W2 Professorship in Mathematical Foundations of Trustful Learning

The Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) is one of the biggest practice-oriented higher education institutions in Bavaria and covers a wide variety of fields, including technology, social sciences and business administration and economics, design and languages. We support around 9,200 students in over 50 degree programmes on their way to graduation. We meet societal challenges like the energy revolution or the climate crisis with an innovative and international range of studies. We were at the fore regarding the conception of bilingual degree programmes (TWIN programmes), regarding the development of the first undergraduate degree programme in Hydrogen Technology and also regarding the software-centred degree programme Robotics. Another important focus at our University is digitisation. In its Hightech Agenda, the Free State of Bavaria currently invests significant amounts in the continuing development of our University as part of the Bavarian AI-network. Thus, a Center for Strong Artificial Intelligence is being established at the THWS location in Würzburg and a Center for Robotics in Schweinfurt. 

Not only are our more than 240 professors passionate for teaching but also for applied research which they conduct in collaboration with regional companies and (social) institutions. The successful transfer of knowledge to industry and society can be accredited to our professors as well as the interdisciplinary cooperation in ten faculties and eight research institutes. You will be supported by around 640 scientific, technical and administrative staff. 

Constant growth, innovative teaching and trendsetting research characterise the atmosphere at our University.

The AI-network established as part of the Bavarian Hightech Agenda (HTA), with a central hub in Würzburg, led to the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt /THWS) establishing the “Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIRO)“ – https://cairo.thws.de/en. In this future field of Artificial Intelligence, the Master's degree programme Artificial Intelligence (MAI) https://mai.thws.de/en was introduced by the 2022 summer semester. 

We are looking to fill the following position: 

Professor (m/f/x) 

Faculty of Computer Science and Business Information Systems 

W2 professorship in Mathematical Foundations of Trustful Learning Application 
ID: 61.1.454 

We are looking for a researcher with sound theoretical and practical knowledge and the ability to adequately represent the subject in research and teaching. We expect a personality from the context of computer sciences, mathematics or related fields with a distinct research profile, practical experience and proven experience in at least two of the following fields:

• interpretable and explainable AI
• adversarial attacks
• differential privacy
• homomorphic encryption
• privacy preserving learning
• model uncertainty (prediction calibration, conformal prediction)
• fairness and algorithmic bias. 

We additionally expect substantial knowledge in the foundations of artificial intelligence, data mining and machine learning.

The successful candidate is willing to significantly participate in establishing the competence centre “CAIRO” and its inclusion in the cross-faculty research institute Digital Engineering (IDEE) and to drive new study study offers of THWS in artificial intelligence. 

A higher research load is assigned to this position; thus, initially for the first five years, the teaching load is halved (which thus amounts to nine weekly hours per semester) so that application-focussed research and development projects can be initiated and executed. A target agreement will be concluded. Teaching responsibilities are to be held in the field of artificial intelligence in particular. 

We also expect the participant to be willing to hold lectures in fundamental areas of computer science and related areas, if necessary also in other faculties. Lectures must be held in English. 

We expect that related courses can soon also be held in German. 

Additionally expected for the professorship: 

• Our University is becoming a bilingual institution. Thus, we expect that you offer lectures in German and in English. Hence very good command of English is a prerequisite.
• Willingness to regularly visit international universities with strategic relations with THWS;
• active participation in the continuous development of the faculty and THWS;
• efforts supporting the internationalisation and self-administration of THWS, and active participation in projects of applied research and projects of technology and knowledge transfer

The position is to be filled as soon as possible; the place of work is Würzburg. 

Hiring requirements: 

In order to be eligible to fill this professorship, the successful candidate must meet the following criteria (Art. 57 (3) Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act):

• Successfully completed higher education degree, preferably in a degree programme relevant to the professorship;
• Pedagogical aptitude which is usually proven by teaching experience and education;
• Special aptitude for academic work, usually proven by the quality of a doctoral thesis;
• Special achievements in application or development of scientific findings and methods in no less than five years of practical work, which must have been completed after graduating from a higher education institution, and of which at least three years must have been conducted outside of the university sector; times as trainee lawyer or trainee teacher (German Referendariat) or as research associate or artistic employee can only be recognised up to two years; in special cases, proof of the practical experience outside of the university sector can be given by proving that over a time period of at least five years a significant share of the professional work was divided between a higher education institution and non-university professional practice.

The Free State of Bavaria does not only offer optimal working conditions and excellent quality of life but also special, state-specific remuneration schemes. 

A fulfilling job paired with flexible working hours and autonomy allows for work-family-life balance. Committed colleagues form a highly motivated team and support you right from the start. Our University promotes equal opportunity of women and men and thus aims to significantly raise the share of women, particularly in the academic field. We thus explicitly ask women to apply. The women’s affairs officer of the Faculty of Computer Science and Business Information Systems, Professor Dr. Isabel John, will gladly answer your questions (isabel.john[at]thws.de). 

In order to become a civil servant, individuals must not be older than 52 years, otherwise they are given a private-law contract of employment. Disabled applicants with otherwise essentially similar aptitude, qualification and professional performance will be preferentially employed. 

Professorships are generally full-time positions. To support the reconciliation of family and working life, THWS offers candidates the opportunity to initially fill this position part-time (for a time period of up to two years). After this time period, continued part-time employment is generally possible according to the law. 

Please contact Professor Dr. Frank Deinzer (frank.deinzer[at]thws.de) with substantive questions regarding the professorship. 

If you feel ready for the challenge of becoming a THWS professor, we are happy to receive your convincing application with the usual documents (CV, certificates, proof of professional experience and academic work) until 12 March 2023. Please apply via our online portal.