Assistant Professor (Associate Senior Lecturer) with specialization in Cognitive Robotics

Job description and subject environment

As Assistant Professor, you will be affiliated with the Cognitive Robotics Lab at the Department of Philosophy at Lund University. With the help of the lab's humanoid robot Epi, the research group is developing a theoretical and technological framework for modelling various cognitive processes on a neuroscientific basis, which are tested using robots. Areas of study include perception, memory, learning, cognitive development, attention, motor control and spatial navigation. The research falls within the field of cognitive science, with a focus on neurorobotics, cognitive robotics and computational neuroscience.

What we offer

As Assistant Professor at Lund University, you will develop your qualifications as a researcher and teaching staff member over a period of four years, with an emphasis on research merit. You will also receive five weeks of training in teaching and learning in higher education. During your fourth and final year, you will have the opportunity to apply for promotion to a permanent position as a senior lecturer.

International employees are offered support in moving to Sweden and are given the opportunity to learn through the University’s Swedish language courses for new international staff. If you are accompanied by family members, Lund’s International Citizen Hub provides a gateway to Swedish society and your new community.

Lund University is a government public authority, which means that you will receive special benefits, generous holiday entitlement and a favourable occupational pension. The University applies individual salary setting. Read more about being employed at Lund University here.

Job Duties

As Assistant Professor, you will be expected to contribute to the research environment at the department, supervise doctoral students and possibly teach. You will also participate in activities organised within eSSENCE: The e-Science Collaboration ; the strategic research programme that unites and supports e-science research at Lund University and the universities of Uppsala and Umeå.

As Assistant Professor, you will be expected to produce high-quality interdisciplinary research. You will be part of the development of a unique cross-faculty training programme in cognitive robotics and neurorobotics in collaboration with other subjects at Lund University, the Faculty of Engineering, LTH and within eSSENCE. You will thereby contribute to bringing together related interests and competencies from different fields within education in order to promote interdisciplinary skills, including e-science.

The research will primarily focus on e-science methods aimed at investigating cognitive processes and developing existing tools for simulation and control of humanoid robots using the technology available at the robotics lab.

Qualifications for employment as an Assistant Professor

You hold a doctoral degree in cognitive science with a focus on neuroinformatics, neurorobotics, or cognitive modelling, or have corresponding research expertise relevant to the subject content of the position and the duties included therein.

Applicants who hold a doctoral degree that has been obtained within the last 7 years from the application deadline will be prioritized. If there are documented special grounds, such as parental leave, military service or illness after graduation, that have prevented you from working as a researcher, the doctoral degree in the subject may have been awarded earlier.

Requirements – what you must have in order to carry out duties

The successful applicant we are looking for has:

• a PhD in cognitive science with a focus on neuroinformatics, neurorobotics, cognitive modelling or related areas.
• experience of research and/or studies in the above-mentioned areas, with a focus that is relevant to the position.
• very good and documented knowledge of academic English.

If the successful applicant does not have sufficient command of Swedish or another Scandinavian language for teaching and communication in the workplace, a development plan will be drawn up specifying how the employee will acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in Swedish within a specified time frame. The plan will be drawn up in consultation between the employee and their immediate manager.

• a research plan for the research they wish to conduct during employment, which is submitted alongside the application. (More information about the research plan is to be found in the section 'Application instructions' below).

Additional qualifications

In addition to the above, we would also like to see that you can demonstrate that you have:

• documented experience of multidisciplinary research combining cognitive science, robotics and e-science
• documented experience in mathematics and/or software development
• experience of constructing robots
• experience of teaching and course development in relevant areas, particularly in interdisciplinary education
• documented strong ability to obtain external research funding.

Assessment criteria

• good ability to develop and conduct high-quality research, and
• pedagogical ability.

Furthermore, importance will be attached to the applicant's assessed ability to achieve sufficient merit for promotion to Senior lecturer within the time frame of the Assistant Professor position. Personal abilities of importance for successfully performing the duties of the position will also be taken into consideration.

Form of employment

Fixed-term employment, 4 years, in accordance with Chapter 4, Section 12a of the Higher Education Ordinance, with the possibility of promotion to a permanent position as a Senior lecturer.

Promotion – what is required to be promoted to senior lecturer

As an Assistant Professor, you may apply for promotion to permanent employment as a Senior lecturer. You will then undergo a special assessment to determine if you fulfil the Faculties’ requirements for employment as Senior lecturer. Kindly note that an application for promotion may be submitted only once, and at least six months before your employment as an Assistant Professor ends.

Assessment criteria for promotion from Assistant Professor to Senior lecturer

When applying for promotion from Assistant Professor to Senior lecturer, you will be assessed based on whether you have:

• Demonstrated clear development within your field during your time as an Assistant Professor. In relation to your doctoral thesis, you must have clearly broadened your scholarly register and demonstrated good progression.
  • This is documented through scholarly production with a scope corresponding to at least one additional doctoral thesis.
• Good national and international standing as a researcher. The requirement for international merit shall be assessed with regard to the nature and tradition of the subject area.
  • Demonstrated through: internationally competitive publications that demonstrate both breadth and depth.
• Ability to initiate new research approaches and to plan and start new research projects
• Good teaching ability, which means a good ability to conduct, develop and lead teaching and other educational activities at different levels, using different teaching methods
• Completed at least five weeks of teaching and learning in higher education training or acquired equivalent knowledge in other ways
• Ability to participate in supervision of doctoral students in their studies for a doctoral degree
• Ability to participate in and develop public engagement and other outreach activities.
• Ability to lead and develop activities linked to the Cognitive Robotics Lab in Lund.
• Sufficient knowledge of Swedish or another Scandinavian language for teaching and communication in the workplace.

Application instructions

Your application must be prepared in accordance with the vacancy call text and the Instructions for applicants | Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology . As an applicant, you are responsible for submitting a complete application through the university's recruitment portal by the application deadline. More information about the recruitment process can be found here: Recruitment process for academic staff | Lund University .

As part of your application, you must submit a project plan for the research you wish to conduct during your employment in the subject. The plan should also describe how your research can complement and strengthen existing activities at the Cognitive Robotics Lab in Lund and within the strategic research programme eSSENCE. The research plan should be written in English and submitted together with your application.

Instructions for project plan (to be submitted together with application)

Length: maximum 6 pages in total.

1) The project plan should satisfy both non-expert committee members and expert international reviewers. Page one in the project plan should be aimed at the non-expert. Address the following:

• The overarching question, ‘I am going to do X’
• Why is it interesting and novel? ‘This is new and groundbreaking because of Y’
• Why you (and not another researcher) and how are you going to approach it?

Ensure that the combination of your idea, your knowledge and the infrastructure available to you, in particular the cognitive robotics lab in Lund, is clear. ‘The combination of me and this research idea represents a unique opportunity, because…’

• What do you hope to find, ‘If successful it will result in the following…’
• What does it mean in the bigger picture? ‘It will move the research front forward because…’

The (max) 5 pages to follow do not need to be structured in a specific way, but we recommend that the following points are covered (in the way you prefer):

2) Construct the proposal around the overarching question and the aims. Do not list aims after sections of background, instead state the aim and then go into the relevant reasons why it needs to be done. Do not start the first page with a long section of state of the art, start with what you are going to do. Use your CV to highlight why you have the specific skills required for the project, as well as for breaking new ground.

3) Make sure to demonstrate your independence. For example, if you have published extensively together with your former PhD supervisor, you must clearly convey that you are in fact a fully independent researcher. List achievements that prove your independence.

4) Highlight the “material” aspects of the project – the needed infrastructure, labs, timelines, recruitments, disseminations planned for the next four years – show you’ve got a well thought through plan.

5) Potential as a research leader. Use your CV and Report on research experience to illustrate your potential as a research leader, and don't hesitate to highlight why what you do is important to you.

Ready to shape the future of research? Find more reasons why Lund University and the HT Faculties is right for you by visiting our websites, and learn more about Working in Lund, Moving to Lund and Living in Lund.