Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Open-ended: permanent

The opportunity:

We are seeking current and emerging leading researchers in the field. The successful candidate will have a PhD (or be close to completing one), a strong research agenda, and the enthusiasm and ability to undertake original research, teach courses, and supervise student projects.

We look for candidates with research interests in the development of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence methods and models, particularly in the joint space of perception (e.g., computer vision) and action (e.g., interactive decision-making systems). We are interested in candidates motivated to establish and expand the principles underlying such methods and models in the context of high-impact application domains (e.g., robotics, health, environment, society, etc.).

The candidate's research focus may align with the following, non-exhaustive, list of topics (in no particular order):

• Continual, open-ended, self-improving AI
• Agentic AI, world models, and generative models
• Embodied perception and action
• Learning from interaction and reinforcement
• Decision-making under uncertainty
• Long-duration autonomy

Applicants should have a strong research track record. They should also demonstrate interest and ability to teach undergraduate (UG) and master's (MSc) level courses, and to supervise projects for UG, MSc, and PhD in areas related to their research.

The school of informatics

The School of Informatics was ranked #1 in the UK for research power in Computer Science and Informatics Times Higher Education ranking, based on the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF). We are the highest-ranked UK institution and one of the top two in Europe for AI, according to the CSRankings website (csrankings.org). The School of Informatics currently hosts multiple doctoral training programmes related to the field of AI (including Machine Learning Systems, AI for Dependable and Deployable Robotics, Responsible NLP, and Biomedical AI Innovation), through which a successful candidate may recruit funded PhD students, in addition to scholarships available through the School. The successful candidate will join a dynamic environment with both junior and senior faculty members and dedicated professional service staff. The professional services available in the School include excellent support for national and international research funding applications, as well as support for commercial engagement and entrepreneurial initiatives.

The University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is a research-intensive university. The University is an active Unit in the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS); these units are recognised centres of excellence in AI research across Europe. In addition, it is one of the five founding partners of the UK's Alan Turing Institute for Data Science and AI. There are also many opportunities within the University to engage in collaborative activities with researchers in other areas of computer science and mathematics, and across the physical, psychological, social, and biomedical sciences. This includes becoming a fellow of the University-wide Generative AI Lab (gail.ed.ac.uk). The University has also been recently announced as the home of the UK’s next national supercomputer.

The School of Informatics holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBTQ+ equality.