Teaching statement (1-2 pages)
Research statement (2-3 pages)
Full CV and publication list, which should identify the applicant's 3 most relevant/representative publications
Ensure that a link to your publications link is also added in URL's section of the application form
Please note that two references will be sought for all shortlisted candidates. Please indicate on your application form if you are happy for your referees to be contacted prior to interview.
Feedback will only be provided to interviewed candidates.
The successful candidate will have (or be near to completing) a PhD, an established research agenda, and the enthusiasm and ability to undertake original research and to lead a research group. They will show excellent teaching capability in specialist courses related to NLP, and engagement with academic supervision. We are seeking current and future leaders in the field., PhD or equivalent (such as extensive industry experience), and experience as an established researcher in Natural Language Processing or a related field. Experience working with embodied or autonomous systems would be desirable.
Proven experience of undertaking original research, with a track record of first author and/or collaborative publications in high quality journals and international conferences.
Proven experience of attracting research funding, and of the planning and delivery of research projects.
A demonstrated commitment to effective teaching in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, as well as more general courses in the discipline of Informatics.
In the case of exceptional applicants, appointments may be available as a Reader (Grade UE09). Job descriptions for each level are outlined below. The level of appointment would be influenced by the selection panel following interview in Edinburgh.
Applications are invited for an academic position in Embodied Natural Language Processing (NLP) in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, as part of a continuing expansion at the intersection of Natural Language Processing and Robotics.
Natural Language processing is a highly interdisciplinary field of research that has seen increasing convergence with the field of Artificial Intelligence in recent years. The field has been revolutionised by recent advances in large language models, which have enabled NLP to contribute to an ever-growing range of new thematic areas. We are seeking a candidate able to conduct research at the boundary of NLP and Robotics / Autonomous agents, for example, by applying NLP methods to aid robot decision-making; improve integration of AI systems with human users; enhance the understanding of other input modalities such as vision; and enable explainability of robot actions., The University of Edinburgh is one of the top places in the world for research in Natural Language Processing (see csrankings.org). The School of Informatics benefits from strong links to the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences (PPLS), the Institute for Design Informatics, and the School of Social and Political Science. We have an excellent track record in competitive funding awards, with six prestigious ERC grants in NLP in recent years and a Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellowship to create a new Centre for AI for Assistive Autonomy. We host multiple UKRI Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) in NLP and Robotics and play key roles in four AI research hubs.
The School of Informatics is one of the largest in Europe, with more than 120 academic staff and a total of over 500 post-doctoral researchers, research students and support staff. Informatics at Edinburgh was rated highest on Research Power in the most recent Research Excellence Framework. We have strong links with industry, with dedicated business incubator space and well-established enterprise and business development programmes.
Close to the School, the University of Edinburgh has recently established the Bayes Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, which provides a locus for fruitful multi-disciplinary work and in which a range of companies are collocated; and the Edinburgh Futures Institute, which delivers interdisciplinary challenge-led research across arts, humanities and science.
This post is full-time (35 hours per week) and open-ended. However, we are open to considering part-time or flexible working patterns.
The salary for this post is:
Lecturer £49,250 - £60,321 per annum
Reader £62,098 - £76,398 per annum
Your skills and attributes for success