CERIDES Vacancies: Research Associate / Research Fellows Position(s) – funded by METICOS

June 22, 2020
Christos Dimopoulos

Deadline : 30th of June 2020

METICOS (A Platform for Monitoring and Prediction of Social Impact and Acceptability of Modern Border Control Technology) aims to introduce Big Data Analysis of border control information systems, in order to provide a step-change towards more modern and efficient Smart Border management and towards gaining societal and political acceptance of modern control technologies of EU borders such as “no gate solutions”. It is therefore positioned as an initiative to create a real-time decision-support system with regard to different Smart Border control technologies that empowers three major stakeholder groups within the European border control sector (i.e., travellers and border control authorities & service providers) to ensure user acceptance, secure positive societal impact and maximize border control process efficiency. To this end, the METICOS project will develop a platform that integrates information systems and networks of data sources in order to validate the efficiency and users’ acceptance of border control technologies like fingerprint and iris scanners. The proposed platform will provide metrics and KPIs to authorities and decision makers, based on a number of independent variables: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, physical privacy, accuracy, information privacy, as well as ethical and societal perceptions. To maximize impact of the project, METICOS will join the European Initiative for Smart Borders and contribute aforementioned cross-border and cross-cultural Big Data Analysis and decision support systems that feature harvesting of multi-lingual and cross-sectorial data from heterogeneous sources, different analytics approaches and risk assessment methods.

METICOS will be demonstrated and validated under real operating conditions. This will involve two pilot implementations executed at five different countries involving actors playing the role of real travellers and staff (actors playing the role of border officers). Furthermore, the METICOS ecosystem aims to work closely with other border control research initiatives to demonstrate its operational performance improvements by means of combined validation with these solutions.

CERIDES – Excellence in Innovation and Technology’s Senior Research Fellow, Dr Pantelis Velanas coordinate’s the project.

We provide

  • A strong, engaging, collaborative and inclusive network of academics and practitioners
  • Become part of a dynamic team, that works with and for the scientific community and society
  • A competitive salary depending on previous experience and education

Skills desired

Specific

For the Research Associate position(s)

  • Coordination/Management activities for EC-funded and national Research and Innovation Projects
  • Managing cross-discipline and co-located project teams for internal or project level activities
  • Planning and Tracking project schedule and major outcomes (incl. deliverables and milestones)
  • Supervision, coordination and/or execution of project related or non-project related technical tasks
  • Handling of communication both within the group and with external partners (academia/research, industrial, public authorities)
  • Reporting on both technical and management level on the projects on the level of deliverables, technical and management reports
  • Responsible for managing the complete life cycle of idea->proposal->project->delivery of final outcome

Qualifications and Skills:

  • BSc/MSc degree in Computer Engineering or similar degree in social studies
  • Ability to manage and control large scale projects involving multi-disciplinary teams respecting project objectives, requirements and constraints
  • Ability to coordinate local teams and consortia to fulfill the project objectives
  • Ability to analyse, interpret as well as communicate data
  • Ability to work with agreed deadlines
  • Fluent oral and writing English skills
  • Excellent presentation skills
  • Excellent command of MS Office suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)

 

General

  • A genuine interest in the areas of interest of METICOS. Previous experience is highly appreciated;
  • Good communication skills and good proficiency in English (both oral and written);
  • Good communication in another European language (Italian, French, Spanish or Germany);
  • Willingness to travel including secondments in Europe or abroad, and travel to international training meetings, courses and any fieldwork.
  • Ability to function as a team member, work independently and take responsibility for own research goals.

Employment conditions

  • We offer a fixed-term position, for the duration of the METICOS project.

About the employer

European University Cyprus operates five Schools, namely, the School of Humanities, Social & Education Sciences, the School of Business Administration, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Sciences, the Medical School, and the School of Law with the mission to educate students for successful careers and life achievement, to understand and serve the needs of society, and to create knowledge through research and innovation. EUC is the only university in Cyprus and Greece to be rated by QS TOP UNIVERSITIES (QS Stars), which ranks many of the most prestigious universities in the United States, Canada and Europe. The University has been assessed with the highest distinction of 5-Stars in Teaching, Facilities, Inclusiveness, Social Responsibility and Internationalization. Its 4-Star distinction in the field of Employability is also considered a remarkable success, a result of the close association of its academic programs to the job market.

EUC is ranked among the 300+ Universities at Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings.

The Centre for Risk and Decision Sciences (CERIDES) provides a holistic offer to the academic and business world. The Centre is based on the offering of educational (taught), research and consulting solutions. The Centre has emerged from the synergies that have been identified between the Centre for Risk, Safety and the Environment (CERISE) and the Decision Support and Systems Optimization (DSSO) Laboratory and operates under the auspices of European University Cyprus. It is the first cross-disciplinary, cross-School Center of Excellence of European University Cyprus.

Our focus revolves around the development, use and evaluation of quantitative and qualitative methods in order to measure, assess, manage and communicate risk, and to analyze, design and implement decision-making mechanisms and systems. Our areas of focus revolve around two basic pillars; risk and decision science with an application to a number of horizontal areas such as: Security, Safety, Cybersecurity, Telecommunications, Critical Infrastructure Protection and Industrial Processes.

CERIDES – Excellence in Innovation and Technology is technology oriented and has already developed tools and apps relevant to its work.  CERIDES – Excellence in Innovation and Technology aim is to become an innovation center forming and developing products that can be commercialized at a later stage.

CERIDES – Excellence in Innovation and Technology research and researchers are funded through its participation in highly competitive research projects.  CERIDES – Excellence in Innovation and Technology has already obtained over €4 Mn (March 2020) in Horizon 2020, FP7, DG ECHO, DG HOME, DG Justice, ERASMUS+, Norwegian Grants, Cyprus Research and Innovation Council funded projects.

More information

For more information about these positions please contact Dr. Pantelis Velanas ([email protected] ) or look at http: http://www.euc.ac.cy and https://cerides.euc.ac.cy/

How to apply

  • Submit motivation letter, copies of relevant qualifications and a CV

Job announcement open until 30th June 2020.

Do not e-mail directly to the person mentioned above, but forward your application to the EUC Research Office at [email protected].

All applications shall be treated in strict confidentiality and only candidates that meet the job specifications will be contacted.