We’re pleased to announce the advertisement of a three year postdoc position on the Programmable City project.   Full details of the project can be found on the Maynooth University HR page, but essentially the post will study algorithms and code used in smart city initiatives (broadly conceived) from a software studies perspective.  As such, the project will critically examine how software developers translate rules, procedures and policies into a complex architecture of interlinked algorithms that manage and govern how people traverse or interact with urban systems.  It will thus provide an in-depth analysis of how software and data are being produced to aid the regulation of city life in an age of software and ‘big data’. The primary methods will be a selection from those set out in the paper ‘Thinking critically about and researching algorithms’.

We are seeking applications from researchers with an interest in software studies, critical data studies, urban studies, and smart cities to work in an interdisciplinary team. Applicants will:

• have a keen interest in understanding software from a social science perspective;
• be a proficient programmer and able to comprehend other developer’s code;
• have a good, broad range of qualitative data creation and analysis skills;
• be interested in theory building;
• have an aptitude to work well in an interdisciplinary team;
• be prepared to undertake overseas fieldwork;
• have a commitment to publishing and presenting their work;
• have a willingness to communicate through new social media;
• be prepared to archive their data for future re-use by others;
• be prepared to help organise and attend workshops and conferences.

The closing data is 5th December.  See the full job description here for more details.

We would encourage any interested candidates to apply for the post and for readers of the blog to bring the post to the attention of those who you think might be interested, or circulate in your networks/social media.