Postdoctoral Researcher in Music Information Retrieval

We will begin reviewing applications on 1 July 2019. Thank you for your interest in SIMSSA!

The Project:

The Single Interface for Music Score Searching and Analysis (SIMSSA) project at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music seeks a Postdoctoral Researcher in music information retrieval. SIMSSA is a seven-year research partnership grant funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, headed by Ichiro Fujinaga, Primary Investigator and Julie Cumming, Co-investigator.

The goal of this project is to make digital images of musical notation searchable and analyzable. The team brings together cutting-edge researchers with the digital musical resources and expertise of partner institutions, including DIAMM, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the British Library, and the Archives of the New York Philharmonic. The research team is divided into two axes—Content, headed by Ichiro Fujinaga, which addresses the process of creating OMR (optical music recognition) systems for transforming digital images of music into searchable symbolic notation; and Analysis, headed by Julie Cumming, which develops tools for large-scale search and analysis. The Researcher will work with Julie Cumming on the Analysis axis, supervising a research group of graduate and undergraduate students; the position will also involve close collaboration with the Content team.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • PhD in Music Technology, Music Theory, Musicology, Information Science, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related fields
  • Knowledge of music theory and analysis, especially for early music
  • Experience with humdrum, music21, or other music analysis programs preferred
  • Some experience with computer programming preferred
  • Some experience with designing and managing websites and databases preferred
  • Track record of publications and presentations in relevant fields (e.g., ISMIR, SMT)

Practicalities:

Postdoctoral researchers have dual status as both students and McGill employees, and are members of the AMURE (Postdocs) bargaining unit. Their pay, benefits, working conditions, etc. are governed by their collective agreement.

The salary will be $44,000 CAD per annum with a health and dental plan. The position will start September 1 or as soon as the candidate can start. There is a possibility of a 1-year renewal. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis starting July 1, continuing until the position is filled. Interviews will be held over Skype.

Applications should consist of:

  • a cover letter
  • a curriculum vitae
  • an article-length writing sample
  • two reference letters, sent by the referees, with the candidate’s name in the subject line

Materials should be addressed to Julie Cumming and Ichiro Fujinaga, but sent to Emily Hopkins, SIMSSA Project Manager, at emily.hopkins@mcgill.ca. Referees should e-mail their letters to the same address.