Tag Archives: Trento

Researcher position available in SoNet at FBK, Trento, Italy about social side of Wikipedia

A position is available in the SoNet (Social Networking) research unit at Bruno Kessler Foundation, Center for Information Technology, Trento, Italy. The SoNet research unit focuses its research on the social side of Wikipedia and wikis in general.

The successful candidate will join our group working on a project whose goal is to mine, analyze and computationally model the individual and collective behaviour in communities and social networks of Wikipedia users.
The ideal candidate should have:
* Ph.D. level education in a relevant discipline
* A good record of relevant research published in peer-reviewed conferences or journals
* Strong empirical and analytical orientation, with experience in handling large amounts of data coming from user action logs and social networks
* Experience with statistics and with analysis of complex networks
* Knowledge of at least one of Python, Perl, C/C++, R, Java
* Proficiency in both written and spoken English
Additional requirements:
* Prior experience in using social media for disseminating personal research
* Interdisciplinary background
* Experience with GNU/Linux systems

Type of contract: co.co.pro (collaboration contract) for one year. Initial appointments are for one year and renewal is based on performance. Gross Salary offer will be approximately Euro 22.500,00 and can be increased based on experience and skills of the candidate.

Feel free to contact me if you have any question and you can find more information about how to apply.

Random hacks of kindness (RHOK) in Trento

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Trento is a small Italian city but it is a great city from many perspectives. The quality of life of very good and the cultural offering is really good. Some posts from my blog show a talk by Larry Wall and one by PhdComics creator, a visit of Dalai Lama, Microsoft opening a research center in Trento and a great annual Festival of Economics but there it actually much more in this little city.

Today I announce that on June 4th and 5th, Random Hacks of Kindness (RHOK) is coming to Trento too (precisely in the research center where I work).
The goal is to put together hackers, coders, designers, engineers, programmers and geeks of every variety to tackle some real-world problems (disaster risk and climate change) and hack for humanity.
RHOK is going to take place in 15 locations around the globe and among them there is Trento, the smallest of the participating cities in fact. Below the list of cities where RHOK will take place simultaneously with the number of inhabitants (data from Wikipedia).

Jakarta, Indonesia	9,580,000
Santiago, Chile	6,676,745
Bangalore, India	5,438,065
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.	5,325,000
Toronto, Canada	4,753,120
Melbourne, Australia	4,077,036
Berlin, Germany	3,450,889
Nairobi, Kenya	3,138,295
Buenos Aires, Argentina	2,891,082
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.	2,712,205
Lusaka, Zambia	1,742,979
Aarhus, Denmark	249,709
Basel, Switzerland	169,019
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.	124,512
Trento, Italy	115,243

PhD Comics creator in Povo

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I work in Povo (Trento) and on April 28, 2001, at 4.00 pm, for the ICT International Doctoral School Welcome day, there will be Jorge Cham – Writer and artist of Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD Comics) “The power of procrastination”.
Below a comic made for the occasion. Translation for non-locals: “Pergine” is a small city close to Trento, “Teroldego” is a good local wine, “Spritz” is a local aperitif prepared with white or Prosecco wine, some Aperol or Campari, and sparkling mineral water. Actually there will be a free aperitif after the event, so what are you waiting?

… for your information, I since long reached the final state “hope they have a glass of Teroldego” ;)

Larry Wall talk in Povo

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On February 17, 2011 at 11:00, Larry Wall, creator of the Perl programming language, will give a talk in Povo (where I work), organized by CoSBI (The Microsoft Research – University of Trento Centre for Computational and Systems Biology).
The title is “That Goes Without Saying (or Does It)” and the abstract is:
Linguist Roman Jakobson famously said, ‘Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey’ Contrary to the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis, your language of choice does not generally prevent you from thinking certain thoughts, but your language can certainly make it easier or harder to express those thoughts. Lately I’ve enjoyed playing with various Perl examples on rosettacode.org, and have noticed this principle in action. In this talk we’ll look at some of the ways a language can make your life more miserable than it needs to be.
The seminar is free of charge but for logistics reasons you need to confirm your attendance on CoSBI site.

Developer position available in SoNet at FBK

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The group I lead (SoNet at FBK, Trento, Italy) is looking for a developer. Python and web programming are the key skills we are looking for.
See the call at ec.europa.eu/euraxess. Feel free to contact me if you have any question!

The SoNet research unit focuses its research on modeling social networks, analyzing their evolution in time and which incentives and strategies are needed in order to keep them lively and successful. The main focus at present it modeling sociality inside Wikipedia.
The successful candidate will support researchers of the group by writing Python and/or Java programs in order to test research hypotheses, and by creating simple web sites where research results are visualized.
Salary offer will be approximately Euro 19.000 before tax per year but can be increased based on experience and skills of the candidate.

70 Open PhD Positions in ICT at the University of Trento

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The Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science (DISI) at the University of Trento has 70 open PhD positions in the ICT area, almost all of them covered by scholarship.
The deadline for applications is April 20, 2010, before 12 noon, local time.

The Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science is one of the leading and faster-growing research institutions, characterized by a young and international faculty and by a large, international student population. Indicators for scientific production put the department among the very top in Europe. The successful candidate will therefore have the opportunity to work in a dynamic and exciting environment. Trento is a vibrant city with a beautifully preserved historic center, consistently ranked at the top for quality of life in Italy. It offers a variety of cultural and sports opportunities all year around, as well as excellent food and wine.

Dalai Lama in Trento on November 17th!

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The Dalai Lama will be in Trento Tuesday November 17th! He will participate to a discussion panel about “Autonomies for Tibet” at Auditorium Santa Chiara, Trento (14.30 – 16.30). The event is part of the 2 days Conference “Regional Self-Government, Cultural Identity and Multinational Integration: Comparative Experiences for Tibet”
(via TrentoBlog and TrentoWiki)

Below the program of the event (in Italian)
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Researchers’ Night at Fondazione Bruno Kessler

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Experiments, demonstrations, performances, meetings, exhibitions, guided tours, open workshops and a party to learn all about the world of science.
On September 25, 2009 Trento will be animated by “The Researchers’ night”, an event sponsored by the European Commission and organized by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (where I work) in collaboration with the Istituto Agrario S. Michele all’Adige, the University of Trento, Trentino Sviluppo, the Institute for evaluative research on public policies (IRVAPP), the Municipality of Trento and the Autonomous Province of Trento.

Check the Program and the video on Youtube.
The night will end up with a party and I’m sure you will not miss the opportunity to dance with a researcher! ;)

Children and adults will have the opportunity to understand science by experiencing its day-to-day practices, by frequenting the spaces and places where research is carried out and by coming into contact with its machinery and equipment, but above all by talking to those directly involved. The public participating will be actively involved in hands-on experiments, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, using also an accessible wording also for non scientists . Each of the venues for the day’s events will plan a “European corner”, providing information on Europe and European interventions in favour of researchers and research.

Through offering the public at large and specifically young people the opportunity to directly get in touch with researchers in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, the Researchers’ Night project not only allows the participants to better understand the input of research in economic growth, employment and competition and in their dally lives, but also offers a unique occasion to discover the “human face” of researchers. While discovering the fascinating aspects of the job, the visitors will also share with researchers their hopes, dreams, hobbies, concerns …and perceive them as “ordinary people”.

In the following the program but you better check the Program on the FBK web site.

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Great opportunity for post-doc positions in the SoNet (Social Networking) Group at the FBK-irst research institute in Trento, Italy.

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Since one year together with my colleague napo, I started and lead a research group in FBK, called SoNet. Our research focus is studying Web2.0 and social networking. You can have a look at our SoNet blog if you are interested (still a bit under construction …)

Well, there is now a great opportunity for post-doc positions in our group here in Trento, Italy.
Find information at http://www.uniricerca.provincia.tn.it/bandi_ricerca_en.asp . If you have any question about the position, please contact me!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the deadline is Monday September 14th, 2009.!

The opportunity
* incoming: funding of individual research projects, both “post-doc” and “team”, promoted by *Italian and foreign researchers* who will carry out the research activity inside Trento province;
* re-integration: funding of individual research projects, both “post-doc” and “team”, promoted by researchers who have been carrying out *research activity in a foreign country for at least three years* and aimed at their possible definitive return to Trentino.

What is SoNet
So Net is a research group inside FBK (Fondazione Bruno Kessler) research institute. FBK is located in Trento, north-east of Italy, and counts more than 350 researchers in a variety of areas, such as Information Technologies, Materials and Microsystems, and Humanities.
SoNet’s research focus is Social Networking and its impacts: more info at http://sonet.fbk.eu

Research in Trentino, Italy
Trentino is the right place in Italy for research. It hosts a large number of research labs from environmental studies to high-tech technologies. The Province of Trento allocates several resources such as infrastructure, real estate and funds to encourage research and innovation. Many institutes, both public and private, local, national and international have established their research units in Trento and Rovereto. Trentino is located in north-east Italy in a charming area of mountains and lakes.

Please forward this message to anybody who might be interested.

See you soon in Trento!

Trento is the capital of Economics from 29 May to 1 June: two Nobel prizes and much more!

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It is once again time for Trento Festival of Economics!!! The fourth edition of the Festival of Economics will animate the city of Trento from 29 May to 1 June.
Economists, legal experts, entrepreneurs, managers, politicians, sociologists and journalists will come together to publicly debate a central issue for our future: how to conciliate identity and globalisation in a time of crisis.

Economists of indisputable prestige coming from the best universities in the world will help us to clarify our ideas. They include two winners of the Nobel Prize for Economics. The first to participate in the Trento Festival will be George Akerlof, who will explain how important decisions are often inspired by “animal spirits” and how these instincts represent one of the causes of the current recession, with a sudden collapse in trust, a factor which governments will undoubtedly have to take into account. The second economist, James Heckman, will help us to understand how economics and psychology are the key to understanding our identity and personality.

It is possible to follow the Festival of Economics live on the Web TV!
And if you are coming to Trento you can do it with carpooling (search for a ride or offer a ride to Trento. At the OtherEconomy square there will be also a stand of Jungo!, a dynamic carpooling system that we are testing in Trento!
Ah, and I’m going to host someone I totally don’t know via couchsurfing! So, if you are coming to Trento for the festival contact me, I probably can host you as well!
I think carpooling and couchsurfing are two good examples of an economic system that is finally going to change … for the better! Good! I see you around in Trento!

In the following a copy and paste the program of the festival. But you can also download it as a single pdf file (program).

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