[agents] Reminder: fully funded 4-year Ph D student position on formal verification of ethical principles of AI systems

[Virginia Dignum]

*Dr. Virginia Dignum*

*TU Delft / Technology Policy and Management*

Associate Professor Social Artificial Intelligence

Tel: +31 (0)15 27 88064 / +31 (0)6 52386326

Web: http://staff.tudelft.nl/en/M.V.Dignum


*A great way to start 2019!     still a few days to apply!*


    Umeå University, department of computing sience

*Research topic: Formal verification of ethical principles of AI systems*

Umeå University, the Department of Computing Science, is seeking 
outstanding candidates for a Wallenberg Autonomous Systems Program 
(WASP) PhD student position in Computer Science with focus on formal 
verification of ethical principles of AI systems. Deadline for 
application is January 7, 2019.

The Department of Computing Science is a dynamic environment with around 
100 employees representing more than 20 countries worldwide. We conduct 
education and research on a broad range of topics in Computing Science. 
The Social and Ethical Artificial Intelligence group conducts research 
into AI systems that meet their social responsibility, including the 
development of theories, models and tools for oversight, accountability 
and verification, and methods to analyze, design, measure and audit 
social implications. The group collaborates with several national and 
international research groups, and has active links with industry and 
policy organizations. Visit http://people.cs.umu.se/virginia/ for more 
information.

*WASP*
The project is part of 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 program is initiated and 
generously funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) with 
2.6 billion SEK. In addition to this, the program receives support from 
collaborating industry and from participating universities to form a 
total budget of 3.5 billion SEK. Major goals are more than 50 new 
professors and more than 300 new PhDs within AI, Autonomous Systems and 
Software. The vision of WASP is excellent research and competence in 
artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and software for the benefit 
of Swedish industry. For more information about the research and other 
activities conducted within WASP please visit http://wasp-sweden.org/.

The graduate school within WASP provides foundations, perspectives, and 
state-of-the-art knowledge in the different disciplines taught by 
leading researchers in the field. 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. It thus provides added value on top of the existing PhD 
programs at the partner universities, providing unique opportunities for 
students who are dedicated to achieving international research 
excellence with industrial relevance.

*Research project*
AI systems are increasingly expected to act autonomously. Using current 
Machine Learning approaches that focus on pattern matching and rely 
heavily on correlation methods leads to impenetrable systems that are 
notoriously difficult to monitor (the so called black box algorithms). 
However, trust on autonomous systems depends on the possibility to 
verify and minimally control their behavior. In particular, it becomes 
increasingly important to formally ensure that the behavior of an AI 
system lays within some given principles.

An important research area in AI is therefore the development of 
theories and methods for control and verification of AI systems that 
adapt to their environment without direct intervention of the users. 
This requires going beyond traditional verification and monitoring 
methods, for two main reasons. Firstly, these systems operate in open 
environments, which cannot be fully described nor defined a priori, and 
therefore rules and constraints on its behavior cannot consider all 
possible situations encountered by the system. Secondly, opacity is 
inherent in open environments because the systems are developed and 
operated by different parties, using that use different (proprietary) 
architectures and algorithms.

However, trust in the system requires that we are able to ensure that 
the system complies with societal values and ethical principles, such as 
fairness, non-discrimination, safety or privacy. Theories and tools are 
needed to specify computational representations of these concepts, and 
to verify that a given system complies with these. In this project, you 
will develop methods to verify and monitor the ethical behavior of AI 
systems based on the observation of input and output behavior according 
to a continuously evolving societal optimum.

*About the position*
The successful applicant will be employed by Umeå University and receive 
a competitive salary for a period of four years of full time PhD 
studies, provided that the studies are progressing reasonably well. PhD 
students are typically offered the opportunity to gain teaching 
experience on suitable undergraduate courses. If so, the employment 
period is extended to cover the time spent on teaching (at most 20 
%).*Expected starting date is March 1 2019 or as otherwise agreed.*

*Admission requirements*
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 overseas, or equivalent qualifications. To 
fulfil the specific entry requirements for doctoral studies in computing 
science, the applicant is required to have completed courses at 
second-cycle level degree equivalent to 60 ECTS credits in computing 
science, or in a subject considered to be directly relevant for the 
specialization in question.

Candidates are expected to have very good knowledge in Artificial 
Intelligence and formal methods. Demonstrable knowledge of logics, 
theorem proving and verification is a prerequisite. In particular, 
candidates should be well acquainted with relevant formal and 
algorithmic techniques, and with knowledge representation methods which, 
as the project proceeds, will be applied to develop verification and 
monitoring models for AI algorithms.

Since research is conducted in an international research environment, 
the ability to collaborate and contribute to teamwork, and a very good 
command of the English language, both written and spoken, are key 
requirements.

*Application*
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
• If applicable, copy of completed BSc and/or MSc thesis and other 
original research publications
• Copies of degree certificates, including documentation of completed 
academic courses and obtained grades
• Contact information for two persons willing to act as references

The application must be written in English or Swedish, and attached 
documents must be written in or translated to 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*January 7 th, 2019*. Reference number: AN 
2.2.1-2063-18. Log on to the system and apply via the button at the 
bottom of the web page: 
https://umu.mynetworkglobal.com/en/what:login/jobID:241808/type:job/apply:1/

Interested applicants are also encouraged to apply for the position with 
the reference number: AN 2.2.1-2063-18.

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. We value the qualities that an even 
gender distribution brings to the department, and therefore we 
particularly encourage women to apply for the position.
For additional information, please contact Prof. Virginia Dignum 
virginia at cs.umu.se.

*We look forward to receiving your application!*

Umeå University wants to offer an equal environment where open dialogue 
between people with different backgrounds and perspectives lay the 
foundation for learning, creativity and development. We welcome people 
with different backgrounds and experiences to apply for the current 
employment.


We kindly decline offers of recruitment and advertising help.

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