Professor in Fuzziness and Uncertainty Modeling

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is one of the most important education and research institutions in the Low Countries. On a daily basis, over 9,000 staff members and 41,000 students implement its motto "Dare to Think". Ghent University’s mission statement is characterised by qualitative education, internationally renowned research and a pluralistic social responsibility.

ASSIGNMENT

Fuzziness and Uncertainty Modeling is an important sub-domain of AI in which Ghent University has built up a strong tradition over the past decades, both on a fundamental-mathematical and on an applied level. To further embed and strengthen the scientific foundation of fuzziness and uncertainty modeling in the department, a 100% ZAP mandate is being declared open in this field.

Academic education

You provide education to a large group of students at the level of Bachelor (in Dutch) within and/or outside the faculty and you lecture course units at the level of Master in the field of fuzziness and uncertainty modeling.

Academic Research

You conduct fundamental research in the field of fuzziness and uncertainty modeling, with explicit attention for applications.

Academic services

You take part in the internal and external service provision of the department of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics.

PROFILE

In fuzziness and uncertainty modeling, fuzzy concepts and partial truth values are modeled and processed. They can be used to tackle various applications, e.g. in machine learning, natural language processing, and recommendation systems. The Department of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics is looking for an internationally renowned researcher with experience in both the theoretical, mathematical foundations of this research domain and its practical computer applications.

Experience

• You have already conducted eminent academic research in the given discipline, which is clearly reflected in publications in high-quality academic journals and peer-reviewed books;
• You are capable of initiating, supervising and acquiring the necessary funding for academic research;
• You are didactically skilled to teach university students to develop academic competences;
• Recommended are:
  • International mobility, among other things thanks to research stays at institutions external to the one where you acquired your highest academic degree;
  • Experience in heading a research team and/or supervising PhD students;
  • Experience in organizing workshops and/or conferences in your field;
  • Experience in acquiring research projects and research funding;
  • Positively evaluated experience in provided or organised academic lecturing;
  • Professionalisation of education;
  • Interest in educational innovation in your field.
• You must master the language of instruction in which you will teach a course at CEFR- level C1.You can demonstrate this by means of a language certificate or a diploma obtained from an institution in which that language is the language of instruction. In addition, Article II.270, §1 of the Codex of Higher Education requires that: (i) you must master the Dutch language at least at CEFR-level A2 within two years after the start of the appointment. (ii) you must be able to master the Dutch language at least at CEFR-level of B2 within five years after the start of the appointment. More info: Language requirements at Ghent University for professorial staff — Ghent University (ugent.be)

Skills / Attitude

• You are quality-oriented;
• You take initiative;
• You have good communicative skills;
• You have excellent interpersonal skills, making you a team player and efficient communicator with colleagues, students, collaborators and external partners.

Admission requirements

• You hold a thesis-based doctorate or a diploma or certificate that is recognised as equivalent (article V.20 Codex Higher Education).

Upon evaluation of a foreign (non-EU) diploma, a certificate of equivalence may still have to be requested at NARIC. If this is the case, we advise you to initiate this recognition procedure as soon as possible. You are required to have the recognition no later than on the date of your appointment.

• You have at least two years of postdoctoral experience on 1 September 2023. This term of two years is determined by the date written on the above-mentioned required diploma.

APPOINTMENT INFORMATION

Depending on the specific profile of the selected candidate, the degree of associate professor, full professor or senior full professor is awarded. This will be decided by the University Board as proposed by the Faculty Board.

We offer you a permanent appointment in the starting grade of associate professor, full professor or senior full professor, without prejudice to the possibility of a temporary appointment offered in article V.28 of the Codex of Higher Education.

The recruitment is from 1 September 2023.

OUR OFFER

The career and evaluation policy for Professorial Staff is based on talent development and growth, prioritizing vision development and strategy - at the personal as well as the group level. At UGent we focus on career support and coaching of the Professorial Staff in the different phases of the career. More information can be found on www.ugent.be/en/work/mobility-career/career-aspects/professorial-staff.

Ghent University is committed to properly welcoming new professorial staff members and offering them appropriate guidance. The basic teacher training and courses of ’Dutch’ and ’English’ for foreign-speaking lecturers are only a few examples of our wide range of training and education opportunities. Furthermore, each Ghent University staff member can count on a number of benefits such as a bike allowance, reimbursement of public transport commuting costs, daycare, a wide range of sports facilities and EcoCheques. A complete overview of all our employee benefits (in Dutch).

Ghent University also invests in welcoming international professorial staff. It offers various housing options, a relocation bonus, the International School for school-aged children (with a discount on the tuition fee), support when registering at the City of Ghent, support with the procedure of family reunification and other administrative matters in connection with moving to Ghent. Read more.

Candidates who are newly appointed at Ghent University with an appointment as autonomous academic staff of at least 50% or candidates whose appointment as autonomous academic staff at Ghent University is increased to a minimum of 50% receive a Starting Grant of € 220.000 to contribute towards the personnel, operating and/or equipment costs of establishing a research team.

GENDER AND DIVERSITY

Ghent University conducts an equal opportunities policy and encourages everyone to apply. Ghent University also strives for a gender balance. Female applications are thus especially welcomed.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

After the final application date, all received applications will be sent to the faculty selection committee assembled for this vacancy. After a pre-selection on the basis of the submitted and assessed as admissible application files, the selection committee may hear the candidates about their vision and planning regarding education, research and services. It is also possible to organize a trial lesson or a presentation on a subject in the relevant field. Afterwards, the committee will rank the suitable candidates and present this ranking to the Faculty Board. The advice of the Faculty Board will then be presented to the University Board for approval.

Candidates are asked to further discuss their top 5 most important publications or other academic achievements with the highest impact. Next to academic publications, the candidate is thus also able to show merit of knowledge transfer by academic dissemination, social valorisation, public awareness, seminars or conference presentations. These competences are also taken into account when evaluating the candidates.

The evaluation of the required international mobility is broad and partly takes the gender perspective into account, thus not only considering longer stays abroad by also other forms of internationalisation.

Pregnancy leave, prolonged sick leave, parental leave, filial leave or other forms of absence are taken into account when evaluating the available time for the realisation of academic output.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online through the e-recruitment system before the application deadline (see above). We do not accept late or incomplete applications, or applications that are not sent through the online system.

Your application must include the following documents:

• In the field ‘Application form’: the professorial staff application form (+ all annexes mentioned in the form), merged into one pdf file.
• In the field ‘Cover letter’: your application letter in pdf format.
• In the field ‘Diploma’: a transcript of your doctoral degree. If you have a foreign diploma in a language other than our national languages (Dutch, French or German) or English, please add a translation in one of the mentioned languages.
• In the field ‘Certificate of equivalence’: only for diplomas awarded outside the European Union: certificate of equivalence (NARIC) (if already in you possession). For diplomas awarded in the UK before January 31st of 2020, a certificate of equivalence is not required.

Note that the maximum file size for each field is 10 MB.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information regarding this vacancy, please contact Professor Marnix Van Daele (Marnix.VanDaele@UGent.be, +32 (0)9 264 48 09) at the faculty of Sciences, department Applied mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics.

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