The University of Helsinki is Finland’s oldest and largest academic institution, an international scholarly community of 40,000 students and researchers. In international university rankings, the University of Helsinki usually ranks among the top 100 universities in the world. The University of Helsinki is looking for solutions to global challenges and engendering new thinking for the benefit of humanity.
The University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts (https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-of-arts) is Finland’s oldest and largest unit of teaching and research in the arts in terms of the organisation and selection of its disciplines. The Faculty is also a significant international community of research, education and culture.
The Faculty of Arts invites applications for the position of

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER (COMPUTATIONAL HISTORY / DIGITAL HUMANITIES)

for a fixed term period of 25 months from 1 January 2022 until 31 January 2024 (or as agreed before 31 August 2024). We are looking to fill this position with expertise on computational history, digital humanities or data science. The successful candidate will become part of Helsinki Computational History Group (https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/computational-history) and work in an Academy of Finland funded project, RISE OF COMMERCIAL SOCIETY AND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PUBLISHING (RiCEP), 2020–2024: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/c18-publishing/. The data that the research group is using includes historical full-text collections and large metadata collections, especially Eighteenth-Century Collections Online (ECCO) and English Short-Title Catalogue (ESTC). The main objective of the project is to use this data to analyse the rise of commercial society in eighteenth-century publishing networks. We study the structure of these networks, linguistically innovative individuals and groups, questions of publishing and readership, and interaction between social and linguistic change.

Position Postdoctoral researcher in computational history, digital humanities or data science. Applicants need to have a proven suitable expertise to work in the project. The successful candidate is able to demonstrate in their application the ability to work with the ECCO and ESTC data and bring added value to the project. Experience in statistical programming (especially in Python and/or R) and previous application of computational methods to early-modern historical data is considered an advantage. We are particularly interested in a candidate showing an ability to study and analyse computationally publishing networks based on this data but we also welcome applicants that have an interest and ability to focus more on text mining the sources. We appreciate a proven track record in multidisciplinary collaboration, and an aptitude for applied research or methods development in digital humanities. Also, a different background from what has been described above is possible - what is of importance is the candidate’s ability to conduct multidisciplinary research undertaken in the project and aptitude to function in a research group aiming for text and data mining and statistical analysis. The successful candidate will actively collaborate with the research group, and participate in joint publications. More specific objectives for the position and forms of collaboration will be discussed during a possible interview of the candidate. Duties of postdoctoral research include normal participation in teaching at the Faculty (5-10%) and academic service.

An appointee to the position must hold a doctoral degree and the ability to conduct independent scientific research. In addition, the successful candidates are expected to have excellent skills in English.

The salary shall be based on levels 5 of the job requirement scheme for teaching and research staff in the salary system of Finnish universities. In addition, a salary component based on personal performance will be paid. The annual salary range will be approx. 41 000 EUR – 50 000 EUR (gross income). In addition, occupational healthcare will be provided. If the successful candidate is coming from outside Finland, it is possible to negotiate about the time spent in Finland and abroad, although it is not possible to work fully outside Helsinki.

Applications should consist of the following English-language documents (preferably as a single pdf-file):

* Curriculum Vitae (maximum 2 pages)

* List of Publications

* Expression of interest in the project explaining also the candidate's suitability (maximum 2 pages)

* names of possible references

Please submit your application, together with the required attachments, through the University of Helsinki Recruitment System via the link Apply for job. Applicants who are employees of the University of Helsinki are requested to send their application via the SAP HR portal.

Further information of the position can be obtained from Mikko Tolonen, mikko.tolonen at helsinki.fi