2-year Postdoctoral grant in Machine Learning at the University of Namur

The Excellence of Science VeriLearn project is a Belgian project (funded by the FNRS and FWO) regrouping three universities (KU Leuven, ULB and the University of Namur) aiming at providing guarantees for systems that learn. As ML-enabled software pervaded many aspects of our lives (with applications such as credit scoring systems, intelligent transportation or facial recognition), ensuring that they satisfy both safety and ethical constraints is paramount. VeriLearn is studying the fundamental underpinnings of these systems by means of formal and probabilistic logic to derive suitable verification and testing techniques. Naturally, the definition (or inference) of constraints plays a fundamental role in the success of these techniques.

The goal of this postdoctoral research is to define, design and evaluate “active testing” (a mix of active learning and software testing) techniques for ML models. In particular, the successful candidate will analyse automatically the datasets to infer properties of interest in the form of constraints, rank them depending on the desired validation goal and integrate them in testing techniques (metamorphic testing, constraint-guided fuzzing, etc.). This candidate will work with Prof. Benoit Frénay and Dr. Gilles Perrouin in the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of Namur in collaboration with the KULeuven DTAI group.

• PhD in Machine Learning;
• Interest for software testing and/or verification techniques;
• Autonomy and ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team;
• Excellent publication record;
• Proficiency in English (both speaking and writing) is mandatory, knowledge of French and/or Dutch is considered as a plus.

The Faculty of Computer Science provides cutting-edge teaching and research, with a view to putting computers at the service of society, taking account of their impact on the environment and respecting the values of solidarity and sustainable development. The Faculty is a founding member of the Namur Digital Institute (NADI) which groups together over 150 researchers in the field of digital technology. It has a multi-disciplinary approach and addresses in particular the issues and challenges of computer science in organisations and in society. The Faculty of Computer Science has over 400 students, 80 members of staff including 18 professors and around 50 researchers. Founded in 1968, the Faculty of Computer Science has trained over 1,800 high-level computer science graduates since then.