1-2 PhD students in Computing Science with focus on Symbolic AI

At our institution, which conducts research at the highest international level and offers several high-quality educational programs in Computer Science, we are now seeking 1-2 PhD students with a focus on symbolic AI.

The Department of Computing Science has been growing rapidly in recent years, with a focus on creating an inclusive and bottom-up driven research environment.  Our workplace consists of a diverse set of people from different nationalities, backgrounds and fields. As a postdoctoral researcher working with us, you receive the benefits of support in career development, networking, administrative and technical support functions, along with good employment conditions. More information about the department is available at: https://www.umu.se/en/department-of-computing-science/

Project description

In modern software systems and the organizations that run them, a substantial part of day-to-day decisions with critical impact on individual humans and society at large is either fully automated or heavily relies on automatically provided decision support. While machine learning approaches become increasingly prevalent in this context, the cores of the systems’ reasoning engines typically remain ‘symbolic’ (knowledge-based). These symbolic or neuro-symbolic software systems are of high practical complexity, which makes them difficult to reason about, for example when assessing which meta-level changes lead to the intended real-world impact. Working towards solving this problem, the theme of the broader project is 'Automating Reasoning about Automated Reasoning'. From a fundamental research perspective, this relates to the automation of meta-reasoning pertaining to general-purpose reasoning methods. Here, the intended focus is on reasoning approaches that can revise their conclusions in face of new evidence/knowledge. The plan is to cover both nascent approaches that are considered promising facilitators of the fusion of subsymbolic, symbolic, and human intelligence, as well as industry-scale reasoning systems. Instances of the former class are different variants of formal argumentation, whereas in the latter case, the focus can lie on mainstream rule languages that are deployed in large-scale IT systems.

Within the broader realm of the theme 'Automating Reasoning about Automated Reasoning', research tasks can be selected based on the strengths of the successful candidate, in either the broad direction of principle-based meta-reasoning (formal focus) or applications of automated meta-reasoning to large-scale software systems (engineering focus).

Research is carried out in collaboration with other scientists at the Department of Computing Science focusing on knowledge-based AI, under the leadership of Vicenç Torra and Timotheus Kampik. Excellent international collaboration opportunities exist, backed-up by a strong track-record of joint work with globally leading research groups and large tech companies.

Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP) is Sweden’s largest individual research program ever, a major national initiative for strategically motivated basic research, education and faculty recruitment. The program addresses research on artificial intelligence and autonomous systems acting in collaboration with humans, adapting to their environment through sensors, information and knowledge, and forming intelligent systems-of-systems. The vision of WASP is excellent research and competence in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and software for the benefit of Swedish society and industry. Read more: https://wasp-sweden.org/

The graduate school within WASP is dedicated to provide the skills needed to analyze, develop, and contribute to the interdisciplinary area of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and software. Through an ambitious program with research visits, partner universities, and visiting lecturers, the graduate school actively supports forming a strong multi-disciplinary and international professional network between PhD-students, researchers and industry. Read more: https://wasp-sweden.org/graduate-school/

Admission requirements

To fulfil the general entry requirements, the applicant must have qualifications equivalent to a completed degree at second-cycle level, or completed course requirements of at least 240 ECTS credits including at least 60 ECTS credits at second-cycle level.

To fulfil the specific entry requirements to be admitted for studies at third-cycle level in Computing Science, the applicant is required to have completed at least 90 ECTS credits in Computing Science, or in subjects considered to be directly relevant for the specialization in question. Applicants who otherwise have acquired skills that are deemed equivalent to these are also eligible.

It is a requirement that you have:

• A basic understanding of, and a strong interest in, one of the following topics:
  • o Logic-based reasoning approaches, for example formal argumentation, or
  • o Formal aspects of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems.
• Advanced programming skills.
• Academic writing skills and the ability to typeset papers in LaTeX.

It is highly meritorious if you enjoy working with math notation and formal proofs. Alternatively, candidates with good programming and excellent writing skills are encouraged to apply.

Important personal qualities are, besides creativity and critical thinking, excellent problem solving skills, agreeableness, discipline, ability to work both independently and in a group, and experience in scientific interaction with researchers from diverse backgrounds. The working language will be English.

About the position

The position provides you with the opportunity to pursue PhD studies in Computing Science for four years, with the goal of achieving the degree of Doctor in Computing Science. While the position is mainly devoted to PhD studies (at least 80% of the time), it may include up to 20% department service (usually teaching). If so, the total time for the position is extended accordingly, resulting in a maximum of five years.

The procedure for recruitment for the position is in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance (chapter 12, 2§) and the decision regarding the position cannot be appealed.

The expected starting date is 01.04.2025 or as otherwise agreed.

Application

Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University.

A complete application should contain the following documents:

• A cover letter including a description of your research interests, your reasons to apply for the position, and your contact information
• A curriculum vitae
• Reprints / copies of completed BSc and/or MSc theses and other relevant publications, if any
• Copies of degree certificates, including documentation of completed academic courses and obtained grades
• Documentation and description of other relevant experiences or competences.

The application must be written in English or Swedish. Attached documents must be in pdf format. Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University, and be received no later than 2025-01-30.

The Department of Computing Science values gender diversity, and therefore particularly encourages women and those outside the gender binary to apply for the position.

For additional information, please contact Assistant Professor Timotheus Kampik (tkampik @cs.umu.se).