Tenure Track Assistant Professorship in Explainable AI for Finance

Faculteit/Dienst: Faculteit der Natuurw., Wiskunde & Informatica

Opleidingsniveau: Gepromoveerd

Functie type: Wetenschappelijk Personeel

Sluitingsdatum: 3 April 2022

Vacaturenummer: 8235

Are you a passionate teacher and ambitious researcher working on questions relevant for applications at the intersection of responsible AI and finance? Are you looking for a faculty position in a stimulating academic environment? Then please read on.

Modern applications of AI in high-stakes domains such as finance call for solutions that can offer adequate levels of safety, accountability, transparency, responsibility, trustworthiness, and explainability. The fields working on such solutions are collectively referred to as Responsible AI.

We are looking for a specialist in an area of responsible AI with a strong interest in applying these techniques in the domain of finance. We hope you can bring unique expertise to the thriving Amsterdam AI ecosystem, while also being able to reach out to existing research traditions in, for instance, causality & machine learning, graph neural networks, natural language processing, explainable AI, game theory and social choice theory.

What are you going to do

As Assistant Professor, you will be expected to perform the following tasks:

• to develop an independent line of research in your area of expertise, resulting in contributions published in leading international venues;
• to build up and coordinate a research team and supervise PhD candidates;
• to teach in AI and Computer Science, in programmes such as the BSc Computer Science, the BSc Artificial Intelligence, the MSc Artificial Intelligence, and the MSc Logic;
• to supervise Bachelor's and Master's students;
• to initiate and contribute to proposals for raising external funding;
• to contribute to research valorisation and outreach activities;
• to contribute to management tasks in education and research at the institute.

What do we require

We are looking for an individual who is enthusiastic about both research and teaching.

We require:

• a PhD in Computer Science, financial mathematics, economics or related disciplines and some research experience at the postdoctoral level;
• excellent research skills, as evidenced by a track record of publications in renowned conference proceedings and journals;
• teaching experience at university level and demonstrable didactic abilities;
• commitment to supervising and mentoring students at all levels;
• willingness to acquire the Dutch Basic Teaching Qualification for academic staff (BKO) within two years of your appointment;
• the ability to communicate research findings to a broad audience;
• willingness and ability to perform relevant administrative and organisational tasks;
• readiness to participate in interdisciplinary cooperation, within and beyond the two institutes;
• excellent communication and social skills;
• an excellent command of English and willingness to learn the Dutch language.

Our offer

We offer a tenure track contract for five years within a six years-employment contract, preferably starting as soon as possible, with the intention of converting it into a permanent contract after a positive assessment. The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges from €3,821 to €5,230 (scale 11). The annual salary will be supplemented with an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus. A favourable tax agreement, the so-called ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Then please take a look here.

About us

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 7,000, as well as 1,600 members of staff working in education, research, and support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The mission of the Informatics Institute (IvI) is to perform curiosity-driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The main research themes are Artificial Intelligence, Computational Science and Systems and Network Engineering. Our research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on collaborative, data driven, computational and intelligent systems, all with a strong interactive component.

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is an interdisciplinary research institute that aims at bringing together insights from various fields concerned with information and information processing, such as computer science, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, logic, philosophy, mathematics, cognitive science, and musicology. The institute offers a friendly international research environment with world-class faculty in all of its areas of specialisation.

Questions

Do you have questions about this vacancy? Or do you want to know more about the institutes? Please contact:

• Dr Jelle Zuidema, Associate Professor in Computational Linguistics and Cognitive Science (ILLC)
• Dr Sennay Ghebreab, Associate Professor of Socially-Intelligent AI (IvI)

Job application

IvI and ILLC strive for a better gender balance, We therefore strongly encourage women and members of other underrepresented groups to apply for this position, and to contact us to inquire in case you are uncertain about meeting the requirements for the position.

Do you recognise yourself in this job profile? Then we are looking forward to receiving your application! Your application should include the following information (in one single PDF file):

• a letter of interest, discussing in some detail your past and ongoing research, future research plans and your teaching philosophy (max three pages);
• your curriculum vitae, including a list of (up to ten) publications as well as a listing of your past teaching and supervision activities (please highlight and provide URLs for two publications that are representative of your work);
• names, affiliations, and email addresses of three academic referees who can provide details about your academic profile in relation to this position.

Additional information may be requested from shortlisted candidates at a later stage. Interviews are planned for the first half of April. A trial lecture may be part of the selection procedure.

Please submit your application no later than 3 April 2022, using the link below. Please only complete the fields marked as mandatory and use the CV field to upload the PDF file specified above. We will only consider applications that are complete and that have been submitted in this manner.

We subscribe to the DORA criteria for scientific excellence. Therefore, please limit the number of publications mentioned in your CV to a maximum of 10, and refrain from mentioning your h-index or the impact factor of journals or conferences.

The UvA is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritize diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.