners to freely explore ideas, concepts, and the ‘shared’ knowledge available on the semantic web and the virtual communities in which they participate. In this sandbox, creativity is contextually defined as open-ended, and has no pre-sets or barriers. Within the environment, learners will be afforded with non-restrictive opportunities to engage in creative problem-finding and creative problem solving. These new computational tools – rather than setting a series of preset problems and challenges based on players’ previous actions in the environment – will support and generate potential playful experiences surrounding creative problem solving and non-linear thinking tasks, which the player can optionally engage with.

The successful candidate will focus on the research tasks associated with the University of Malta which include: user and emotional modelling, experimental game design, interaction design, mixed-initiative procedural content generation, game adaptation and personalisation, computational creativity, and game development.

*ILearnRW Project Description*

The aim of the ILearnRW project is to contribute towards a move away from traditional assistive software, in which technology is used simply as an alternative to pen and paper, by developing next generation learning software, which uses a computer system to facilitate the learning process for children with dyslexia and/or dysorthographia. Towards this end, we will develop an Integrated Intelligent Learning Environment for Reading and Writing demonstrating for the following features: 1. User modeling (a profile is built for each learner); 2. Personalized content presentation (the type of dyslexia of the specific user influences the text presentation process); 3. Engaging learning activities (integrate learning activities into personalised serious games, where the gameplay and interaction mechanisms will depend on the learner’s profile, the learning strategy adopted, and the learner’s performance).

The successful candidate will focus on the research tasks and activities associated with the University of Malta which include: user modelling, serious game design and development, interaction design, procedural content generation, game adaptation and personalisation.

Further information about C2Learn and ILearnRW may be obtained from Prof. Georgios N. Yannakakis (georgios.yannakakis@gmail.com) or from Prof. Rilla Khaled (rilla.khaled@gmail.com).

These positions will be renewed annually up to three years. The gross salary per annum for the above mentioned posts will commensurate with qualifications and experience. Indicative salaries for the Post-doctoral fellow, the PhD student and the Research Associate are, respectively, €31120, €24960 and €16640 per annum. More details about the application procedure and the required qualifications for the positions can be found here: http://www.um.edu.mt/hrmd/vacancies

Applications should be received by noon of Monday, 27th August 2012.

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