The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), Berlin (Dept. III, Artefacts, Action, Knowledge, Director: Prof. Dagmar Schäfer), seeks an outstanding scholar for the position of 

IT Developer (full time, up to TVöD E14). The position will be for two years.

Starting date: as soon as possible, but no later than February 1, 2017

Candidates should have strong skills and rich experiences in designing and programming web-based software with intuitive user interface. S/he will be working as the chief developer for the Chinese Local Gazetteers Project at the department and will be responsible for developing digital tools that allow historians to collect data from digital versions of Chinese local gazetteers (difangzhi 地方志) for research on larger scales as well as to visualize and to analyze the collected data.

As the project is now in its 2^nd phase, the successful candidate will be mainly responsible for enhancing and continuing developing the tools, which includes: (1) a full-text search engine for traditional Chinese texts implemented in Java and MySQL, (2) a data extraction interface for turning texts into tabular datasets implemented in Java and JavaScript, (3) a research data repository for storing and sharing the collected data based on Dataverse (Java & PostgreSQL; see http://dataverse.org/ ), and a GIS mapping tool for displaying the geospatial distribution of the collected data with other visual analysis features based on PLATIN (in JavaScript and PHP; see http://platin.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ ). The concrete tasks will include fixing bugs, refactoring the architecture of the tools, and developing new features. The successful candidate will work closely with the Digital Content Curator of the department, Dr. Shih-Pei Chen, who directs the technological development of the project.

As the Chinese Local Gazetteers Project is part of the Research Infrastructure for the Study of East Asia (RISE), the successful candidate will also work on incorporating the LG tools to the greater RISE architecture, which aims at developing a digital commonwealth for East Asian Studies in Europe that will allow scholars to work with large quantity of digital resources via state-of-the-art computational methods. S/he will work with partner institutions to design and develop APIs for securely transmitting texts and research data among repositories and incorporated digital tools, as well as modifying the LG tools to fit them into the RISE architecture. This position will have the chance to work with other IT developers and historians within the institute as well as from other research institutions in Europe, the US, and Asia.

Skills and requirement:

·      Strong skills in developing web applications in the Java framework as well as in JavaScript and PHP

·      Familiar with handling MySQL and PostgreSQL in the above languages

·      Experience of managing the following web servers: Apache, Tomcat, Glassfish

·      Experience of working in Linux-based environments (especially Ubuntu & Mac OS)

·      Strong skills in designing, implementing, and refactoring full software package

·      Proficiency in English writing and speaking as well as Chinese reading

·      Capable of working independently and proactively

·      Good communication skills with both developers and non-developers

Additional qualifications (optional):

·      Reading of classical Chinese

·      Experience in digital humanities or humanities-tailored projects

Interested candidates are requested to submit their applications online using the following link:

https://s-lotus.gwdg.de/mpg/mbwg/dep3_it_dev_2016.nsf/application

Your application should contain – to be uploaded as 1 PDF document: cover letter and resume/CV which should include a portfolio of selected works to demonstrate the candidate’s ability in designing and developing web applications, publication list, names and email contact of three referees.

The submission deadline will be November 28^th, 2016. Successful applicants will be contacted within two weeks after the deadline. The job interview is scheduled on December 13^th, 2016. Please note that only successful candidates will be notified.

For questions about this position, please contact Dr. Shih-Pei Chen (schen@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de). For technical questions regarding the application portal, for administrative questions concerning the position and the Institute, please first contact the Department secretary (schaeferoffice@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de).

Candidates of all nationalities are encouraged to apply; applications from women are especially welcome. The Max Planck Society is committed to employing handicapped individuals and encourages them to apply.