211-0166/22-2K Professor in Natural Language Understanding

Professor in Natural Language Understanding

Department of Computer Science

Faculty of Science

University of Copenhagen

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Copenhagen invites applications for a position as Full Professor in Natural Language Understanding.

The researcher will join a rapidly growing department, with strong research sections in the areas of Algorithms and Complexity, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Human-Centered Computing, Software Engineering and Data Management, Programming Languages, and Image Analysis. The department is heading 2 centers within Artificial Intelligence -- the SCIENCE AI Center (https://ai.ku.dk/ ) and the Pioneer Center within Artificial Intelligence (https://di.ku.dk/ai-centre ).

The University of Copenhagen was founded in 1479 and is the oldest and largest university in Denmark. It is often ranked as the best university in Scandinavia and among the top Universities in Europe. The Department of Computer Science offers a friendly and thriving international research and working environment with opportunities to build up internationally competitive research groups. The University of Copenhagen ensures working conditions that allow a healthy work-life balance and Copenhagen is a family-friendly capital city.

Description of the position & Qualifications

Candidates are expected to have strong records of publishing in premier venues within Natural Language Processing, including but not limited to ACL, EMNLP and NAACL. Applicants are required to have university level teaching experience, documented teaching competencies and must be able to explain and reflect upon own teaching practice and portfolio. Formal pedagogical training or supervision equivalent to the University of Copenhagen teacher training program for assistant professors is required.

Applicants are expected to have a solid track-record of attracting significant external research funding, as well as a significant publication record in high-level, international, peer- reviewed venues. Candidates are also required to have documented university level competencies in delivering high-quality undergraduate/graduate teaching and must be able to explain and reflect upon own teaching practice and portfolio, as well as participate in strategic teaching planning. Formal pedagogical training or supervision equivalent to the University of Copenhagen Teaching and Learning in Higher Education programme is necessary. Candidates are expected to have significant managerial qualifications, for instance in positions of service to their institution or to the community, and experience in leading a competitive research group, as well as outreach experience.

Duties include furthering the applicant’s own research, development of the scientific field, research assessment tasks, research grant applications, and research management such as supervision and training of research fellows and other staff. The successful applicant must also teach, supervise, prepare and participate in examinations, and fulfil other tasks requested by the Department.

The department values interdisciplinary research and teaching and is actively involved in several cross-faculty research projects and educational programmes. Thus, the successful candidate must be capable of and interested in facilitating cross-disciplinary interactions both within the Department of Computer Science and across the university, as well as internationally. The candidate is expected to be open to conducting interdisciplinary.

Assessment of applicants will primarily consider their level of documented, original scientific production at an international level, including contributions to developments in their field, as well as their documented teaching qualifications. Managerial and out-reach qualifications of applicants including ability to attract external funding will also be considered.

Six overall criteria apply for professor appointments at the University of Copenhagen. The six criteria (research, teaching, societal impact, organisational contribution, external funding and leadership) are considered a framework for an overall assessment of the candidates. Furthermore, each candidate must be assessed according to the specific requirements stated in the job advertisement.

Please read more at https://jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabelige-stillinger/kriterier-for-videnskabelige-stillinger/dokumenter-til-meritering/5c_Criteria_for_recognising_merit_-professors.pdf.

The professor will join the Natural Language Processing (NLP) research section, currently consisting of four faculty members and their respective research groups.  The NLP section has a broad portfolio of research, including investigating methods to automatically process, understand, and generate text, with applications including automatic fact-checking, machine translation, question answering, and visually grounded.

Further information on the Department is linked at http://www.science.ku.dk/english/about-the-faculty/organisation/ . Inquiries about the position can be made to Head of Department, Professor Jakob Grue Simonsen (simonsen@di.ku.dk ).

The position is open from 1 November 2022 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Terms of employment

The position is covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff.

Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State.

Negotiation for salary supplement is possible.

The application including all attachments must be in English and submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Please include

• Curriculum vitae including information about external funding
• Diplomas (Master and PhD degree or equivalent)
• Research plan – description of current and future research plans
• Description and documentation of teaching experience and qualifications according to university guidelines
• Complete publication list
• Separate reprints of 5 particularly relevant papers

The deadline for applications is 11 May 2022, 23:59 GMT +2.

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Interview Committee.

You can read about the recruitment process at http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/ .

Interviews/trial lectures will be held on 28 September 2022.

Please refer to the following no. in future communication in this case: 211-0166/22-2K.

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.