Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position at EPFL (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne), to be hosted jointly by the Artificial Intelligence Lab (headed by Prof. Boi Faltings) and the Data Science Lab (headed by Prof. Robert West).

We seek a candidate who will lead innovative research projects at the crossroads of machine learning, natural language processing, and automated reasoning. Our goal is to develop novel neuro-symbolic AI paradigms and systems that combine the stunning recent progress in distributed representation learning (e.g., recurrent neural networks, transformers, graph neural networks) with symbolic reasoning skills (e.g., knowledge graphs, semantic networks, logical reasoning, planning).

The position is funded by TAILOR (“Trustworthy AI: Integrating Learning, Optimisation, and Reasoning”), an EU-funded network with the purpose of laying the scientific foundations for Trustworthy AI in Europe.

The successful candidate will coordinate EPFL’s role within the TAILOR network and lead innovative research projects in a stimulating, open, and international research environment consisting of many highly talented and motivated students, embedded in a strong network of academic and industrial collaborators.

Other benefits include a competitive salary (around CHF 82,000 p.a.), an extremely well funded national research system, an office next to a stunning lake and even more stunning mountains, and generous travel support.

Involvement in teaching is possible but not required. Project work with master and PhD students is expected.

Time frame

The ideal start date is late 2021 or early 2022. There is, however, some flexibility. The position will be for a period of two years.

Qualifications

Candidates should have completed, or be near completion of, a PhD with a strong international publication record in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, data mining, information retrieval, etc. The successful candidate will do innovative and creative work in the space spanned by these bases, and the potential to do so counts more than the exact coordinates in this space. Strong programming skills are required.

About EPFL

EPFL ranks among the world’s top universities in the field of computer science. It is located in Lausanne, Switzerland, a beautiful and vibrant city in an Alpine setting on the shores of scenic Lake Geneva, in the very heart of Europe. English is the main language spoken at EPFL, and Lausanne is highly international, such that no French language skills are required.

How to apply

To apply, you should

  1. complete this short online form;
  2. arrange for two letters of reference to be sent to robert.west@epfl.ch within two weeks of submitting your application documents.

The review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

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