Scientific Collaborator (DFG Project)

The Max Planck Society is Germany’s premier research organization. The eighty-six Max Planck Institutes conduct research at highest levels, in the service of the general public, in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. 

The Digital Humanities Lab at the Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History in Rome seeks to appoint a full-time Scientific Collaborator (DFG Project).

The post is tenable starting 01 October, 2025, for a fixed-term contract of 16 months.

The selected candidate will join the Digital Humanities Lab to further the design and implementation of a Web-based semantic cataloging platform that will host research datasets on computational semiotics, paired with digitized and transcribed historical corpora of handwritten notes. Development will be led by the University of Lausanne (CH) as part of a research project in conjunction with the RWTH Aachen (DE), University of Groningen (NL) and metaLAB Harvard (US).

In particular, this position will contribute to the study, selection and application of deep learning models for handwritten text recognition (HTR) and its transformation to digital publishing formats such as TEI. The material so produced will be strongly bound to machine-readable semantic metadata and paradata describing its provenance, content, and the knowledge extracted from said content. Visual representation paradigms will be devised and implemented in order to make the catalog into a dynamic publication that can be explored from a variety of angles depending on the research questions.

Key tasks

• Investigate HTR mechanisms, with particular regard to layout detection and recognition of diagrams in handwritten notes, in tight collaboration with the team in Lausanne.
• Research and devise ontology schemas for the storage and publishing of knowledge and data from the project.
• Assist in the selection of the Web platforms (e.g. ResearchSpace, Arches, TEIpublisher integration) of choice for the project.
• Implement semantic cataloging binding together text (TEI) and semantic annotations / metadata, including Web templates for visualization (with the partners in Groningen) and patterns for database query/update.
• Halfway through the post, collaborate with the computational semiotics team in Aachen to evolve the data model and catalogue implementation based on their findings.
• Contribute to the scientific dissemination of the project outcomes (e.g. by authoring publications and attending themed events, including those organized by the project).

Experience

• PhD (already obtained or due soon) in Computer Science or in a computational branch of a discipline in the Humanities
• Experience with applying information technologies to a Digital Humanities setting is a plus.

Skills

Essential:

• Foundational understanding of Linked Data standards (RDF, SPARQL, ontologies)
• Knowledge of NoSQL database paradigms and their implementations (e.g. document databases like MongoDB, graph databases like Jena or Virtuoso)
• Web application development (e.g. React or native JavaScript)
• Ability to interact with HTTP-based APIs regardless of the programming language
• Ability to quickly learn new standards based on the above knowledge
• Inclination toward international team work and continuous reporting/issue tracking/development documentation

Desirable:

• Knowledge of semantic virtual research environments (e.g. ResearchSpace, Arches, Omeka-S, WissKI) for usage and customization. Alternatively, experience with content management systems like WordPress or Drupal can be considered.
• Experience in computational linguistics is a plus, as is knowledge of Natural language processing and/or machine learning techniques
• Experience with digital publishing technologies (e.g TEI, IIIF, TEIpublisher)
• Knowledge of the Python programming language
• Web templating mechanisms (e.g. Handlebars, Django, or Jekyll)

Languages

• English
• German and/or Italian desirable

Wages

This project is funded by DFG within the "Weave Partner Agency” funding program. The salary expected is Postdoctoral Researcher or Comparable, 16 months 100% with a tentative start date in the beginning of October 2025. The position is based in Rome (Italy), but options for partially remote work can be discussed.

The Max Planck society strives for diversity and gender equality. We welcome applications from all backgrounds. Furthermore, The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such qualified individuals.

How to apply

Send your application online by 31 July, 2025 through the recruitment platform: https://recruitment.biblhertz.it/position/17924100.

It must include:

• Cover letter (1 page max)
• Curriculum vitae & studiorum
• Portfolio and/or References (max 3 of those combined) that you feel useful to better demonstrate your competences (online links are encouraged)

Contact

Please address inquiries and questions to alessandro.adamou@biblhertz.it.