Professor of AI/Machine learning and Scientific Leader of CHAIR Centre

We have an opening for a permanent position at a vibrant, international, and outward-looking work environment, in the lively city of Gothenburg on the west-coast of Sweden. We offer you rewarding tasks and the freedom for you to develop your research and teaching excellence in your goal towards making a real difference.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) is recruiting a faculty member at the rank of Full Professor to also take on the responsibility as Scientific Leader for Chalmers AI Research Centre, CHAIR. The position is open to excellent applicants with a very strong background in research and teaching in AI and machine learning.

About the Department
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) is a joint department at both Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg (GU). Around 90 faculty members and 140 PhD students, hailing from more than 50 different countries, are engaged in research and education across the full spectrum of computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, and interaction design, from foundations to applications. The department is organized into four academic divisions and one division for operation support.

• Computer and Network Systems
• Computing Science
• Data Science and AI
• Interaction Design and Software Engineering.

About Chalmers AI Research Centre
Chalmers AI Research Centre (CHAIR) was established in January 2019 with the aim of significantly increasing Chalmers’ expertise and excellence within AI in research, education, and innovation. The Centre is a major strategic initiative, funded by the Chalmers Foundation. As a Chalmers-wide initiative, CHAIR promotes and covers AI-related activities across the university. The research supported by the Centre is performed by researchers from Chalmers and GU, either internally, or in cooperation with external research partners.

The Centre goals are to:
● strengthen AI basic research and establish applied research activities in selected strategic areas
● coordinate AI-related activities across Chalmers
● support educational activities in cooperation with Chalmers educational programs

Complementary activities that go across these three goals are: AI ethics in research and in practice, focus on gender balance, and innovation activities.

Our research spans across three core dimensions:
● AI Foundations, AI theories and algorithms
● AI Enablers, AI-based systems and software
● Applied AI in Transport, Life Science and Health, and Automation and Internet of Things

A core principle of CHAIR is a strong relationship with industry and the public sector, and we are currently developing a consortium with selected core partners. In extension, CHAIR will establish a collaboration platform to allow for partnerships with various external actors having an interest in AI. We would like, however, to point out that the future Scientific Leader of CHAIR will have the mandate to form how the centre will be set up for the coming decade.

Assessment of competence for the faculty position level will be weighed against your specific area of research.

Our offer to you
At Chalmers we seek to establish a good work/life balance. We want to provide you with the means to pick the best path possible in your pursuit of making a difference. Our ambitions in this area are reflected in the generous employment conditions, including:
• holiday allowance of up to 7 weeks per year
• a collective agreement including parental pay, sick pay supplement, and medicine costs
• a wellness allowance towards activities promoting good health
• flexible working conditions
• a competitive starting package to hire PhD students and/or postdocs

Sweden’s extensive social welfare system means, for example, that you are entitled to 390 days of paid parental leave, and education at all levels is free.

Chalmers offers courses in the Swedish language. Although most of our work is in English, and English is widely spoken throughout Swedish society, developing a good knowledge of Swedish is an advantage in everyday life and in the workplace, and we offer to help you unlock this dimension of life in Sweden.

Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Our aim is to actively improve the gender balance and diversity in our faculty. We therefore welcome a diversity of applicants with different backgrounds and experiences. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Major Responsibilities
You will foster both independent and collaborative research in the field, teach specialist courses at master’s level, attract research funding, supervise students at all academic levels, cooperate in exchange of knowledge and communication with external partners, and support our internal development work at the department.

As the Scientific Leader for CHAIR you are responsible for developing and implementing a scientific vision and research agenda for the Centre, as well as organizing and supporting research-related activities at CHAIR.

Your key responsibilities will be:
● Developing and implementing CHAIR´s research agenda and scientific strategy
● Following up CHAIR research projects
● Leading the Industrial Advisory Board
● Having overall responsibility for scientific workshops and meetings
● Developing and following up internal and collaborative project calls

The Scientific Leader is a member of the CHAIR Management Group (CMG) and partakes in the shared responsibilities of the group.

As an AI researcher at the department and in CHAIR you will:
● Lead selected research projects
● Supervise PhD students and postdoctoral researchers
● Apply for external research grants as principal investigator
● Be involved in teaching activities as well as in supervising master theses

Your time will likely be divided in the following way, albeit this can later be discussed:
25 % as Scientific Leader of CHAIR,
50 % as a researcher/research leader in CHAIR AI projects, and
25 % for departmental duties (including teaching), in agreement with the host department.

Your host division will be decided by your research background and preference, albeit we expect that it is likely that the position will be placed at the Division of Data Science and AI.

Qualifications
For this position, we are looking for an internationally well-connected and innovative researcher who has made significant and innovative contributions in the area of AI, evidenced by a proficient publication record in leading scientific conferences and journals.

To qualify for the position, you must have:

• A doctoral degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering, or a related field
• A well-documented record of research in the area, including experience in conducting and leading research as member of a group
• A very strong scientific background in AI-related research with publications in top machine learning venues, i.e., NeurIPS, ICML, AISTATS, and top control venues as CDC and Allerton and journals like IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control
• In particular, we are looking for candidates that have a strong research record in fundamental methods in bandits and reinforcement learning and related areas in control theory
• A broad knowledge of the AI research landscape
• Experience of managing large collaborative research projects or similar leadership experience
• Experience of working in research laboratories connected to industry
• Experience in and enjoy leading and developing teams, and also have the ability to network and connect with different stakeholders, national and international
• Sound verbal and written communication skills in English.

Additional Requirements:

• Teaching faculty at Chalmers are required to have completed courses in higher education pedagogy in accordance with SUHF’s recommendations (REK 2016:1) or equivalent education for a total of at least 10 weeks of full-time study. External applicants who currently do not meet the SUHF requirements may be employed for a permanent position under the condition that the required education is completed within the first two years of employment
• Previous experience from working with equality and diversity questions is meritorious. 

For a complete description of the academic level for the position of Full Professor, please consult our Appointment regulations, section 6.1. 

Contract terms
Full-time permanent employment.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20240241 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

Please follow the instructions for compiling an application for a research and teaching position at Chalmers.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
One page where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your motivation for applying to this position and what attracts you about Chalmers
• Describe how you support your colleagues and bring about a good working environment
• Describe your experience in leading scientific/research based initiatives or organizations
• Describe what you see as strategic focus areas for the coming 10 years for a university-based center for AI.
• Include names and full contact information of two references that we can contact.

CV: (Please name the document as: CV, Family name, Ref. number)
• Your CV (please see the CV instructions)
• Include a list of your 10 most important publications with a description of why and what your role was in the publication. 

Research statement: (Please name the document as: Research statement, Family name, Ref. number)
One to three pages where you:
• Describe your previous research areas and main research results
• State your future research goals and focus.

Pedagogical qualifications: (Please name the document as: Pedagogical portfolio, Family name, Ref number)
• Please compile a pedagogical portfolio to describe your pedagogical and educational qualifications using the format specified in the Pedagogical Portfolio instructions.
• Please append certificates for completed courses in pedagogical training and any other documents described in the pedagogical portfolio instructions. 

Other documents:
• Documents verifying awards and recognitions stated in your CV, and other documents relevant to support your application.
• Copies of a maximum of five relevant publications that cannot be accessed via your ORCID, Scopus ID or ResearcherID.
• Documents providing your good ability to supervise doctoral students, to collaborate with organizations outside of academia, and to obtain external funding.

Use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.

Please note: The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application is complete. Incomplete applications and applications sent by email will not be considered.

Application deadline: May 26, 2024

For questions, please contact:
Richard Torkar, Head of Department
Email: torkarr@chalmers.se

Gerardo Schneider, Head of Divison Data Science and AI
email: gersch@chalmers.se

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. *** 
   

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Chalmers University of Technology conducts research and education in engineering sciences, architecture, technology-related mathematical sciences, natural and nautical sciences, working in close collaboration with industry and society. The strategy for scientific excellence focuses on our six Areas of Advance; Energy, Health Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Materials Science, Production and Transport. The aim is to make an active contribution to a sustainable future using the basic sciences as a foundation and innovation and entrepreneurship as the central driving forces. Chalmers has around 11,000 students and 3,000 employees. New knowledge and improved technology have characterised Chalmers since its foundation in 1829, completely in accordance with the will of William Chalmers and his motto: Avancez!