Vacant job

Responsibilities

The Department of Computer Science and Learning Systems (Computing and Learning Systems, CLS) is seeking a postdoctoral researcher for a two-year project within Quality-Aware Representation Learning (QARL), a framework for developing responsible and sustainable machine learning systems. The project investigates how machine learning models can learn data representations that not only support predictive performance but also quality objectives such as fairness, privacy, sustainability, and contextual relevance.

The successful candidate will develop and evaluate new methods for representation learning, create benchmarks and evaluation protocols, and collaborate with interdisciplinary researchers and societal actors. The position is entirely research-focused and does not include teaching duties.

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will become part of an interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment that values methodological diversity, critical reflection, and engagement with societal challenges. We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, and strive to create an inclusive research environment where all researchers are valued, respected, and given the opportunity to develop.

Qualifications

Requirements

• A completed PhD degree or a foreign degree assessed as equivalent to a PhD in computer science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science, statistics, or a related field. This eligibility requirement must be met no later than the time the employment decision is made.
• You have experience conducting independent research and publishing results in peer-reviewed scientific forums.
• You have programming and data analysis skills relevant to computational research.
• As a person, you are independent, collaborative, and have good communication skills in English, as this is required in daily work.

Merits

• At the application deadline, no more than three years have passed since the PhD degree or a foreign degree assessed as equivalent to a PhD was awarded.
• It is meritorious if you have research experience in representation learning, trustworthy AI, large language models (LLMs), multi-objective optimization, or synthetic data.
• It is meritorious if you have experience in interdisciplinary research, open-source software, shared datasets, or reproducible research methods.
• It is meritorious if you have knowledge of ethical, legal, policy-related, human-centered, feminist, participatory, decolonial, or other critical perspectives on AI and data.
• Teaching ability.
• Awareness of diversity and equal treatment issues, with a particular focus on gender equality.

We are aware that qualified candidates may not necessarily meet all the meritorious qualifications. If your experience is relevant to the project's goals, we encourage you to apply and describe how your background can contribute to the research.

We will place great emphasis on personal qualities.

Become part of KTH

KTH shapes the future through education, research, and innovation. As a leading international technical university, we play an active role in driving and contributing to the transition to a sustainable society. Here, you are offered the opportunity to grow and develop in a creative and dynamic workplace with good working conditions and benefits. Gender equality, diversity, and equal opportunities are a quality issue and a clear part of KTH's value base as a university and a government agency.

Read more about our benefits and what it is like to work and develop at KTH.

Union Representatives

Contact information for union representatives.

Application

You apply via KTH's recruitment system. As an applicant, you are primarily responsible for ensuring your application is complete when submitted.

The application must include:

• A CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• A copy of your degree certificate and transcripts from your previous university studies. Translations into English or Swedish if the original documents are not issued in either of these languages.
• A motivation letter (max two pages) describing why you wish to conduct research in the field, your academic interests, and how these relate to your previous studies and future goals.
• Names and contact details for two to three academic references.

The application must be received by KTH no later than the last day of the application period at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

About the Position

The employment is permanent, but for a maximum of two years.

A postdoctoral position is a time-limited merit-based appointment with a primary focus on research, intended as a first career step after the PhD defense.

Other

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It may occur that an employment at KTH is placed in a security class. If so for this specific position, a security clearance of the applicant will be conducted in accordance with the Security Protection Act (2018:585) with consent. In these cases, a prerequisite for employment is that the applicant is approved after the security clearance.

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