Assistant Professor in Computing Science, focus on Distributed Systems - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

We are recruiting an Assistant Professor in Computing Science with a focus on Distributed Systems. The position includes 75% research during the first six years, which provides the opportunity to develop a long-term research program and to qualify for promotion to an  Associate Professor. Apply no later than 13 March 2022.

Background

The Department of Computing Science is recruiting an assistant professor to strengthen its research and education in the area of Distributed Systems in general and cloud-native software development in particular. The person employed will join the award-winning Autonomous Distributed Systems (ADS) lab.

The ADS lab is an internationally renowned research group focusing on autonomous management of Cloud & Edge resources and applications to best support our increasingly digitized and connected society. The lab has developed international partnerships with companies including Google, IBM, Red Hat, and Ericsson, as well as universities and institutes such as Princeton University, Imperial College London, Lawrence Berkeley Lab, etc. The lab has more than 15 members and plays a leading role in the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), the international Cloud Control Workshop series, and numerous IEEE conferences and events, and is aiming to double in size in 2022.

The Department of Computing Science at Umeå University has been growing rapidly in recent years, where focus on an inclusive and bottom-up driven environment are key elements in our sustainable growth. Read more: https://www.umu.se/en/department-of-computing-science/.

Duties

Your duties primarily include research, but may also include administration, academic leadership, and collaboration with software industry. For the first six years, you are guaranteed 75% research and 25% teaching and administration. After this initial period, the distribution of time may fluctuate depending on your access to research funding and the department’s needs in education.

Your research should have a particular focus on reasoning about, managing, and/or controlling large-scale distributed systems in domains such as Cloud/Edge systems, Edge AI, IoT deployments, and data centers. This could include work in areas such as distributed monitoring, resource management, scheduling, modelling and simulation, control of computing systems, predictive analytics, security, cloud-native software development, etc. We are particularly interested in candidates who are experienced in building large-scale systems in the above domains, and who are experienced with publishing in international conferences and journals. Industry experience and / or knowledge of recent research in systems modelling, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning is an advantage.

Your teaching will mainly focus on developing and delivering courses in the areas of distributed systems and cloud-native software development in collaboration with other teachers. In addition, you will supervise student theses on the advanced (master’s) level. You may also be asked to teach in basic courses in Computing Science. The work is characterized by professional collaboration with students, teachers, and administrators.

Eligibility requirements

According to Chapter 4, Section 4 of the Higher Education Ordinance: A person qualified for appointment as an Assistant professor is a person who has been awarded a PhD or has the corresponding research expertise. Primary consideration should be given to a person who has been awarded a PhD or achieved the equivalent expertise within five years prior to the deadline for application for employment as an Assistant professor. However, a person who has been awarded a PhD or achieved the equivalent expertise at an earlier date may also be considered if there are special circumstances. Special circumstances are sick leave, parental leave or other similar circumstances.

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

Assessment criteria

The assessment criteria for appointment as an Assistant professor shall be the degree of such expertise required as a qualification for employment.

Thereafter the degree of pedagogical expertise as well as administrative and other experience of significance with regard to the employment’s research field and the employment tasks that may be included in the position.

Scientific expertise

Scientific expertise shall be demonstrated through independent scientific productivity. The criteria for assessment are:

• breadth and depth of research – quality and extent
• originality in research
• productivity
• contributions to the international research community
• commissions of trust within the research community
• ability to competitively obtain research funding
• collaboration with the surrounding community
• knowledge and skill in cloud-native software development

Pedagogical expertise

The criteria for evaluation of pedagogical expertise are:

• ability to plan, implement and evaluate teaching and an ability to supervise and examine students at every level of education
• ability to vary teaching methods and examination forms 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
• experience and interest in teaching and developing courses in the areas of distributed systems and cloud-native software development

Pedagogical expertise can be attained through education in university pedagogy, other education of relevance for teaching at a university level or documented and proven experience teaching at the university level.

Other assessment criteria

A general basis for assessment for all teaching categories is both good cooperative skills and the expertise and suitability in general required to complete the work duties satisfactorily.

The criteria for evaluation of administrative expertise are:

• experiences of supervision (students, postgraduate students, postdoc)
• participation in working groups or committees (department, faculty or university level)
• experiences of collaboration outside the academy
• experience of organizing research and educational activities

Additional criteria are:

• ability to cooperate within academia as well as with industry
• documented experience in successful academic leadership 

Assessment criteria and their weight

In the selection of candidates, the degree of research expertise shall be decisive. In addition, the degree of educational expertise as well as administrative and other competences of importance shall be taken into account with regard to the subject content of the employment and the duties to be included in the employment.

Application

It is important that the application follows instructions and is complete. The application must be submitted no later than 23.59 Central European Time on 13 March, 2022, to be considered.

Please follow the instructions carefully. The applications will be reviewed by an international panel of reviewers. For that reason, all the submitted documents should be written in English.

1. A personal cover letter, including contact information
2. Copies of relevant university degrees and diplomas
3. Copies of five research publications relevant to the position, numbered according to the publication list
4. Attachments to a pedagogical portfolio (see p. 3.5 in Umu Application form).
5. CV/Umu Application form
   Fill in the required application template (word). Submit it attached to your application in the Varbi system as your CV. The specified sections and headings in this standardised CV insure information is organised and presented in a similar format to facilitate review. Following information must be provided in the application form:
   • basic information
   • an account of research experience (including a list of articles published and a brief research plan)
   • an account of pedagogical experience and activities
   • an account of experiences of developing and managing activities and staff
   • an account of experiences regarding interacting with the surrounding society and popularizing science
   • references, including contact details

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

The application is submitted through our electronic recruitment system. Documents sent electronically must be in Word or PDF format. Log in to the system and apply via the button at the end of this page.

More information

For more information about this position, please contact Head of Department, Lena Kallin Westin, kallin@cs.umu.se.

Applying for promotion to Associate professor

An assistant professor, upon request, can be promoted to Associate professor if he or she meets the requirements for employment as an Associate professor and upon review is determined to meet the qualifications for such employment according to the evaluation criteria that shall be applied for promotion to Associate professor. This promotion entails a permanent position as Associate professor.

The application for promotion shall be submitted six months before the fixed-term appointment ends. If an Assistant professor after evaluation is not promoted, the fixed-term appointment ends.

Established criteria for promotion can be found in the employment profile decided by the dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology on 8 February 2022.