Postdoctoral position in DLT technology and financial law

The Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, is seeking applications for one or more Postdocs. The positions are part of the FinForsk: Identifying Financial Crime in Central Bank Digital Currency Data.

The position is available from January 1, 2022 and for the duration of one year.

Introduction
An innovative new research project “Identifying Financial Crime in Central Bank Digital Currency Data” is being initiated at the Faculty of Law and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Copenhagen, thanks to funding from the NASDAQ foundation. The research aims to analyze and review the possibilities of more efficient AML/CFT enforcement through an application of DLT technology. The project will review the existing legal frameworks for combatting financial crimes and design a solution that is efficient in identifying complex financial crimes in transaction data while operating transparently and fairly.

We are looking for a researcher with an innovative mindset and intellectual curiosity in computer science and law. The researcher is a collaborative team player with a desire to contribute to interdisciplinary research and the future financial system.

The applicant shall have a strong knowledge and/or experience in computer science, finance, law, or a closely related field. Understanding and experience with DLT technologies, cryptocurrencies, and anti-money laundering will be a great advantage.

The postdoctoral fellow would work with Associate Professor Alexandra Andhov from the Faculty of Law and Associate Professor Omri Ross from the Department of Computer Science. This is an interdisciplinary project that offers opportunities and close interactions with the leaders in the DLT industry.

Your role
Successful applicant will contribute to the research project and together with the rest of the team produce holistic design guidance on CGDC AML/CFT regulation, while complying with the right to privacy and data protection regulation, with an agile enforcement mechanism based on non-invasive monitoring practices. The postdoctoral fellow will work predominantly on the identification and predictive modelling of AML/CFT discretions in DLT transaction data through the exploration of the application of modern machine learning methodologies to DLT data.

Furthermore, the postdoc position also has a teaching obligation. The teaching obligations enable the candidate to develop and strengthen their teaching experience and portfolio.

Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the faculty's research areas and education programs by visiting the Faculty’s website: https://jura.ku.dk/english

The Faculty actively supports the effort to learn Danish.

Required qualifications
The position requires academic qualifications PhD, JSD or equivalent degree in computer science, law or finance. All applicants are expected to be able to use English as the working language (written and spoken). Successful candidates will demonstrate a clear potential to deliver high quality peer-reviewed research publications.  

In the overall assessment, emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s research potential. Special emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s ambition to develop and implement new research ideas, which may have an international impact. Furthermore, the Faculty places emphasis on the applicant’s interest and preferably, prior experience, in working with other researchers to conduct collective research and teaching activities and welcomes the applicant’s proven ability to make a valuable contribution in this regard.

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment is for one year and will be made in accordance with the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikernes Centralorganisation, AC). The annual salary for postdoctoral researchers is within the range DKK 412.000 – 434 (EUR 55,000 – 57,900 app.). In addition to the salary paid directly to you, the University will also pay a monthly contribution to your pension fund corresponding to 17.1 % of your salary. It is possible to negotiate further salary supplements. 

The position include 85% research and reduced teaching and administrative responsibilities.

For further information, please see ‘Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2019’ and ‘Guide to appointment of permanent academic staff at the Faculty of Law’ . Both documents are available on the Faculty’s website.

Application
Letter of motivation, appendices and the submitted research publications (including papers, articles and books), must be written in English. The application will be rejected if not all the required documents are submitted.

It is essential that you fill out all the mandatory fields in the electronic application even though the info is already stated in your CV, application, publication or other material you may find relevant to upload. The completed fields will be screened during the shortlisting and assessment process and in order to generate your final assessment, which we will send to you after the assessment work is finalized.

The application MUST include the following nine (9) elements:

1. Letter of motivation (a one page document explaining the reasons for applying);

2. Curriculum vitae

3. Research project. Applications should include a proposal for a research project to be completed during the post-doctoral period. Proposals should be no more than four pages long. The proposal should demonstrate the capacity to develop a postdoctoral project, identifying the relevant methodological tools to achieve the outlined project. Applicant is encouraged to reach out to Prof. Andhov or Ross for further guidance

4. Diplomas, PhD or JSD diploma or alternatively a document showing that the applicant submitted or will submit a dissertation; 

5. Publication list. (Complete, numbered list of publications)

6. Teaching portfolio, including documentation for teaching qualifications as well as a brief statement of the applicant's teaching visions within the research area. For more information regarding the teaching portfolio, please see the related https://uddannelseskvalitet.ku.dk/quality-assurance-of-study-programmes

7. Academic references, if available (please upload under “other relevant material”);

8. A maximum of five (5) scientific publications that the applicant wishes to have included in the assessment, of which no more than one (1) may be a monograph. Applicants, who have written a PhD or JSD thesis or equivalent, must always submit the complete thesis (if the thesis is written in Danish, English, Swedish or Norwegian) and the written assessment of the thesis as a part of submitted publications;

9. If citing work where the applicant has been a co-author, a co-author declaration, which addresses the applicant's share of these works, must be submitted. Material that has not yet been published can be submitted. However, please indicate if this is the case;

In addition to the material which the applicant wishes to be included in the assessment, the Assessment Committee may require further material to assess the applicant. It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide such supplementary material, should this be requested.

Application procedure
Upload letter of motivation, appendices and the research publications electronically using the link below. We advise you to have the above mentioned documents ready before you begin to fill out your online application, and it is essential that all required documents are enclosed.
Applications must be addressed to the Associate Dean of Research and uploaded electronically. An automatically generated message is sent out acknowledging receipt of the uploaded application. Applicants will be kept informed about the process of the application procedure on a regular basis via email.

Following the application deadline, the Associate Dean of Research selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee. Applicants are selected on the basis of an overall assessment of the applicants that best match the recruitment needs of the Faculty as described in this advertisement for the post. This is compared with the applicant's research and teaching profile as set out in the application, CV incl. list of publication, teaching portfolio and any research/development plan.  All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an expert Assessment Committee. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and when the committee has completed its assessment, each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicants themselves.

University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding society and therefore encourages all interested parties regardless of personal background to apply for the position.

With any questions and queries regarding the project, please reach out either to Alexandra Andhov at [email protected] or Omri Ross at [email protected]

Further information about the recruitment process is available fromHR Sarah Lund, e-mail: [email protected] Please refer to ID number 211-0863/21-2I

The application deadline is November 12, 2021, 23:59 GMT+1.

Applications received after the deadline has expired will not be accepted.
If your application does not include all the required supporting documents your application can be rejected and not be considered by the assessment committee.

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.