Postdoc position on normative diversity in news recommendations

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 49,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing support for expats

Flexible scheduling

Job summary

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam has a vacancy for a postdoctoral researcher focused on normative diversity in news recommendations. The aim is to develop recommender systems that inform readers and incorporate societal considerations rather than solely maximizing clicks.

The project explores avenues such as multi-objective reranking, reader experiments, newsroom dashboards, and NLP pipelines.

Qualifications

• PhD in AI or related field with focus on recommender systems.
• Experience with diversity, fairness, or inclusivity in data.
• Excellent English communication; ability to work across disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Develop recommender systems prioritizing normative diversity.
• Experiment with readers to test information needs.
• Build a dashboard for newsroom control.
• Create NLP pipelines to extract information from text.

Skills

Recommender systems

Diversity / fairness

Interdisciplinary collaboration

English communication

Education

PhD in AI or related field

Tools

Python

NLP libraries

Job description

Postdoc position on normative diversity in news recommendations

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) has a vacancy in the Human-Centered Data Analyticsresearch group for a talented Postdoc position on normative diversity in news recommendations.

Do you want to work on news recommendation technology that focuses on informing readers, rather than merely optimizing for clicks? We are looking for a talented postdoctoral researcher (m/f/x) to work with us on developing recommender systems that prioritize normative diversity.

Incorporating normative diversity into the design of news recommender systems has gained increasing attention in recent years, but as of yet production-ready solutions remain lacking. Over the course of this project, we will work on one of multiple lines of research necessary to take the field from theoretical notions towards solutions with societal impact. Example research lines include, but are not limited to:

• Efficient reranking of a recommendation towards multiple normative goals
• Conducting experiments with readers to test whether information needs are satisfied
• Building a dashboard the newsroom can use to control the recommender system
• Building NLP pipelines to automatically extract relevant information from text

Potential candidates can pick one of the suggested topics, but are also welcome to propose their own ideas within the broad subject of normative news recommender system design. The project is positioned within both CWI’s Human-Centered Data Analytics group, and the interdisciplinary AI, Media and Democracy Lab, which investigates how AI-driven applications in the media change the public sphere, civic engagement and economic competition.

Requirements

Candidates are required to have a PhD degree in Artificial Intelligence or related fields, such as Computer Science, Data Science, Information Science or Computational Social Science. Desired qualifications for candidates include:

• Theoretical knowledge of and practical experience with recommender systems;
• Knowledge of and experience with conceptualizing diversity, or alternatively fairness/bias/inclusivity in data and systems;
• Experience in working together with a team of people from different disciplines and/or between academia and industry;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.

Candidates who possess most but not all of these qualifications are welcome to apply. Candidates who will soon finalize their PhD are also eligible.

Terms and conditions

The terms of employment are in accordance with the Dutch Collective Labour Agreement for Research Centres ("CAO-onderzoeksinstellingen"). The gross monthly salary for an employee on a full time basis, depending on relevant work experience, ranges from € 4,374 to € 5,758. The position is available for a maximum of two years. The initial contract is for one year, with the possibility of renewal for up to the total of two years.

Employees are also entitled to a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.33%. CWI offers attractive working conditions, including flexible scheduling.

CWI offers attractive working conditions, including flexible scheduling and help with housing for expat employees.

The deadline for applications is September 30th, 2026.

Interviews are scheduled to take place between October 28 and 30.

The preferred starting date is January 1st, 2027. An earlier or later starting date can be discussed.

Both national and international applications are welcome. No agencies please.

CWI strives to be a diverse and inclusive research institute. To achieve balanced representation in positions, we have been investing in a diverse and inclusive organization already since 2010, among others by prioritizing applications from women researchers.This approach has recently led to hiring a majority of women in Tenure Track positions.

CWI encourages a diverse workforce: we endeavour to develop talent and creativity by bringing people from different backgrounds and cultures together. We strongly encourage candidates with the appropriate qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, origin, sexual orientation or physical abilities.

About CWI

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) is the Dutch national research institute for mathematics and computer science and is part of the Institutes Organisation of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) . The mission of CWI is to conduct pioneering research in mathematics and computer science, generating new knowledge in these fields and conveying it to trade, industry, and society at large.

CWI is an internationally oriented institute, with 160 scientists from approximately 27 countries, an informal atmosphere and short lines of communication. We have an activity committee that organizes after-work activities and among others a women’s network.

CWI is located at Science Park Amsterdam, which is a major location of research in the physical sciences in The Netherlands, housing the sciences of the University of Amsterdam as well as several other national research institutes next to CWI.

About Research group

The HCDA group focuses on exploring human-centered, responsible AI in culture and media to ensure inclusive digital systems that promote diversity and combat misinformation.

Human-Centered Data Analytics

Job description

Do you want to work on news recommendation technology that focuses on informing readers, rather than merely optimizing for clicks? We are looking for a talented postdoctoral researcher (m/f/x) to work with us on developing recommender systems that prioritize normative diversity.

Incorporating normative diversity into the design of news recommender systems has gained increasing attention in recent years, but as of yet production-ready solutions remain lacking. Over the course of this project, we will work on one of multiple lines of research necessary to take the field from theoretical notions towards solutions with societal impact. Example research lines include, but are not limited to:

• Efficient reranking of a recommendation towards multiple normative goals
• Conducting experiments with readers to test whether information needs are satisfied
• Building a dashboard the newsroom can use to control the recommender system
• Building NLP pipelines to automatically extract relevant information from text

Potential candidates can pick one of the suggested topics, but are also welcome to propose their own ideas within the broad subject of normative news recommender system design. The project is positioned within both CWI’s Human-Centered Data Analytics group, and the interdisciplinary AI, Media and Democracy Lab, which investigates how AI-driven applications in the media change the public sphere, civic engagement and economic competition.

Requirements

Candidates are required to have a PhD degree in Artificial Intelligence or related fields, such as Computer Science, Data Science, Information Science or Computational Social Science. Desired qualifications for candidates include:

• Theoretical knowledge of and practical experience with recommender systems;
• Knowledge of and experience with conceptualizing diversity, or alternatively fairness/bias/inclusivity in data and systems;
• Experience in working together with a team of people from different disciplines and/or between academia and industry;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.

Candidates who possess most but not all of these qualifications are welcome to apply. Candidates who will soon finalize their PhD are also eligible.

Terms and conditions

The terms of employment are in accordance with the Dutch Collective Labour Agreement for Research Centres ("CAO-onderzoeksinstellingen"). The gross monthly salary for an employee on a full time basis, depending on relevant work experience, ranges from € 4,374 to € 5,758. The position is available for a maximum of two years. The initial contract is for one year, with the possibility of renewal for up to the total of two years.

Employees are also entitled to a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.33%. CWI offers attractive working conditions, including flexible scheduling.

CWI offers attractive working conditions, including flexible scheduling and help with housing for expat employees.

Information and application

For more information about the vacancy, please contact Sanne Vrijenhoek [e-mail] .
For more information about CWI, please visit www.cwi.nl or watch our video about working at CWI .

The deadline for applications is September 30th, 2026.

Interviews are scheduled to take place between October 28 and 30.

The preferred starting date is January 1st, 2027. An earlier or later starting date can be discussed.

Both national and international applications are welcome. No agencies please.

Diversity code

CWI strives to be a diverse and inclusive research institute. To achieve balanced representation in positions, we have been investing in a diverse and inclusive organization already since 2010, among others by prioritizing applications from women researchers.This approach has recently led to hiring a majority of women in Tenure Track positions.

CWI encourages a diverse workforce: we endeavour to develop talent and creativity by bringing people from different backgrounds and cultures together. We strongly encourage candidates with the appropriate qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, origin, sexual orientation or physical abilities.

About CWI

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) is the Dutch national research institute for mathematics and computer science, and is part of the Institutes Organisation of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) . The mission of CWI is to conduct pioneering research in mathematics and computer science, generating new knowledge in these fields and conveying it to trade, industry, and society at large.

CWI is an internationally oriented institute, with 160 scientists from approximately 27 countries, an informal atmosphere and short lines of communication. We have an activity committee that organizes after-work activities and among others a women’s network.

CWI is located at Science Park Amsterdam, which is a major location of research in the physical sciences in The Netherlands, housing the sciences of the University of Amsterdam as well as several other national research institutes next to CWI.

About Research group

The HCDA group focuses on exploring human-centered, responsible AI in culture and media to ensure inclusive digital systems that promote diversity and combat misinformation.

Human-Centered Data Analytics