The University of Klagenfurt strives to appoint a greater number of qualified women to professorships. The University is pleased to announce the following open position at the Digital Age Research Center (D!ARC), in compliance with the provisions of § 99, Austrian Universities Act:

Professor of Machine Learning / Data Science

This is a full-time position, commencing at the earliest opportunity with a fixed term of 5 years. The university may subsequently advertise a permanent position for a Professor of Machine Learning / Data Science.

With approximately 12,000 students, the University of Klagenfurt is a young, vibrant and innovative university, located at the intersection of Alpine and Mediterranean culture in an area that offers exceptionally high quality of life. As public university pursuant to § 6 of the Austrian Universities Act, it receives federal funding. The university operates under the motto “Beyond Boundaries!” and holds rank 77 worldwide in the Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings 2022.

In accordance with its key strategic road map, the Development Plan, the university’s primary guiding principles and objectives include the pursuit of scientific excellence regarding the appointment of professors, favourable research conditions, a good faculty-student ratio, and the promotion of the development of young scientists.

We are looking for a highly qualified and internationally recognised scientist with high engagement in developing and sustaining an ambitious and innovative research programme. We encourage applications from all areas of Machine Learning with real-world applications. A focus on Explainable AI (XAI), Responsible AI or Trustworthy AI is particularly welcome.

Machine Learning and its application in Artificial Intelligence open new opportunities for science, but also pose challenges for current and future societies. This position offers an opportunity to focus on cutting-edge Machine Learning research and methods while critically engaging with their implications for people. The position is situated within the Digital Age Research Center (D!ARC) which focuses the University of Klagenfurt’s initiative “Humans in the Digital Age” that aims to understand digital change in its implications for people and societies.

The post will involve research-oriented teaching at the highly ranked Faculty of Technical Sciences and offers the potential for research collaboration with the university’s areas of research excellence “Networked and Autonomous Systems” (NAS) and “Multiple Perspectives in Optimization” (MPOpt), with the groups in Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, Recommender Systems, Robotics, Communications, Image and Video Processing and Communication, Bayesian Statistics, and Stochastic Processes as well as with the D!ARC groups in Cybersecurity and Computational Linguistics.

The initiative “Humans in the Digital Age” (HDA) offers various opportunities for collaboration with and teaching in non-technical areas, particularly the Social Sciences and the D!ARC group Digital Culture. Other groups such as in Cultural Analysis, Science and Technology Studies and Media and Communication also conduct HDA research of digital transformation from social and cultural perspectives. Interdisciplinary collaborations within the D!ARC as well as with various actors across the university make this position an innovative and exciting opportunity to shape AI for the future.

The duties of the position include:

• Representing the academic field of Machine Learning through research, ideally with a focus on Explainable AI (XAI), Responsible AI or Trustworthy AI or similar topics

• Complementing the existing disciplinary perspectives on digital transformation at the D!ARC and thus opening up new cooperation potential in the field of Humans in the Digital Age, especially with the Social Sciences

• Teaching in relevant degree programmes at Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD level, in particular in the newly established Bachelor’s programme Robotics & AI (but also engaging students from non-technical backgrounds)

• Advising and mentoring of students and early career researchers

• Competitive research grant acquisition and project management

• Co-operations with industry partners

• Contribution to the public relations activities of the D!ARC and the university

• Participation in university management

Required qualifications:

• Habilitation or equivalent qualification in a relevant field

• Experience or willingness to collaborate with researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds

• Excellent research and publication record in Machine Learning, including both methodological/theoretical contributions and applications in Data Science

• Experience in the acquisition, implementation, and management of competitive third-party funded fundamental research projects in Machine Learning / Data Science

• Embeddedness in the international research community

• Teaching experience at university level and didactic competence

• Fluency in English

Desirable qualifications:

• Experience in the supervision of academic theses at all graduation levels

• International experience

• Excellent scientific dissemination skills

• Competence in the organisation and leadership of teams

• Experience with academic administrative duties

• Competence in gender mainstreaming and diversity management

German language skills are not a formal prerequisite, but proficiency at level B2 is expected within two years.

 

The remit of the professorship requires that the future professor will establish Klagenfurt as their primary place of work.

The university is committed to increasing the number of women among the academic staff, particularly in high-level positions, and therefore specifically invites applications from qualified women. Among equally qualified candidates, women will receive preferential consideration.

People with disabilities or chronic diseases who meet the qualification criteria are explicitly invited to apply.

The salary is subject to negotiation. The minimum gross salary for the position at this level (salary group A1 for University Staff according to the Austrian Universities’ Collective Bargaining Agreement) is currently € 81,575 per year.

In accordance with the Austrian Income Tax Act an attractive relocation tax allowance can be granted for the first five years in the case of appointments to professorships in Austria. The prerequisites are subject to examination on a case by case basis.

Please submit your application in English by e-mail no later than June 4, 2023 to applicationprofessorship [at] aau [dot] at:

• A mandatory principal part not exceeding five pages (https://jobs.aau.at/wpcontent/uploads/specimen_main_part_application_professorship.doc). The submission of the mandatory principal part mentioned above constitutes a necessary condition for the validity of your application.

• One pdf file including

– a detailed scientific CV

– a comprehensive list of publications, talks, and courses taught

– research statement and plans for your research at the D!ARC

– teaching statement and an example outline of an introductory course about Machine Learning in the Bachelor’s programme Robotics & AI

– supplementary documents where applicable (e.g., course evaluations)

– links to publicly available versions of your three most important publications within the scope of this professorship

For general information please refer to the information leaflet provided at https://jobs.aau.at/en/the-university-as-employer/. For specific information about the position please contact Prof. Dr. Katharina Kinder-Kurlanda (katharina [dot] kinder-kurlanda [at] aau [dot] at).

The University of Klagenfurt will not reimburse applicants’ travel and lodging expenses incurred as part of the selection and/or hiring process.

Mitteilungsblatt 13. Stück