Assistant Professors in Safe AI

Job description

Are you eager to develop safe AI that benefits society, addressing challenging problems while preventing harm? And are you motivated by mission-focused research? The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is looking for multiple Assistant Professors as founding faculty members of the Center for Safe AI, who are fully committed to this mission of Safe AI, capable of translating the mission into tangible and actionable research goals, and willing to demonstrate and validate Safe AI into practice.

Job Description

The mission of the Center for Safe AI is to achieve and guarantee safe and responsible (use of) AI for a wide range of applications in industry and society in the coming decade. The center is especially looking for research breakthroughs in predictive and prescriptive system analytics, autonomous learning, and AI human-interaction to make sure that the (use of) AI models are interpretable, explainable, fair, free from decay, robust against adversarial attacks and noisy data, scalable, compliant with law and ethics, and computationally and data storage efficient. The success of the center and their researchers is measured by the accomplishment of reaching their targets and much less on traditional research metrics.

We are looking for AI talent with strong commitment to work on our mission-focused research roadmap, addressing technical and socio-technical challenges of the development and application of safe AI, based on the following themes, where we look at the cross-roads of:

• AI value alignment: align AI with moral values and ethical standards, including but not limited to fairness, accountability, justice and transparency,
• AI compliance: facilitate meaningful audits and certification of AI systems in relation to law, regulation, and policy,
• AI robustness: ensure that AI-based systems remain resilient in a wide range of conditions, including unexpected situations and adversarial uses.
• AI frugality: develop computational and data efficiency, resource efficiency, and sustainable AI practices.
• AI-Human collaboration: support and enable cooperative work in the context of next-generation AI and data intelligence ecosystems.

We are looking for researchers who embrace interdisciplinary research within the disciplines of data and computer science (machine learning, data management, visualization, human-computer interaction) and across disciplines (e.g., law, philosophy, social sciences, mathematics) to achieve the Center’s targets. We expect successful candidates to develop the Center’s mission-oriented research program with direct pathways to societal impact e.g.:

• Ensure extra guarantees in existing AI theories and applications.
• Inform and be informed by policymakers, law practitioners, etc. on AI issues and disputes.
• Provide the research community with theories and tools.
• Provide further scrutiny of AI research and practical AI systems.
• Design and develop "future-proof" AI.
• Guide national implementation of legislation related e.g. to the AI Act.
• Treble the speed of R&D by cleaning out the bad and empowering the good in AI.
• National education policy on data and AI embodies our research.
• Facilitate schools nationally and worldwide to deploy our research-based instruments.

Job requirements

• PhD in AI, ML, Data Science, or other relevant fields.
• Ability to conduct high-quality academic research, reflected in demonstratable outputs.
• Experience in successful interdisciplinary research.
• Experience in conducting research with external non-academic partners.
• Motivation to engage in mission-driven research on Safe AI and focusing on delivering targets.
• Strong cooperation skills and ability to work in an interdisciplinary team.
• Effective communication and leadership skills, including the ability to (co-) supervise PhD candidates, EngD and MSc thesis students, and leading a research project.
• Ability to teach and supervise master students, demonstrated by experience or assistance in teaching.
• Ability to develop and deliver research-oriented education.
• Excellent (written and verbal) proficiency in English. 

Conditions of employment

A meaningful job in an interdisciplinary setting in a dynamic and ambitious university embracing diversity, openness and collaboration. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• An 18-month contract as Assistant Professor which can become permanent after 12 months on the same employment level upon successful evaluation. Experienced candidates might be offered a permanent contract already at the start of employment.
• The opportunity to focus your career on mission-oriented research, delivering research targets for the mission of safe AI, and research-oriented education.
• Education duties focuses on supervision of (groups of) Master students and EngD trainees to support the mission of Safe AI and the teaching of a single course in your own field of expertise (0.3 fte).
• Funding for hiring a PhD candidate or a postdoc.
• Salary in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale 11 (min. €4492, max. €6148 gross per month).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• A dedicated mentoring program to help you get to know the university and the Dutch (research) environment.
• High-quality training programs for academic leadership and teaching.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• Partially paid parental leave and an allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A  Staff Immigration Team is available for international candidates, as are a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) and partner career support.

Information and application

About us

Eindhoven University of Technology is an internationally top-ranking university in the Netherlands that combines scientific curiosity with a hands-on attitude. Our spirit of collaboration translates into an open culture and a top-five position in collaborating with advanced industries. Fundamental knowledge enables us to design solutions for the highly complex problems of today and tomorrow. 

Curious to hear more about what it's like as a professor at TU/e? Please view the video.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact prof. dr. Mykola Pechenizkiy, the Director of the Center for Safe AI, safeAI@tue.nl.

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. You can also contact Hella Ploegmakers, Senior Recruiter, h.a.m.ploegmakers@tue.nl  or +31 643559625.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application.
The application should include a:

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position, mentioning especially why you would choose for mission-oriented research.
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references.
• Description of your scientific interests and plans (1-2 pages) and how they would support the mission of the Center for Safe AI.
• Statement of your teaching goals and experience (1-2 pages) in relation to the mission of Safe AI.

We are looking forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the positions are filled.