Postdoc in AI, Computer Vision, NLP, UX Design for Digital Archive Valorization at Université catholique de Louvain
Université catholique de Louvain and the State Archives of Belgium are recruiting for the FED-tWIN ARKEY project, a research profile focused on the digital valorization of archival collections. The position is a 100% open-ended role split between a 50% postdoctoral appointment at UCLouvain and a 50% public-service research contract at the State Archives in Brussels.
The project sits at the intersection of
computer science
,
digital humanities
,
artificial intelligence
,
computer vision
,
natural language processing
,
OCR/HTR
,
metadata extraction
, and
UX design
. The researcher will work within the Media Innovation and Intelligibility Lab (MiiL) at UCLouvain, in collaboration with CENTAL, the UCLouvain Archives Service, GEMCA, and the State Archives. The work aims to improve access to digitized and digital-born archives through AI-aided text and layout recognition, content-enriched archival representation, and user-oriented navigation tools.
Key tasks include developing machine learning methods for document analysis, enriching Encoded Archival Description (EAD) files with automatically generated metadata, and designing semantic/conversational search and visualization interfaces. The post also includes scientific publication, public communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, project development, and teaching-related valorization.
Eligibility highlights: a PhD in Computer Science, Digital Archives, Digital Humanities, Natural Language Processing, or a closely related field; strong skills in Python and machine learning; experience with image processing, OCR, layout analysis, and NLP; and at least basic UX/user-centered design knowledge. French is required or can be learned with support; English is required; Dutch is an advantage. The PhD must have been obtained no more than 12 years before the deadline.
Funding details: the UCLouvain part is a postdoctoral researcher contract, and the State Archives part is a chief de travaux contract. The post is funded for 7.5 years, with salary information provided in the call.
Application deadline: 2026-05-10. Applicants must submit a single PDF by email, including a motivation letter, CV with publications, diploma copy, and two recommendation letters.
