Open-Position: Professor of Machine Learning / Data Science

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

Open-Position: Senior Scientist (all genders welcome)

The University of Klagenfurt is pleased to announce the following open position at the Digital Age Research Center, D!ARC, employment to commence on September 1st, 2023, or by arrangement:

Senior Scientist (all genders welcome)

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Contribution to the research of the Cybersecurity Group in collaboration with national and international partners

• Interdisciplinary collaboration with all members of the Digital Age Research Center

• Participation in administrative and organizational tasks of both the Cybersecurity group and the Digital Age Research Center

• Teaching of courses on both an undergraduate and postgraduate level

• Assistance in the supervision and mentoring of PhD and Master’s students

The Cybersecurity Group at the University of Klagenfurt is an interdisciplinary group hosted jointly by the Digital Age Research Center, and the Department of AI and Cybersecurity. The Digital Age Research Center is set up as a multi-disciplinary research centre focussing on central aspects of digital transformations. At present the Digital Age Research Center hosts three research groups: Digital Culture, Computational Linguistics and Cybersecurity. The Department of AI and Cybersecurity hosts a range of researchers in a range of areas within the larger topic of AI as well as Cybersecurity/System Security.

The research agenda of the Cybersecurity Group at present tackles challenges including:

• Explainable leakage assessment strategies

• Responsible engineering of leakage simulators

• Efficient cryptographic primitives for privacy enhancing technologies

Members of the Cybersecurity Group are the driving force behind the MSc programme in AI and Cybersecurity (this is a joint programme with the University of Udine in Italy), which guarantees a good stream of motivated and able postgraduate students. The group has good connections on a national level (it is member of a special research programme in security, SFB SpyCode), and participates in EU funded projects (e.g. REASSURE, SEAL, enCrypton). The group is looking to strengthen the team with a person who broadens the existing range of (technical) expertise and is keen to collaborate with researchers from other areas to further advance interdisciplinary research in Cybersecurity.

Prerequisites for the appointment:

• Doctoral degree in a Cybersecurity related subject area at a domestic or foreign higher education institution

• Fluency in English (spoken and written)

• Proven academic track record via accepted papers in a reputable Cybersecurity venue, (e.g. IACR sponsored conferences and workshops, ACM CCS, Usenix, IEEE S&P, CHI) or in venues (journals) of a comparable standing in the areas of Artificial Intelligence or Data Science

• Social and communication skills and ability to work as part of a team

• At least minimal teaching experience, demonstrating the ability to deliver core concepts (Cryptography, System Security, Network Security) on both an undergraduate and post-graduate level

Additional desired qualifications:

• Experience in the acquisition and running of third-party funded projects and readiness to play an active role in third-party funded projects and their acquisition

• Scientific curiosity and enthusiasm for imparting knowledge by contributing to student supervision

• Gender mainstreaming und diversity management skills

Our offer:

The employment contract is concluded with a starting salary of € 4,351.90 gross per month (14 times a year; previous experience deemed relevant to the job can be recognized). The University of Klagenfurt also offers:

• Personal and professional advanced training courses, management and career coaching

• Numerous attractive additional benefits, see also https://jobs.aau.at/en/the-university-asemployer/

• Diversity- and family-friendly university culture

• The opportunity to live and work in the attractive Alps-Adriatic region with a wide range of leisure activities in the spheres of culture, nature and sports

The application:

If you are interested in this position, please apply in English providing the following documents:

• Letter of application (motivation letter)

• Curriculum vitae including publication and lecture lists as well as details of research and teaching activities carried out

• Certificates/Transcripts that can prove that you meet the requirements

To apply, please select the position with the reference code 155/23 in the category “Scientific Staff” using the link “Apply for this position” in the job portal at jobs.aau.at/en/.

Candidates must furnish proof that they meet the required qualifications by June 28th, 2023 at the latest.

For further information on this specific vacancy, please contact Professor Elisabeth Oswald (Elisabeth [dot] oswald [at] aau [dot] at). General information about the university as an employer can be found at https://jobs.aau.at/en/the-university-as-employer/.

At the University of Klagenfurt, recruitment and staff matters are accompanied not only by the authority responsible for the recruitment procedure but also by the Equal Opportunities Working Group and, if necessary, by the Representative for Disabled Persons.

The University of Klagenfurt aims to increase the proportion of women and therefore specifically invites qualified women to apply for these positions. Where the qualification is equivalent, women will be given preferential consideration. People with disabilities or chronic diseases, who fulfil the requirements, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Travel and accommodation costs incurred during the application process will not be refunded. Translations into other languages shall serve informational purposes only. Solely the version advertised in the University Bulletin (Mitteilungsblatt) shall be legally binding.

Level of employment: 100 % (40 hours/week)

Minimum salary: € 60,926.60 per annum (gross); classification according to collective agreement: B1 lit. b Limited to: 43 months

Application deadline: June 28th,

2023 Reference code: 155/23

Mitteilungsblatt 15. Stück

 

 

 

 

Luftbild

Luftbild | Foto: LakesideLabs

 

PhD Students in Cybersecurity wanted!

The Cybersecurity Research Group – hosted at the university’s Digital Age Research Center (D!ARC) – is seeking to fill the post of a Phd-student within the area of Side Channel Resistent Embedded Systems.

The Cybersecurity Research group has been established with a clear interest in finding and eliminating information leaks in the context of embedded devices (they often exhibit a number of so called side channels). In this particular setting, the research team – led by Prof. Elisabeth Oswald – has developed a range of techniques that integrate well in a typical software flow and make leakage information transparent to a developer.

Currently, the group consists of one further lecturer, three postdocs, and three further PhD students who work in the areas of cryptography, statistical machine learning, embedded security, artificial intelligence and deep learning as well as crypto engineering.

The purpose of this studentship is to build on the existing work and add novel ideas including the automated tracing of leaks from lower-level code representations to the description in a higher-level language, the development of code transformation techniques to mitigate leaks automatically, etc. The successful applicant will work closely with Prof. Oswald and will develop into a researcher/engineer with a profound understanding of the challenges of leakage resilient development.

Requirements:

✓ Master’s level qualification in informatics, mathematics or other technical sciences
✓ strong background in embedded systems
✓ some background in low level programming and embedded systems
✓ Very good language skills in English (German optional)
✓ Willingness to work within an international team

The vacancy shall be filled as soon as possible.
If you are interested in this opportunity please consider applying with your CV and a motivational letter to elisabeth [dot] oswald [at] aau [dot] at