From January 2025, the CLARIN European Research Infrastructure Consortium (CLARIN ) will have an opening for the position of Member of the Board of Directors (0.2 fte, or more if combined with work on relevant projects) who will work closely together with the other directors. The appointment will be for a term of two years, with the possibility of prolongation for another term of two years.
The mission of CLARIN ERIC is to develop and maintain Europe’s common language resources and technology infrastructure. At the same time, CLARIN serves as an ecosystem for the exchange of knowledge and experience that is crucial for the uptake of CLARIN within the domains in which digital scholarship is rapidly developing, in particular in the social sciences and humanities.
Responsibilities and Tasks
The tasks to be taken up by the new member of the Board of Directors ( ) follow on from the responsibilities of CLARIN's executive body:
- Prepare and implement strategic actions needed for the smooth operation of CLARIN ERIC, further articulate and implement the value proposition and consolidate CLARIN’s technological maturity;
- Optimise the conditions for a sustainable future of CLARIN ERIC;
- Foster the collaboration between the various bodies that are responsible for the governance of CLARIN ERIC;
- Ensure optimal alignment of the agenda of the BoD with the strategy and activities of the National Coordinators’ Forum ( ), and support coordination between the national consortia;
- Steer ongoing and develop novel outreach activities (such as the Ambassadorship Programme, Trainers’ Network, CLARIN Cafés).
Instruments are in place to implement the CLARIN strategy, but the development of new action lines to support the agreed strategic plans will be expected.
Envisaged Profile
In view of the current developmental stage of the CLARIN infrastructure, the profiles of the other members of the BoD, and the challenges that CLARIN is facing, applications are solicited from candidates with a profile that ideally include the following elements:
- A clear vision on how CLARIN can increase its potential for impact;
- A clear vision on how to reinforce alignment and collaboration with relevant European stakeholders ( , ERIC Forum, , SSHOC, Science Clusters, ALT-EDIC), as well as on how to foster collaboration with key stakeholders beyond Europe
- Insight into how to intensify user involvement in CLARIN’s activities by relevant academic communities;
- Proven experience with the available and planned relevant funding mechanisms (e.g. Horizon infrastructure-related calls), project proposal development and project coordination;
- A good insight into instruments that could be deployed to increase the awareness of what CLARIN has to offer to the non-academic sector (industry, sector, public administration, society at large);
- Proven expertise in setting up and/or deploying instruments for infrastructural support to facilitate research in a cross-national and/or multidisciplinary context;
- Proven expertise in the field of text and speech processing, AI (esp. Large Language Models and/or Large Speech Models) and technical infrastructure.
In addition we expect that the suitability of candidates is also evidenced by:
- Familiarity with CLARIN, its mission and vision, and the concept of a research infrastructure ( ) in general;
- Ample engagement in one or more of the relevant networks in which the European Open Science agenda is guiding the developments;
- Familiarity with the dynamics in the European landscape of RIs (e.g. ESFRI, ERIC Forum, EOSC, SSHOC, Science Clusters, ALT-EDIC);
- Familiarity with the major scholarly paradigms in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) and the role of infrastructural support;
- Established connections with and good visibility in one or more of the research communities that CLARIN aims to serve and/or that contribute to the spectrum of services that CLARIN is making available;
- A relevant academic track record (PhD-level, plus a convincing combination of publications and/or involvement in the development of use cases, demonstrators, tools or datasets);
- A relevant institutional affiliation that is guaranteed until at least the end of 2026;
- Excellent communication skills.
A balanced diversity in the composition of the BoD as a whole will be sought along all relevant dimensions, including gender and regional background.
Conditions of Employment
The tasks can be carried out from the applicant’s home institute on the basis of a secondment agreement. The applicant’s home institute will be reimbursed for the release time provided to CLARIN ERIC on the basis of the applicant’s regular salary, including overhead. Occasional travel to CLARIN events and participation in virtual and face-to face-meetings of the CLARIN ERIC Board of Directors is required. Limited funds for administrative support and a travel budget will be provided.
How to Apply
- Applications (including CV, publication list, statement of motivation) as well as informal requests for information should be sent to jobs [at] clarin.eu (jobs[at]clarin[dot]eu). The phrase ‘BoD vacancy’ should be included in the subject header.
- The application deadline is 31 October 2024.
More information about CLARIN can be found on our website www.clarin.eu