Postdoctoral Research Fellow in "Mathematical Foundations of Artifical Intelligence"

The position

UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Science and Technology, has a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position vacant. The position is attached to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and the research group in Applied and Computational Algebra and the Lie Størmer Center within this department.

The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3 years. It is a prerequisite that the applicant can carry out the project over the full course of the employment period.

If you receive a personal overseas research grant from NFR it is possible to apply NFR for an extension of the fellowship period corresponding to the length of the stay abroad (minimum three months, maximum 12 months).

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you will have the opportunity to advance your scientific career and further qualify for academic positions. If you do not already have the educational competence that meets the requirements for an Associate Professor position in Norway, UiT will arrange such competence during the employment period.

You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

The position's field of research

The position will be attached to the project “SURE-AI” (http://www.sure-ai.no/) funded by The Research Council of Norway, and lead by Simula Research Laboratory. The main focus of the research will be mathematical structures and computational algorithms underlying modern machine learning and artificial intelligence. Relevant themes include geometric and algebraic methods for learning, structure-preserving algorithms, representation and learning of data and dynamical systems, geometric deep learning, topological and algebraic data analysis, optimization on manifolds, and operator- and PDE-based approaches to learning. While the project is motivated by challenges arising in machine learning and AI, the primary emphasis is on the development of mathematical foundations and computational methods.

The successful candidate will join a growing interdisciplinary research environment at the interface of mathematics and artificial intelligence. The project is associated with the SURE-AI initiative and the Lie Størmer Center, and will involve close interaction with researchers in machine learning, statistics and data science at UiT, as well as collaborators at Simula Research Laboratory and other partner institutions.

The applicant must include a project proposal of maximum 4 pages when applying the position.

Qualifications

To be qualified you must have:

Applicants with backgrounds in computational mathematics, numerical analysis, applied and computational algebra, geometry, dynamical systems, optimization, topological data analysis, harmonic analysis, statistics, or mathematical aspects of machine learning are encouraged to apply. The position is particularly suitable for candidates interested in the interplay between mathematics and learning, particularly geometry, algebra and dynamical systems.

In the assessment the main emphasis will be attached to the submitted works and the project proposal for the qualifying work. Emphasis shall also be attached to experience from popularization/dissemination and academic policy and administrative activity.

During the assessment emphasis will be put on the candidate’s motivation, potential for research, and personal suitability for the position.

At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

No person may hold more than one fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

Inclusion and diversity  

UiT The Arctic University i Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity is a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.

If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.

Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.

More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility

Application

Please note that the application will only be assessed based on the information submitted by the application deadline via Jobbnorge. It is therefore important that you include all necessary documents demonstrating your qualifications for the position.

Your application must include:

• CV

If you're in the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply for the position, provided that you submit parts of your dissertation along with your application. This enables the evaluation committee to assess the quality and likelihood of completion by the desired employment date. You must include a statement from your supervisor or institution stating the expected completion date for your PhD degree. Documentation of your completed PhD degree must be submitted before commencement.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English.

Assessment

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants' qualifications based on the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description draw up for the position. A copy of the assessment report will be sent to all applicants.

The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview should among other things, aim to clarify the applicant’s motivation and personal suitability for the position. A trial lecture may also be held.

General information

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The remuneration for Postdoctoral research fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352 with a gross annual salary of NOK 649 750. In special cases, a higher salary may be considered. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.

The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole.

According to the Norwegian Freedom and Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.