Call for one Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN Early-Stage Researcher (PhD position): Advanced Visual and Geometric Computing for 3D Capture, Display, and Fabrication (EVOCATION)

The Center for Research, Development, and Advanced Studies in Sardinia (CRS4) is an interdisciplinary research center focusing its activities on enabling computational technologies and on their application in thematic areas characterized by a high economic and social impact. In the field of Visual Computing, CRS4 is at the forefront of research in the acquisition, storage, processing, distribution, and interactive exploration of massive data. More information on the Visual Computing group is available at http://vic.crs4.it/

We are happy to announce the availability at CRS4 of one Early-Stage Researcher (ESR) PhD position in the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network on Advanced Visual and Geometric Computing for 3D Capture, Display, and Fabrication (EVOCATION). This project has received funding from the European Union’s (EU) Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN Project under grant agreement No 813170.

EVOCATION, started in October 2018 and lasting four years, is a leading European-wide doctoral Collegium focusing on scalable and high-fidelity shape and appearance acquisition, extraction of structure and semantic information, processing, visualization, 3D display and 3D fabrication in professional and consumer applications. The ESR will receive scientific skills in cutting-edge techniques in a highly stimulating and collaborative international environment, and will be requested to register for the Doctorate program in Computer Science of the University of Cagliari. Further information on the EVOCATION network is available at http://www.evocation.eu/

1) OPEN POSITION

A public call for applications is open at CRS4 in order to recruit one ESR for a fixed-term research position. The ESR hosted at CRS4 will focus on the following activities:

• ESR03: Scalable reconstruction and exploration of complex indoor environments

The position is available immediately and will include pursuing a PhD degree at the University of Cagliari (36 months). The candidate will be framed at level 7 of the metalworking and mechanical engineering industry collective agreement applied by CRS4. The ESR will receive a highly competitive salary according to Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions rules. The salary will include living and mobility allowances.

2) REQUIREMENTS

The call is open to applicants fulfilling the following requirements:

• Candidates must have registered in the recruitment section of the EVOCATION project website https://evocation.eu/recruitment/

• Researchers must hold a Master’s Degree fulfilling the conditions to be admitted in the PhD program in Computer Science at the University of Cagliari. These conditions must be fulfilled at the starting date of the contract and will be verified by the University of Cagliari before the contract. Candidates not passing this verification will be excluded

• At the time of recruitment, researchers must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and not yet have been awarded a doctoral degree. Full-Time Equivalent Research Experience is measured from the date when a researcher obtained the degree which would formally entitle them to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in Italy, irrespective of whether or not a doctorate is or was ever envisaged

• At the time of recruitment, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in ltaly for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date/starting date of the activities. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account

• Applicants must consent to transnational mobility availability for up to 30% of the duration of the contract.

• Applicants must be able to read, write, speak and understand English

• Any nationality and gender is allowed to participate in this selection

3) JOB DESCRIPTION

The open positions are for Early Stage Researchers in computer science with a focus on interactive 3D computer graphics and computer vision. The specific research topic is the following:

• ESR03: Scalable reconstruction and exploration of complex indoor environments – the fellow will study techniques to apply prior knowledge for the extraction of structured representation of multi-room environments from incomplete and noise sampling data. Methods for the representation and display of the recovered structures will be also studied. Expected results include scientific publications and prototype implementation of indoor capture and exploration systems

On the part of the applicant, this requires interest not only in visual-computing-related algorithms and data structures but also in collaboration with domain scientists and other institutions. Depending on the interests and skills of the candidate, the focus of the work can be more on the vision or on the graphics part, and it will be possible to include any of several very timely topics, ranging from deep learning and other AI techniques to geometry processing and scalability, to real-time scalable graphics and user interfaces.

The main goal is to conduct excellent research, generating results which are published and presented in top international journals and conferences, while being practically applicable for solving challenging large scale visual computing problems. The activities will not only include research and continuing education for network participants, but also support in teaching (esp. to other network participants).

The ESRs will be hosted by the Visual Computing Group of the CRS4 research center in Italy, and will be included in the EVOCATION research and training network, composed of eight leading institution distributed across Europe (CRS4, CNR and Gexcel in Italy, University of Rostock and Fraunhofer IGD in Germany, University of Zurich in Switzerland, TU Wien in Austria, Holografika in Hungary).

The work will include also pursuing a PhD degree at the University of Cagliari.

4) JOB SKILLS

The prospective candidates are supposed to have an excellent background in computer science and systems, as well as theoretical and practical experience in computer graphics and computer vision. Exposure to parallel programming and distributed systems is also welcome. Strong interest in collaboration with domain scientists is of further importance as well.

5) APPLICATION AND DEADLINE

Applications to participate in the selection must, under penalty of exclusion, include all the following documents:

• Application form, dated and signed [Attachment n. 1]

• Disclosure pursuant to article 13 of EU Regulation no. 679/2016, dated and signed [Attachment n. 2]

• Declaration of compliance with requirements, dated and signed [Attachment n. 3]

• Resume (in English or Italian, dated and signed)

• Copy of an unexpired document of identity (such as a passport or identity card, for example)

The curriculum vitae must indicate in particular: personal data, training, post-graduate training, professional skills and experience acquired in relation to what is specified in paragraph 4), foreign languages, details of computer skills, list of publications.

All the attachments cited above can be obtained by downloading the PDF version of this announcement from the CRS4 application web site ( https://jobs.crs4.it/ - “Download PDF!” button). The PDF must be printed, and all forms filled, dated, and signed.

All the required documents and attachments must be submitted in PDF format no later than 21 September 2020 at 12:00 PM to the following address:

ufficiodelpersonalecrs4@legalmail.it

The email subject must be:

SELECTION FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF AN EARLY-STAGE RESEARCHER WORKING ON THE MSCA-ITN-2018 PROJECT EVOCATION (jo-48- 0635 )

Applications which are not sent as requested above or which are received after the deadline specified above will be excluded from the selection.

6) SELECTION PROCEDURE

For the selection of applications, CRS4 will, through the establishment of a selection committee, evaluate the curricula in order to identify the candidates to be interviewed. The evaluation of the curricula will be carried out on the basis of the criteria defined in paragraph 7 below and those set out in the previous paragraphs. Candidates deemed suitable on the basis of the criteria indicated will be admitted to the interview.

The list of candidates admitted to the interview will be available on the website of CRS4 at the address http://jobs.crs4.it . The interview will take place exclusively by electronic means and the terms of participation will be published at http://jobs.crs4.it .

CRS4 reserves the right to proceed with the selection and to stipulate the employment contract, which is the subject of this notice, even in the case of submission of only one application, without prejudice, in any case, to the assessment of the suitability of the candidate to hold the position in question. Successful candidates must fulfill the conditions to be admitted in the PhD programme in Computer Science at the University of Cagliari. These will be verified by the University of Cagliari before the signing contract. Candidates not passing this verification will be excluded from the selection.

7) EVALUATION CRITERIA

The selection committee shall draw up a ranking list. Candidates not meeting the requirements detailed in Section 2) will be excluded from the ranking.

For each eligible candidate, the selection committee awards up to a maximum of 40 points for the evaluation of the resume, and 60 points for the evaluation of the interview.

The 40 points for the evaluation of the resume  are subdivided as follows:

• Up to 3 5 points : Relevance of the study plan and degree obtained with respect the research program object of the selection and consistency of the candidate's overall profile with respect to the content of the research program object of selection

• Up to 5 points : Relevance and quality of publications, theses and scientific products presented with the research program object of selection

The candidates that will obtain a minimum score of 24/40 points will be admitted to the interview. The list of suitable candidates admitted to the interview will be available at http://jobs.crs4.it .

The interview will be conducted in English. The 60 points for the evaluation of the interview are subdivided as follows:

• Up to 25 points : Competences and experiences in computer science and systems

• Up to 30 points : Competences and experiences in image and signal processing, computer graphics and computer vision

• Up to 5 points : knowledge of English

The interview is considered as successfully passed with a minimum score of 36/60 points.

8) RANKING

At the end of the selection phase, the selection committee will establish the merit ranking on the basis of the overall score obtained by each candidate. The overall score is the sum of the points obtained in the evaluation of the qualifications and in the interview. Candidates with an overall score less than 60/100 will be considered not eligible. The Commission will usually close its activities within sixty days of the deadline for submission of applications.

The ranking will be approved by CRS4 and published on the website at http://jobs.crs4.it

9) CONTRACT

Following the publication of the ranking list, CRS4 will contact candidates according to the order of the ranking for the awarding of the ESR position. Candidates that will renounce, will fail to provide the documentation requested for establishing the contract, or will not be considered admissible to the PhD program of the University of Cagliari will be removed for the ranking.

Successful candidates will receive a 36-months fixed-term contract as detailed in Section 1). The contract will be funded by the research grant EVOCATION - funded by the European Community, Action H2020 MSCA ITN 2018, Agreement no. 813170, until the end of that project, and on dedicated funding for PhD projects until the end of the 36 months.

The salary will be determined according to Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions rules and will include living and mobility allowances.

CRS4 will provide accident insurance and will fulfill all other legal obligations in the field of employment. This notice and additional documentation are available and can be downloaded free of charge from http://jobs.crs4.it . The person in charge of the procedure is Dr. Enrico Gobbetti.

It should be noted that CRS4 has implemented the provisions of Legislative Decree no. 231/2001 and has, therefore, approved an organizational and control model called Organizational Model 231, with a Code of Ethics that is an integral and substantial part of the Model itself, which defines the ethical and social responsibility of all those who participate in the company. The candidates to this Selection Notice declare that they have read and understood the provisions of the aforementioned Model, which can be consulted on CRS4’s website.