Position Summary:
The global digital advertising market is projected to experience robust growth. In order to provide relevant and effective advertisements to users, current advertising systems rely on collecting and utilizing large amounts of high-quality (and often sensitive) user data, including: Demographic attributes, Interests and hobbies, Geographical and
location information, Historical behaviour of the user. However, due to concerns about personal privacy, a large number of users have stopped given consent for the collection and use of their personal data, and become
anonymous users (non-personalized) in ad placement.
To address the challenge, this project aims to develop new privacy-by-design algorithms to for an industry-leading ad privacy protection and processing mechanism, in compliance with strict user privacy protection standards (such
as GDPR).
We are seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to join our interdisciplinary team working on a cutting-edge project to develop a privacy-compliant, knowledge graph (KG)-driven computational advertising framework.
This role focuses on designing and deploying dynamic knowledge graphs to enhance non-personalized
recommendation systems while ensuring strict adherence to GDPR and other privacy regulations. The successful
candidate will collaborate with recommender systems experts, machine learning engineers, and architects to bridge semantic reasoning with deep learning techniques (e.g., graph neural networks) in a device-cloud collaborative environment. This is an advanced research focused role, building on your prior experience as a post-doctoral fellow, where you will conduct a specified programme of research supported by research training under the supervision and direction of a Principal Investigator.The primary purpose of the role is to develop new or advanced research skills and competences, on the processes of publication in peer-reviewed academic publications and scholarly dissemination, the development of funding
proposals, and the supervision and mentorship of graduate students along with the opportunity to develop your
skills in research led teaching.In addition to the Principal Duties and Responsibilities listed below, the successful candidate will also carry out the following duties specific to this project:
• Contributing to the design and delivery of the proposed project.
• Working with the industry partner closely.
• Collaborating with other researchers both in UCD and Externally.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
• Conduct a specified programme of research and scholarship under the supervision and direction of your
Principal Investigator.
• Engage in appropriate training and professional development opportunities as required by your Principal
Investigator, your School or Institute, or the University.
• Support your Principal Investigator and research group in the design and development of the research
programme.
• Support if required, the development of proposals for research funding.
• Engage in the dissemination of the results of the research in which you are engaged as directed by and
with the support of and under the supervision of your Principal Investigator.
• Engage in the wider research and scholarly activities of your research group, School and Institute.
• Take responsibility as requested for day-to-day advice and support of graduate research students associated with your research group.
• Mentor and assist, as appropriate and as directed, the research graduate students in your group, School
and Institute.
• Carry out administrative and management work associated with your programme of research.
Salary Range: €53,770 – €58,479 per annum
Appointment on the above range will be dependent on qualifications and experience
Details on eligibility to compete and pension information is available at
https://www.ucd.ie/hr/resourcing/eligibilitytocompete/
UCD is committed to creating an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated and everyone is afforded
equality of opportunity. We welcome applications from everyone, including those who identify with any of the
protected characteristics that are set out in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. Learn more about Diversity
at: https://www.ucd.ie/workatucd/diversity/
Reasonable accommodations will be provided to any applicant during the interview process who discloses they
have a disability or are neurodiverse.
Selection Criteria
Selection criteria outline the qualifications, skills, knowledge and/or experience that the successful candidate would need to demonstrate for successful discharge of the responsibilities of the post.Applications will be assessed on the basis of how well candidates satisfy these criteria.
Mandatory:
• PhD in Computer Science
• 2/3 years postdoctoral research experience
• Data Science, or a related field, with a focus on knowledge graphs, semantic web technologies, or graph
databases.
• Proven experience in building and deploying KGs (e.g., ontology design, RDF/OWL, SPARQL) in academic or
industrial projects.
• Strong programming skills in Python and familiarity with graph frameworks (e.g., PyTorch Geometric, DGL).
• Working knowledge of privacy-preserving technologies (e.g., differential privacy, homomorphic encryption)
• Demonstrated ability to work in interdisciplinary teams (e.g., with ML engineers and system architects).
• Excellent communication skills for articulating technical trade-offs to non-experts.
• Demonstrated understanding of operational requirements for a successful research project and managing resources
• Knowledge and application of the principles underpinning successful grant application
• Ability to identify and fulfil the academic writing requirements for target publications
• Proven record of working with team members and PhD students to help build their research skill and
knowledge and to support and guide their professional development
• Generates new ideas and links and builds upon existing ideas to generate unique concepts and solutions
• Candidates must demonstrate an awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion agenda.
The PD2 post is intended for researchers that have completed PD1. As with the PD1, if you have already completed your PD2 stage in UCD or will soon complete a PD2, or your total Postdoctoral experience, inclusive of the duration of the advertised post, would exceed 6 years, you should not apply and should refer to Research Fellow posts instead.
Desirable:
• Experience applying graph neural networks (GNNs) or multi-task learning to recommendation tasks and
familiarity with ad-tech ecosystems (e.g., CVR/CTR prediction, real-time bidding).
• Hands-on experience with distributed graph databases (e.g., NebulaGraph, TigerGraph) or streaming
frameworks (e.g., Apache Flink).
• Contributions to open-source KG/ML projects (e.g., Wikidata, OpenKE).
• Understanding of GDPR, CCPA, or other data governance frameworks;
• Experience designing data anonymization pipelines for industrial applications.
• Demonstrated understanding of the value of academic and commercial information e.g. Non-disclosure
agreements
• Knowledge of IP processes and knows how to protect findings
Informal Enquiries ONLY to:
Name: Dr Ruihai Dong
Title: Assistant Professor & Principal Investigator
Email address: Ruihai.dong@ucd.ie
Telephone: 01 7162631