Hello The List, FranceTelecom R&D has a vacant postdoc position in social networks analysis/quantitative sociology/cognitive sciences in its sociology lab in Paris; description below; To apply, send CV+relevant paper+motivation letter to : thomas.couronne@orange-ftgroup.com & thomas.beauvisage@orange-ftgroup.com. Bests, Thomas  --------> POST DOC POSITION <------------- Mission Research The mission concerns the analysis of the dynamics of the social link in the online communication. The mission joins within the framework of works on the various forms of sociability and their deployment on communication tools and online auto publication. The modeling of social graph allows drawing and analyzing large networks, to identify the communities which constitute them, and to unfold properties of nodes. These tools were recently applied successfully to the study of large social graphs, in particular built from phone calls or from online social platforms. A question still remains as for the qualification of the temporal evolution of these networks and these communities, beyond the comparison of snapshots of networks at the given time. The expected research consists in establishing metrics for the description of the evolution of the social networks, in particular the communities and linkage dynamics, by using the classic tools of networks analysis. The metrics eventually have to constitute a new axis of the social graphs understanding relative to their temporal dynamics. Once established, theses metrics have to help to focus the question of the nature of the links in the egocentered networks. They have to allow establishing a comparison of the various platforms, but also, within a platform data, to characterize the links according to the usage dynamics. Two axes will be processed by the candidate: -       The temporal evolution of the social networks -       The qualification and weightings of the links according to their properties, and users commitment dynamics Expected results The postdoc will: -       Realize a review of literature on the recent works in analysis of social networks and on-line sociability (existing works, methods, tools) -       Appropriate existing data and collect corpuses of data from Web (social networks platforms, user generated contents) -       build relevant metrics & indicators for the analysis of the temporal dynamics of the online social links -       Apply these indicators to the analysis of the temporal dynamics of egocentered networks, in a comparative approach -       Apply these indicators to the various links between individuals to qualify these links (robustness, volatility, underlying dynamics of commitment) Profile The position is open to the PhD having defended their thesis for less than two years. Necessary skills -          Phd in quantitative sociology, cognitive Sciences, complex systems -          Experience in datamining and statistics -          Experience in programming (python, matlab) -          knowledge in social network analysis -          Interest for telecoms -          Multidisciplinary teamwork Wished additional skills -          Web 2.0 Technologies -          Familiar with databases (in particular MySQL) Modalities The wished beginning of mission: November, 2010 Duration: 12 months SALARY:

33KE B/annual depending on profile+variable part+group dividends

Contact Thomas COURONNE E-mail:              thomas.couronne@orange-ftgroup.com Thomas BEAUVISAGE E-mail:              thomas.beauvisage@orange-ftgroup.com R*D Orange Labs TECH / SENSE laboratory 38-40 rue General Leclerc 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux FRANCE Description of the company and the entity Research and development Orange Labs of the France Télécom Group The France Télécom Group has the ambition to supply to its customers the best of the technology, as soon as it is available, while taking into account the following technological generations. With more than 3700 researchers, scientists and engineers, the R*D of Orange Labs develops every year approximately 500 inventions for more than 8 300 deposited patents. Thanks to its anticipation, the R*D detects very early the evolutions and the major technological breaks, and the new usages. So, it is at the origin of important headways in the field of the services. SENSe laboratory – Sociology and Economics of Networks and Services Within the R*D, the SENSe laboratory conjugates the sociological and economic approaches. From the point of view of the social sciences, its missions are to map and to understand the manners usages and their transformations, to support the technological innovations, and to help the transformation of the relation of the company to its customers.

From the point of view of the economics, the SENSe laboratory enlightens strategically the Group on its options of investment and the sector-based deformation, and enriches the arguments of the Group and the academic debate on the statutory and institutional problems.

For that purpose, the SENSe laboratory conjugates various methodologies: search of data and tracks of usages, ethnology, observation and audio recording and video, socioeconomics of markets and identification of the emergent tendencies. Localization R*D Orange Labs TECH / SENSE laboratory 38-40 rue General Leclerc 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux FRANCE -- Thomas Couronné -- Thomas Couronné