Applications Deadline: Jan 27, 2009
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The Knowledge Technology (KT) group in the Department of Computing Science at the University of Aberdeen is one of the key players in the area of semantics and ontology technologies with excellent balance between theoretical work and pragmatic applications.

The KT group offers a friendly yet stimulating environment of a leading research group in the field of semantics and ontology; an active collaboration with leading academic institutes and major companies in fields like software engineering, multimedia, product (such as aircraft engines) engineering, bioinformatics and Web science; as well as experience of collaboration with standardisation bodies such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

The KT group is looking for PhD researchers who are willing to do research within one of our new projects. The goal of the project is to combine benefits and synergy of Web 2.0 and semantic and ontology technologies. To reach this goal, it will develop a seamless integration technology for ontologies into social Web 2.0 applications, resulting in ontology-driven social Web 2.0 development. Scalable ontology reasoning technologies will play a key role in the project. Successful candidates will be awarded SICSA (Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance,
http://www.sicsa.ac.uk/) studentships, which worth around £18,000 per year for 3.5 years. This includes support for living expenses of around £13,000, research expenses and postgraduate fees at the level charged to students who are UK/EU residents. Students who are not UK/EU residents may apply for additional support to cover the difference in fees. Our aim is to attract the research leaders of the future, whatever their nationality, to come and work with us in Scotland.

The KT group expects: (1) A strong background in Computer Science, i.e., an outstanding Undergraduate (1st class honours degree) or Masters Degree (with Distinction or equivalent GPA scores) in either Computing Science or a related discipline. (2) Research interest and some expertise in at least two of the following
areas: ontology, reasoning, Web 2.0, query answering, inconsistency reasoning, uncertainty reasoning, machine learning.
(3) The willingness to combine formal theoretical work with application-oriented research. (4) Solid programming skills as well as personal skills required to work with the local team and our collaborators.

For further information regarding to the research in the KT group and the project, please contact Dr. Jeff Z. Pan (http://www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~jpan/).

*How to apply*

Applications will be processed in two phases. In the first phase, your qualifications will be considered and, if approved, you will receive an offer for a place in our PhD programme. To submit an application, please follow the instructions here:

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sras/postgraduate/apply.shtml

Please include your curriculum vitae, a list of publications (if
applicable) and digital versions of your most relevant work (such as graduation thesis or latest publications). The deadline of first phase application is Jan 27, 2009.

In the second phase, you will be considered for funding; invited candidates will be asked to complete the online application form:

http://projectnets.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/sga/

Students must have or must expect to be awarded a 1st class honours degree or an MSc with Distinction or equivalent GPA scores. If you have not achieved this level, your application will not normally be considered for SICSA studentships. The deadline of the second phase application is Feb 8, 2009.

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