Postdoctoral position at The Center for Information and Bubble Studie

Copenhagen University
Copenhagen - Denmark
S: negotiated

The Department of Media, Cognition and Communication, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, invites applications for a 2-year postdoctoral position. The successful candidate will be appointed to the newly established Center for Information and Bubble Studies (CIBS) sponsored by the Carlsberg Foundation. The candidate will be expected to begin on 1 September 2016 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Job content
"Bubbles" are usually considered unwelcome and destabilizing phenomena associated with finance and real estate markets. Generally a bubble has developed when assets trade at prices far exceeding the estimated fundamental value. The guiding research principle of The Center for Information and Bubble Studies (CIBS) is that bubbles essentially amount to information control problems among deliberating agents who are collectively susceptible to robustly demonstrated socio-psychological features like boom-thinking, group-thinking and lemming effects, which together with determinate market models and conditions may make for bubble-hospitable environments.

CIBS studies bubble phenomena across different ontologies by

1. focusing on the socio-psychological phenomena among agents leading to often irrational group behavior facilitated by imperfect or wrongful information processing among group members influenced by social proof,

2. being inspired by the main strands of bubble models in economics accordingly study concepts like "social capital”, "opinion”, "fame”, "recognition”, "scientific progress" apparent in other "markets" (agent interactive settings) with particular emphasis on the information-driven dynamics and thus study bubble formation, bursts and deflation across traditional domains and disciplines,

3. uncovering the formal structure and dynamics, provide simulation and experimental results, offer resolutions of, and recommendations for avoiding (or stimulating benign) bubbles or boom behavior of agents reasoning and processing information in concert.

The successful candidate will be working in close cooperation with computer scientists, economists, social psychologists and behavioral scientists in order to crack the code of these interdisciplinary objects of scientific inquiry, which bubbles are on the CIBS understanding. It is expected that the successful candidate will be present, part of the team and partake in the activities of CIBS on a daily basis.

Qualification requirements

In order to be considered for the position, applicants must hold a PhD degree or similar qualifications in philosophy. The following professional qualifications and personal competences are furthermore required.

For this position we are looking for candidates with a background in economics or mathematical finance. The ideal candidate is further specialized in bubble phenomena or the relevant analytical tools. Such a specialization could include any of the following:
•Microeconomic modeling of asset markets and investor behavior,
•Econometric modeling of asset price time series,
•Macroeconomic modeling of investment and bubbles in the face of uncertainty,
•Mathematical financial modeling of asset price dynamics, bubbles and arbitrage,
•Game theoretic modeling applied to economics and finance, particularly global games and dynamic games of incomplete information.

Furthermore, emphasis will be placed on the following:

•Research qualifications, which will be assessed in relation to the period of active research, the degree of originality, and academic output.
•The applicant's scientific record, academic breadth and depth, rigour, thoroughness and accuracy, as well as academic relevance in relation to the job description.
•Participation in networks – national and international
•Teamwork qualifications and a ready ability to interact with and aquire operational knowledge of bubble theories in economics and relevant themes in social psychology, behavioral studies and formal methods of knowledge representation.

For further details about the qualification requirements for postdocs, please refer to the job structure for academic staff: http://ufm.dk/en/legislation/prevailing-laws-and-regulations/education/education-institutions

For further information and for a description of C, please contact Director of CIBS, Professor Vincent F. Hendricks, vincent@hum.ku.dk.

Application

The application must be submitted online in Adobe PDF or Word format.

ZIP-files cannot be uploaded.

Please click on the "Apply now" icon at the bottom of the page.

Please note that each field in the application form may only contain a single file of max. 20Mb.

The application must be written in English and include the following enclosures:
•Application letter/cover letter
•Curriculum vitae (with applicant's e-mail address & telephone number)
•Documentation of qualifications (examination certificates/PhD diploma, etc.).
•Complete and numbered list of publications. The enclosed publications must be marked with *.
•Research plan, including a short description of previous research and a plan for the coming years that includes an account of how the applicant will contribute to the deliverables in the project description.
•Documentation of teaching qualifications and research dissemination, if any
•Publications. Applicants may choose a maximum of three publications for assessment, of which at least two must have been published within the five years immediately preceding the deadline for applications. Publication dates must be clearly marked on the publication list. The publications selected must be uploaded as attachments and listed from 1 to 3
Should any material submitted consist of work with named co-authors, or work that is otherwise the result of collective academic endeavours, the extent of the applicant's contribution to the work must be clearly stipulated. The Faculty may ask for a signed statement from the co-authors stipulating the extent and nature of each individual's contribution.
All material must be submitted in English.

All material will be shredded at the end of the appointment procedure.

Appointment procedure
After the application deadline, the Head of Department selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointment Committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been accepted for assessment. The Dean subsequently appoints an expert assessment committee tasked with carrying out an assessment of the selected applicants for the specific post. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee. Applicants are ultimately offered the opportunity of commenting on the part of the assessment relating to themselves before the appointment is finalized.

Applicants will be continuously informed about the progress of the procedure by e-mail.

Further information about the application procedure is available from HR and Personnel Officer Helle Schæbel, e-mail: VIPadmin@hum.ku.dk.

Salary and conditions of employment

The post will be filled according to the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Additional bonuses may be negotiated on an individual basis.

A special tax scheme is offered to researchers recruited abroad, http://ism.ku.dk/onarrival/

If you consider applying from abroad, you may find useful information on how it is to work in Denmark and at UCPH.

See : http://ism.ku.dk, http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/frontpage.htm

and https://www.workindenmark.dk/

UCPH wishes to encourage everyone interested in this post to apply, regardless of personal background.

The closing date for applications is 23.59 CET, 25 April 2016.

Applications or supplementary material received thereafter will not be considered.

Job summary