[agents] Research Positions on Robust / Trustworthy / Explainable AI for Smart Assistants

[Loizos Michael]

Dear colleagues,

The Research Centre on Interactive Media, Smart System and Emerging Technologies (www.rise.org.cy<http://www.rise.org.cy/>) is a newly founded research and innovation centre of excellence in Nicosia, Cyprus, supported by the European Commission (under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017), the Republic of Cyprus, and its founding Partners: the Municipality of Nicosia, Max Planck Institute, University College London, the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus University of Technology and the Open University of Cyprus.

The Socially-Competent Robotic and Agent Technologies (SCRAT) Multidisciplinary Research Group focuses on the design and development of human-centered AI-driven technologies for physical robots or virtual agents. The Group's work draws inspiration from cognitive psychology and the social sciences, recognizing that value can increase when machines work with humans rather than only for humans. This in turn, necessitates technologies that can interact competently with humans in a decision-supporting role and at a level that is socially and cognitively compatible with the individual(s) interacting with those technologies. The Group's work builds upon techniques from machine learning, natural language processing and generation, preference elicitation, knowledge acquisition and representation, commonsense reasoning, cognitive computing, and explainable AI.

We are looking for M.Sc./Ph.D. holders to conduct applied research in the aforementioned areas, towards the development of innovative solutions with socio-economic impact on real-world domains where the use of smart assistants is most useful. Indicatively, the Group is looking for candidates who can design and develop robust, trustworthy, interactive (human-in-the-loop), explainable AI technologies for decision-support in areas like Fintech, Education, Health, Tourism, Agriculture, etc. Individuals with research / innovation experience in relevant application domains, in addition to knowledge of key AI technologies, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Preferred Start Date: January 2021 or soon thereafter

Qualifications & requirements

  *   M.Sc./Ph.D. from an accredited university in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Science, Cognitive Systems, Cognitive Science, or a related area. (Candidates with other backgrounds but with an otherwise solid profile may also be considered.)
  *   Excellent knowledge of both spoken and written English language.
  *   Previous research experience and high impact research publications.
  *   Previous relevant industrial / innovation / entrepreneurship experience and interest will be considered an advantage.
  *   Ability to independently identify problems and carry out research work within the scope of the Group.
  *   Ability to interact with stakeholders in application domains and identify opportunities for collaboration.
  *   Excellent programming skills (e.g., C, C++, Python, Java), mathematical maturity, and ability to learn quickly.
  *   Mobile application development skills for Android / iOS is considered an advantage.
  *   Interest / past work in Smart Personal Assistants or Human-Machine collaboration applications is desirable.
  *   Previous grant-writing experience will be considered an advantage.
  *   For non-EU applicants a work permit will be required.

For general enquiries, applicants may contact the Centre's HR Department at vacancies at rise.org.cy<mailto:vacancies at rise.org.cy>

More details about the specific call and the application process can be found at https://www.rise.org.cy/en-gb/vacancies/job-listings/research-department/research-associate-for-multidisciplinary-research/

Regards,
Loizos Michael

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.cs.umbc.edu/pipermail/agents/attachments/20201205/72da4d07/attachment.html>