Four postdoc positions on the topic of equal opportunities aspects in IT - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Information Technology has a leading position in research and education. The Department currently has about 300 employees, including 120 teachers and 110 PhD students. More than 4000 students study one or more courses at the department each year. You can find more information about us at the web page of the department of Information Technology

The Department of Information Technology aims to promote and raise awareness on research on equal opportunities aspects in IT. This aim is in line with the recently published EU Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI (although in a more narrow context), which state that diversity, non-discrimination and fairness are key requirements to achieve AI and technology that are ethical, lawful and robust. These suggest, for example, the need for inclusion and diversity through out the whole AI system’s cycle, from design and development to evaluation, to avoid unfair bias in datasets used in AI systems which could potentially lead to the discrimination against certain groups or people, to promote accessibility and universal design.

To achieve this aim, the Department of Information Technology aims to recruit four postdoc positions at the department with focus on equal opportunities aspects in IT. Each position will have a 2-year duration.

The positions are planned to start from September 2023 or as agreed.

Duties: The position is focused on research in the described research project, and includes a limited amount of teaching and departmental duties, but not more than 20%.

Requirements: To qualify for an employment as a postdoc you must have a PhD degree or a degree equivalent to a PhD degree. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Those who have obtained a PhD degree three years prior to the application deadline are primarily considered for the employment. The starting point of the three-year frame period is the application deadline. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc.

Research projects

Project 1 

Postdoctoral position in Statistical Design of Experiments/Statistical Sampling at  the Division of Scientific Computing. The position is also part of the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) network and offers a rich and highly interdisciplinary research environment.               

The project involves fundamental research on statistical design of experiments incorporating fairness constraints. The goal of the project is to build algorithms to generate both – one-shot and sequential design of experiments that result in balanced sampling properties, with fairness and equal opportunities aspects taken into account. The developed approaches will be used for designing microbiome studies. As a proof-of-concept, we will leverage available large-scale datasets such as the SCAPIS or SIMPLER cohorts from which to extract balanced and fair case-control cohorts. 

Requirements: PhD degree in mathematical statistics, machine learning, computational science, signal processing, computational statistics, computer vision, mathematics, computational biology, biostatistics, bioinformatics or other relevant field or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in mathematical statistics, machine learning, computational science, signal processing, computational statistics, computer vision, mathematics, computational biology, biostatistics, bioinformatics or other relevant field. 
The applicant must have a strong background in mathematical sciences, good programming skills (e.g., in Python/Julia), and an interest in interdisciplinary research. Good communication skills, and excellent proficiency in written and oral English are also requirements. Experience in the study of microbiomes, and/or demonstrated experience of conducting interdisciplinary research is meriting. Research experience in the area of active learning, statistical sampling, design and analysis of computer experiments (DACE), surrogate modelling, or Bayesian optimisation is especially meriting. Additionally, experience with microbiome datasets or other compositional data sources is also a merit.

For further information about the position, please contact: Assistant Professor Prashant Singh + 4618-471 5412,  e-mail address prashant.singh@it.uu.se. 

For complete advertisement and application info (UFV-PA 2023/971)

Project 2

Postdoctoral position in Interactive and Interpretable/Explainable Machine Learning for Human-Robot Interaction at the Division of Systems and Control, working closely with members of the Uppsala Social Robotics Lab.

This postdoctoral project brings together human-robot interaction with interactive and interpretable/explainable machine learning in the context of participatory automation - that is developing robots which can be “taught” by a diverse range of users. This approach aims to create contextually, socially appropriate machine behaviour whilst also delivering on EU Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI.

Requirements: PhD degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or related areas or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or related areas.
Proficiency and demonstrated experience with designing, implementing and evaluating machine learning systems is required. Good communication skills in English, both spoken and written, are required. Experience specifically with interactive machine learning from human demonstrations or explainable machine learning is an advantage, as is experience in working with and implementing robot architectures (i.e. systems consisting of robot(s) plus multiple external input or output devices). An interest in the social and ethical consequences of AI and robotics would be particularly appreciated

For further information about the position, please contact: Katie Winkle, katie.winkle@it.uu.se or David Sumpter, david.sumpter@it.uu.se, +4618 471 6226.

For complete advertisement and application info (UFV-PA 2023/972)

Project 3

Postdoctoral position in Computer Science with a focus on Professional Competences and Equal Opportunities at Vi3 Division. The project is led by an interdisciplinary group of researchers and teachers from both the Computing Science Division and Vi3.

The project will contribute to the understanding of how students develop professional competencies related to equal opportunities in computing subjects by participating in learning activities where these competencies are needed.  Here, we use the term equal opportunities to refer to approaches related to DEIA and its connection to the seven grounds of discrimination as listed in the Swedish Discrimination Act. The project comprises a highly interdisciplinary team spanning computing and engineering education, artificial intelligence, and social data science.

Requirements: PhD degree in Computer Science or Discipline Based Education Research or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in a discipline related with Computer Science or Discipline Based Education Research. High proficiency in English (spoken and written) is a requirement. Documented experience in Discipline Based Education Research. Knowledge of the Swedish Education culture or system. Experience related with equal opportunities aspects such as diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility. Experience studying bias or ethical aspects of technology. Experience with quantitative methods such as, but not limited to, statistics and social network science.

For further information about the position, please contact: Mats Daniels, e-mail mats.daniels@it.uu.se, Maria Andreina Francisco, e-mail maria.andreina.francisco@it.uu.se, Davide Vega D’Aurelio, e-mail davide.vega@it.uu.se.

For complete advertisement and application info (UFV-PA 2023/973)

Project 4

Postdoctoral position in human-robot interaction with focus on gender-sensitive social robots and autonomous agents at Vi3 Division, Uppsala Social Robotics Lab. The project is focused on developing and evaluating methods for algorithmic fairness and gender-sensitive design to counteract gender biases in social robots and autonomous systems.

Requirements: PhD degree in human-robot interaction or related areas relevant to the postdoc topic or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in human-robot interaction or related areas relevant to the postdoc topic. Good programming skills and willingness to work in an interdisciplinary team are required. Good communication skills in English, both spoken and written, are required. Experience with programming robots, machine learning and/or conducting experimental user studies is an advantage. The postdoc position is highly interdisciplinary such that an interest in human-centered design, social sciences and psychology would be advantage. An interest in the social and ethical consequences of AI and robotics would be particularly appreciated.

For further information about the position, please contact: Ginevra Castellano, e-mail address: ginevra.castellano@it.uu.se or Didem Gurdur Broo, e-mail address: didem.gurdur.broo@it.uu.se.

For complete advertisement and application info (UFV-PA 2023/974)

Salary: Individual salary.

Starting date: 2023-09-01 or as agreed.

Type of employment: Temporary position for 2 years according to central collective agreement.

Scope of employment: 100 %.