Applications will only be accepted by TCD e-recruitment: http://jobs.tcd.ie. See ‘Application Procedure’ section for further details.
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, invites applications for the post of Professor of Computer Science (2016)/Director of ADAPT SFI Research Centre (adaptcentre.ie). It is seeking individuals with a proven international track record of research, of distinguished and effective academic leadership and a commitment to innovative teaching.
The Professor of Computer Science (2016) is a permanent and full professorial Chair position in the School of Computer Science and Statistics within the discipline of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The duration of the role of Directorship of ADAPT, a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology, is dependent on continued funding (currently secured until Dec 2026).
This combined post of Professorial Chair of Computer Science (2016) and Director of SFI ADAPT Centre, presents an exciting opportunity for an academic to lead research at scale and play a strategic role in shaping research internationally. The post will enable the candidate to build upon already very strong international academic and industry collaborations as well as initiate new ones.
The post holder will have an exceptional research profile with a demonstrable and sustained ability to: engage in research and publish in the highest impact journals & conferences; raise significant research funding aligned with the national priority research areas of the School, the Centre and wider interdisciplinary research initiatives; lead successful and impactful collaboration with industry; undertake applied research & innovation and an ability to drive international initiatives and provide strategic and forwarding-thinking leadership within their research field.
Applicants for the position should be internationally recognised scholars in some of the following research areas: artificial intelligence, semantic knowledge modelling, and/or data driven analytics. Relevant specialisations within these areas would include: machine learning, natural language processing, knowledge graphs, personalisation, information retrieval and recommendation and other emerging areas of Human Centric AI.
The Professor will:• Contribute to maintaining and strengthening the scholarly environment within Trinity so as to attract researchers of the highest quality and to facilitate their contribution to scholarship.• Strengthen links both among researchers within the School & the ADAPT Centre and across other Schools and Centres within Trinity and other universities and external organisations.• Engage in national and international research initiatives, allowing Trinity to make a distinctive contribution to scientific life both locally and globally.• Contribute to the School’s research-led teaching in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, particularly in the broad area of AI.• Assist and provide leadership in the School in attaining its goal of increasing interdisciplinary research activities e.g. Engineering, Environment and Emerging Technologies (Trinity E3 initiative).• Secure competitive peer reviewed research funding of scale, influence and impact.• Exercise a defined leadership role within the School of Computer Science and contribute to public engagement on behalf of the School.• Contribute to the overall life of the University.
The Director will:• Provide long-term strategic leadership & vision for the ADAPT Centre in order to achieve and sustain research excellence.• Develop and execute an agile research strategy for ADAPT that incorporates all aspects of academic research, industry engagement and commercialisation and allows for the exploitation of existing strengths, as well as the expansion and future growth of the Centre.• Drive ADAPT’s industry collaboration and economic impact with support from the ADAPT Executive Management team and relevant Principal Investigators.• Ensure an open, productive, and collaborative partnership with SFI which underpins the effective delivery of the ADAPT programme of Scientific Excellence and Impact.• Drive interdisciplinary collaboration across Trinity College’s existing Institutes and Centres.• Further enhance TCD’s leadership in the fundamentally important ICT area of AI.• Foster an environment within ADAPT that welcomes and actively encourages new participants, collaborates effectively with industry and partner Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), delivers research excellence and fosters a culture of collaboration, trust and respect.• Initiate and guide other centre-wide collaborations of strategic importance with other SFI centres in Ireland and relevant institutions abroad and to continuously build the ADAPT Centre brand and identity within the Centre as well as publicly.• Deliver international excellence through benchmarking ADAPT against its international peers.• Execute overall responsibility for the financial management of the Centre and for reporting on its progress and performance to SFI and the ADAPT Governance Board.
The Professor will have:• A doctoral degree in Computer Science or cognate discipline.• A sustained record of high-quality, impactful published research, competitive research funding, excellence in postdoctoral and PhD research supervision and high achievement in teaching.• An internationally recognised thought leadership profile within their research discipline.• A record of service to the discipline and strong engagement with the university and wider community.
The successful candidate must clearly demonstrate the ability to:• Lead a world-class research programme in his or her own field, direct outstanding research teams, publish in the highest quality journals and raise significant national and international research funds.• Establish world recognised research expertise in some of the following areas: artificial intelligence, knowledge and data engineering, or digital analytics, and create linkages between research areas.• Provide the vision and support necessary to contribute to the research direction of the discipline focused on Artificial Intelligence in the ADAPT SFI Research Centre and School of Computer Science and Statistics.• Engage in interdisciplinary research and work collaboratively with researchers from a range of disciplines.• Raise significant research funding from a variety of sources and collaborate with colleagues in the School / the ADAPT Centre and Trinity Development and Alumni to seek philanthropic and other funding.• Provide thought leadership to the artificialintelligence research community throughmembership of international societies, committees, editorial boards, and through reviewing and refereeing activities.• Inspire and mentor academic staff, take on Head of Discipline or Head of School duties, support development of a strategic vision for the School, contribute to the strategic direction of the University and play a key role in the development of inter-institutional research collaborations, nationally and internationally.• Engage/collaborate effectively with important partners in the education sector, industry and government.• Contribute to the public understanding and impact of artificial intelligence research.• Build curricula and demonstrate commitment, innovation and flair in creating and delivering modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.• Deliver excellence in teaching and supervision at undergraduate and postgraduate level.• Present and communicate ideas and concepts clearly.
• Evidence of sustained and impactful scholarly research, reflected in first class publications, patents, product development leadership, or related industrial metrics of research productivity, competitive research funding of scale from prestigious sources, and other key measures of esteem, such as keynote presentations, editorships of respected journals, membership of international societies, committees, editorial boards, and through reviewing and refereeing activities.• Demonstrate an ability to lead and manage teams by building and sustaining trusted and effective collaborative relationships with academic peers.• Evidence significant experience in: curriculum design; delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching; assessment at University level; innovations in teaching; effective postgraduate research supervision and a demonstrable personal commitment to excellence in teaching.• Evidence of a capacity for inspirational leadership and the ability to develop a strategic vision for the School and the ADAPT Research Centre and to contribute to the strategic direction of the University, including a record of significant service at a high organisational level.• Demonstrate an ability to lead and manage teams, build and sustain trusted and effective collaborative relationships with academic peers.
€132,301 to €167,243Appointment will be made on the Professorial salary scale at a point in line with Government Pay Policy.
Applicants who do not address the application requirements above will not be considered at the short list stage. Applications must be submitted by the closing date specified through eRecruitment. Competition ID number: 036539
Please ensure that you allow yourself plenty of time to complete the application process. Any Applications which are still in progress at the closing time on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system.
Informal Enquiries in relation to this post should be made to the Hiring Manager:
Professor Gregory O’Hare, Head of School of Computer Science and Statistics & Professor of Artificial Intelligence: gregory.ohare@tcd.ie
Professor Vincent Wade, Professor of Computer Science (Est 1990): vincent.wade@tcd.ie
At Trinity, we are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion. Trinity welcomes applications from all individuals, including those applicants with disabilities, those who may have had non-traditional career paths, those who have taken time out for reasons including family or caring responsibilities. We also welcome international applicants including those whom have been displaced due to war.
We are ranked 3rd in the world for gender equality (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2020) and we hold an Athena SWAN Bronze award, recognising our work to advance gender equality. The University is actively pursuing a Silver level award, which it has committed to achieving by 2025. Trinity is committed to supporting the work-life balance and to creating a family-friendly working environment. Trinity welcomes applications from all individuals, including those who may have had non-traditional career paths, those who have taken time out for reasons including family or caring responsibilities, and applicants with disabilities.
