PhD Position in Machine Learning/ Computer Science 1608 views

Umeå University, the Department of Computing Science, is seeking outstanding candidates for a Ph.D. student position in Computer Science with a focus on trustworthy learning for anomaly detection in complex data.

The deadline for application is 7 July 2021 August 22, 2021.

Description

The position is funded by The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation through The Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), Sweden’s largest ever individual research program, and a major national initiative for strategic basic research, education, and faculty recruitment. The vision of WASP is excellent research and competence in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and software for the benefit of Swedish society as well as industry.

The aim of this project is primarily to develop trustworthy learning methods for anomaly detection, defense, and root-cause analysis in complex data (e.g., heterogeneous, multi-source, data with extreme missing values) to increase model robustness, adaptability, resilience, and transparency.

The position is aimed for graduate studies in Computing Science within the autonomous distributed systems lab, but collaboration with researchers in, e.g., machine learning, mathematical statistics, optimization, trustworthy learning, deep learning, or artificial intelligence is expected. (For further information, see www.cloudresearch.org).

Qualifications/ Requirements:

1. The applicant is required to have completed a second-cycle level degree, or completed course requirements of at least 240 ECTS credits, of which at least 60 ECTS credits are at second-cycle level, or have an equivalent education from abroad, or equivalent qualifications.
2. To fulfill the specific entry requirements for doctoral studies in computing science the applicant is required to have completed courses at an advanced level in computing science or another subject considered to be directly relevant for the specialization in question, equivalent to 60 ECTS credits.
3. Documented knowledge and a solid background in machine learning and security or distributed systems is a requirement. The research is to a large extent interdisciplinary, and a broad competence profile and experience from other relevant areas (such as machine learning, distributed learning, adversarial learning, deep learning, IoT, discrete optimization, and statistical methods) is considered a merit.
4. Important personal qualities are, besides creativity and a curious mind, the ability to work both independently and in a group, and experience in the scientific interaction with researchers from other disciplines and in other countries. Good skills in both spoken and written English are a requirement for the position.

Terms of employment

The position is aimed for Ph.D. studies and research for four years, leading to a Ph.D. degree. It is mainly devoted to postgraduate studies (at least 80% of the time), including taking part in the WASP Graduate School, but may include up to 20% department service (usually teaching). If so, the total time for the position is extended accordingly (up to a maximum of five years). The employment will start as soon as possible, or as otherwise agreed.

Submitting your application

A complete application should contain the following documents:

1. A cover letter including a description of your research interests, your reasons to apply for the position, and your contact information
2. A curriculum vitae
3. Copies of degree certificates and other completed academic courses
4. Reprints/copies of Bachelor’s / Master’s thesis, and other relevant publications, if any
5. Contact information for three reference persons
6. Documentation and description of other relevant experiences or competencies, such as from software development and work in or with industry.

The application must be written in English or Swedish. Documents must be in Word or pdf format. Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University, and be received no later than 7 July 2021 August 22, 2021.

The department of Computing Science is actively striving for gender balance, and thus encourages applications from women.

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

Contact details:

Further information can be obtained from Assistant Professor Monowar Bhuyan, (email: monowar@cs.umu.se) and Professor Erik Elmroth (email: elmroth@cs.umu.se).