The ISI Foundation (https://www.isi.it/en/home) is looking for an excellent candidate to fill an open junior post-doctoral position focusing on the measurement and analysis of high-resolution social networks in the context of the SocioPatterns collaboration (http://www.sociopatterns.org/). The selected candidate will collaborate with the “Data Science & Computational Social Science” research area and with the “Digital Epidemiology” research area of ISI Foundation, under the supervision of the SocioPatterns PIs Dr. Ciro Cattuto and Dr. Alain Barrat, and in close collaboration with Dr. Laetitia Gauvin and Dr. Michele Tizzoni.

The appointed researcher will engage in the collection and analysis of high-resolution social/contact network data using wearable proximity sensors, in a variety of contexts (households, schools, hospitals) relevant to fundamental and applied research in infectious disease dynamics and computational social science.
More specifically, the candidate will work on new datasets of unprecedented scale collected in low-resource settings in collaboration with KEMRI Wellcome Trust in Kenya and with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa. These data will provide a new window on social/contact networks in developing settings​, for which no sociometric data at this scale has ever been available.
The research activities will revolve around the mathematical modeling of epidemic processes on empirical networks but also around fundamental open challenges on dealing with data incompleteness, on modeling temporal and structural heterogeneities, on exploiting the multi-dimensional nature of high-resolution contact networks, on relating social network structure and rich metadata with disease dynamics and phylogenetic pathogen diversity.
The researcher will enjoy exclusive access to novel and unique datasets, training in state-of-the-art proximity sensing technology, ISI’s privileged position in a growing community of scholars studying high-resolution social/contact networks, and the chance to work in a genuinely interdisciplinary collaboration, driving forward the state of the art of using digital data to reason about social networks and public health.

The ideal candidate should be comfortable with the handling of large data sets, statistical analytics, network science, mathematical modeling, and working with a diverse array of data sources. Applicants with some training in computational epidemiology, computational biology or mathematical modeling of infectious diseases are encouraged to apply.

The researcher is expected to produce high quality scientific and technical outputs including journal articles, conference papers and presentations and technical reports.

Required skills:
Ph.D in Computer Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Epidemiology, Public Health, or related quantitative field.
Good programming skills in Python, as well as proficiency with libraries for data manipulation and analysis, e.g. Pandas and Scikit-learn.
Fluency in English, both spoken and written.
Experience in writing scientific papers.
Highly collaborative spirit and personal initiative.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

ISI offers:
A rich opportunity for collegial interaction in a highly stimulating environment, with a scientific culture that spans network science, data mining, machine learning, mathematics and complex systems science. Salary is complemented with medical and pension benefits according to the Italian State.
The researcher will be appointed for one year (12 months) with the possibility to extend for a second year, based on satisfactory performance.

To apply:
To apply, please send your cover letter, curriculum vitae and professional reference list to Dr. Ciro Cattuto (ciro.cattuto@isi.it).
Application deadline is January 31st 2019, but applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
ISI is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion or disability.

Position details:
Length: 12 months, full-time, with potential to be extended for a second year.
Location: ISI Foundation, Turin, Italy
Starting date: as soon as possible

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Evaluation begins immediately.