Postdoc Position on Multimedia Analysis

Euraxess; Utrecht; On-site; EUR 41,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Utrecht University is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to advance multimodal AI techniques for news ecosystems within the HAICu project. You will analyze text and image data, collaborate with national partners, and contribute to responsible, transparent AI for society.

The role involves close teamwork with a multidisciplinary team of AI and digital humanities researchers, with opportunities to engage with cultural institutions and archives across the Netherlands.

Qualifications

• PhD in computer science or AI.
• Demonstrable machine learning skills.
• Curiosity about societal issues and how AI can be employed for the public.
• Strong teamwork and collaboration with researchers and stakeholders.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Comfortable doing multidisciplinary research.

Responsibilities

• Research on text and image feature learning for news ecosystems.
• Work within the HAICu NWA-ORC project with multiple partner institutions.
• Develop and evaluate multimodal AI techniques on large digital heritage collections.
• Collaborate with societal partners to improve data-driven journalism.

Skills

Machine learning

English proficiency

Teamwork

Multidisciplinary research

Societal impact awareness

Education

PhD in computer science or AI

Job description

Organisation/Company Utrecht University Research Field Communication sciences » Journalism Computer science » Informatics Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Application Deadline 15 Sep 2026 - 21:59 (UTC) Country Netherlands Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Not Applicable Hours Per Week 40.0 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Are you passionate about developing cutting-edge AI techniques to enhance interaction and communication across multiple modalities, such as text, pictures, audio, and video? Join the large scale HAICu project to help unlock the potential of cultural digital archives through multimodal use, providing richer context and a more comprehensive analysis of current complex issues in society. If this fits your expertise and interests, the Interaction Division of Utrecht University is seeking you!

Your job

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work within the multi-partner HAICu NWA-ORC project. This project is implemented by an ambitious consortium including many universities, knowledge institutions, archives, foundations, cultural institutions and business partners in the Netherlands. It aims to use improved access to digital heritage to tutor the Digital Citizen in the use of big data. It brings together AI researchers and Digital Humanities scholars to seek solutions to the problem of inadequate data-mining tools we have, aiming to derive information from the continuous stream of data about the present and the past. This will help citizens and other regular users, heritage curators and journalists who are interested in tapping heritage collections, as well as civic organizations and authorities interested in improving civic participation.

The research in this postdoctoral position focuses on text and image feature learning for news ecosystems, analysing the complex multidimensional feature space of visual information to support data-driven journalism. This includes experiments for accountability, transparency, inclusiveness, and misinformation. The key technology is multimodal deep learning, and its extensions for these additional targets. In particular, we have a large collection of newspaper articles dealing with migration-related topics, and we are investigating how text and image analysis can provide insights into such a corpus.

Research will include testing, validation and evaluation on large scale and interoperable collections, in cooperation with the societal partners in the project, including the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, the National Archive, and the National Library of the Netherlands. The research will take place in collaboration with the HAICu fieldlab ‘Deep Journalism’, which develops functionality for searching for items about a similar topic from different archives and with various modalities to support news journalists.

As a postdoc in this project, you will conduct research in close collaboration with a multidisciplinary research team. This position offers you the opportunity to further develop your academic skills and contribute to groundbreaking research. Next to that it provides a unique opportunity to network with an extensive scientific and cultural network of people in the Netherlands, and to seek answers to societal problems jointly with a great team of top scholars.

We are looking for a talented postdoc candidate, with a keen interest in academic and professional development, who meets the following requirements:

• a PhD degree in computer science or artificial intelligence;
• demonstrable machine learning skills;
• curiosity about societal issues and how AI can be employed for the benefit of the public;
• strong teamwork skills, as collaboration with other researchers and stakeholders is key to the project’s success;
• comfortable in doing multidisciplinary research and interacting with important stakeholders and eager to conduct innovative and thorough research;
• fluency in written and spoken English.

Additional Information

• a position for 18 months (0.8 -1.0 FTE);
• a gross monthly salary, depending on qualifications and experience, between € 3.706 and €5.760 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 10 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University also offers a range of its own schemes for employees. This includes arrangements for professional development , various types of leave, and options for sports and cultural activities . You can also tailor your employment conditions through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage you to keep investing in your personal and professional development. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University .

Selection process

At Utrecht University, we strive to be a place where everyone feels at home. We value colleagues with different backgrounds, perspectives and identities, including differences in culture, religion or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, disability and age. We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive and contribute. Read more about our commitment to diversity and inclusion. If you have any questions about accessibility, for example regarding your workplace Buys Ballotgebouw , the application process or your work, please contact us via our HR contact page.

Knowledge security screening can be part of the selection procedures of academic staff. We do this, among other things, to prevent the unwanted transfer of sensitive knowledge and technology.

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If you are enthusiastic about this position, just apply via the 'Apply now' button. Please enclose:

• your letter of motivation;
• the names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of at least two references.

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