Professor in Automated Software Engineering - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Umeå University welcomes applications for a permanent position as full Professor in Automated Software Engineering at the Department of Computing Science. The position, which is established through the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), comes with a substantial recruitment package. Last date for application is August 17, 2020.

Duties

Work includes research within the area of Automated Software Engineering, addressing the technological aspects of automated software development and deployment, in particular for large-scale complex systems and systems with need for short software release cycles. It also includes teaching and supervision, primarily within software engineering and related areas. Planning and managing research projects and making new applications for research grants is also included. Finally, work may also include administrative assignments, including academic leadership within Umeå University as well as communicating research.

The position offers stimulating and challenging tasks. A main criterion for employment is a strong commitment to research, and established research leaders are encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will have an important role and large freedom in developing the area of software engineering at the department, both in research and in undergraduate and graduate education. The successful candidate is also expected to develop collaboration across institutional boundaries inside and outside the university and within WASP.

During the first six years of employment at least 75% of the time will be assigned to research. The remaining part, up to 25%, may include responsibilities for teaching and examination within the subject area at basic, graduate, and postgraduate level, as well as some administrative assignments. After this period the distribution between research and teaching may change over time.

The position includes a substantial recruitment package including full funding for the new professor to recruit two PhD candidates (four years each) and 2 post docs (two years each). The PhD candidates will take part in the highly attractive national WASP Graduate School that includes around 250 PhD candidates.

Eligibility requirements

A person who has demonstrated both research and educational expertise is to qualify for appointment as a Professor (Chapter 4, Section 3, Higher Education Ordinance).

A high level of proficiency in both spoken and written English is a requirement

Proven experience of teaching at both undergraduate and graduate / research level is required, as well as documented experience in supervision of theses and educational development and leadership.

Assessment criteria 

Weighting of the respective assessment criteria

In the selection of candidates particular emphasis will be put on the degree of research expertise. Next, educational expertise will be taken into account. In addition, regard will be given to administrative capability, the ability to lead and develop staff, and the ability to interact with the surrounding community.

Research expertise

Significant emphasis will be put on scientific work published in internationally well-respected scientific conference proceedings and journals, and also on the applicant’s documented skill in developing and implementing research programs. The quality, originality, and timeliness of the research contributions, as well as the research’s relevance to WASP, will be assessed. 

The criteria for assessment are:

• breadth and depth of research – quality and scope
• originality of research
• productivity
• contributions and commissions of trust within the national and the international research community
• ability to independently carry out research of high international quality
• ability to independently plan, organize, lead and manage research and research projects
• ability to develop new methods and apply them to new problems
• ability to collaborate with other national and international researchers / research groups
• ability to initiate interdisciplinary collaborations
• ability to communicate research to a wider community and the general public
• the ability to competitively obtain external research funding

Research expertise must relate to automated software engineering, addressing the technological aspects of automated software development and deployment, in particular for large-scale complex systems and systems with need for short software release cycles. This includes the study of techniques for constructing, understanding, adapting and modelling both software artefacts and processes. The goal is to partially or fully automate these activities, thereby significantly increasing both quality and productivity. Of particular interest is a profile that is systems-oriented, and hence rather empirical and experimentally oriented.

Educational expertise

The criteria for assessment are:

• an ability to plan, implement and evaluate teaching and an ability to supervise and examine students at every level of education
• an ability to vary teaching methods and examination formats in relation to anticipated study results and the nature of the subject
• experience of collaboration with the surrounding society in planning and implementation of education
• participation in the development of learning environments, teaching aids and study resources
• a reflective approach to student learning and one’s own role as a teacher
• ability to establish good communication with and motivate students, and to spread enthusiasm and interest for the subject

Educational expertise and experience must relate to the field of software engineering.

Application

The application should preferably be written in English.

Please see instructions for what to include in the application, as well as how to describe scientific and educational activities (pdf).

The application is to be submitted using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University, August 17, 2020 at the latest.

More information

For further information about the position please contact Head of Department, Professor Erik Elmroth, erik.elmroth@umu.se.

The Department of Computing Science (link) is a dynamic department with more than 120 employees from around 20 different countries. We conduct research on a broad range of topics in the area of Computing Science. We also offer a broad selection of courses and study programs at bachelor, master, and doctoral level. The research at the department is internationally well established, and is motivated both by fundamental questions and application needs within different areas. We develop new theory and methods as well as realise the results in new software.

The subject area of the professorship is well aligned to the current research on autonomous distributed systems, which is primarily concerned with the autonomous operation of software, e.g., on the (virtual) infrastructure layer. A research group on automated software engineering is likely to benefit from research from several other groups at Umeå University, in particular groups in AI, optimization and high-performance computing.

The Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP) is a major initiative for strategically motivated basic research in autonomous systems and software development. WASP is funded by 5.5 billions SEK over fourteen years, mainly by the Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation and partly by industries and the five partner universities.

Umeå University is dedicated to providing creative environments for learning and work. We offer a wide variety of courses and programmes, world leading research, and excellent innovation and collaboration opportunities. More than 4 300 employees and 33 000 students have already chosen Umeå University. We welcome your application