In the Science, Engineering and Technology Group of KU Leuven, Faculty of Engineering Science, Department of Computer Science on campus Arenberg (Heverlee), there is a part-time (10%) academic vacancy in close collaboration with imec. We are looking for internationally oriented candidates with an excellent interdisciplinary research record and with educational competence within the area of hardware-aware acceleration of computational workloads.
The research should enable application-technology co-design of hardware architectures and integrated circuits for future applications. The successful candidate will be appointed for a fixed term of 5 years (possibly renewable) and will be affiliated with the research section NUMA (Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics) or the research section DTAI (Declarative Languages and Artificial Intelligence), depending on the candidate's expertise and interests. Both sections are research units in the Department of Computer Science and are world leaders in the field of computational algorithm design and artificial intelligence.
With this vacancy the department wants to strengthen the close link to the system architecture and semiconductor device research at imec.
Website unit
Duties
Research
- You strengthen existing research lines and provide additional research expertise in the field of hardware-aware acceleration of computational workloads. Recent performance advancements in hardware have been limited, with new GPUs or CPUs showing minimal improvements in performance per area or efficiency. However, there is a growing need for increased computational power to support the next generations (and combinations) of AI and scientific simulations, which are crucial for new biochemistry, material science applications, and data/graph analysis. To make these workloads feasible, more specialized hardware, from hardware architectures to novel circuits, will therefore become a necessity, a trend that is already starting. This, in turn, requires new algorithms and software implementations that can leverage these new hardware evolutions or that are co-designed alongside the hardware. Furthermore, to not have to continuously rewrite algorithms and applications as hardware evolves, there is a need for performance- and hardware-parametrizable programming languages and libraries.
- You set up collaborations within and outside the Department of Computer Science, including reinforcing the research collaboration with imec.
- You work closely together with other members of the NUMA and/or DTAI research units and of the department. The position also requires a strong interdisciplinary mindset and a willingness to connect with other departments, such as electrical engineering, materials science, physics and chemistry.
- You build on, develop and set up international collaborations.
- You actively strive for obtaining research projects and PhD funding.
- You can acquire competitive funding and resources for fundamental and applied research.
- You strive for excellence in your research and thus provide a contribution to the continued development of the Department and the interaction with imec specifically.
- You publish at the highest scientific level and supervise PhDs at international level.
Teaching
- You ensure high-quality education within the area of Computer Science in one or more of the university’s bachelor/master education programs, with a clear commitment to the quality of the program as a whole. You also contribute to the pedagogic project of the faculty/university through the supervision of master theses and as a promotor of PhD students.
- More specifically, you are expected to take up a course load to teach of up to 6 ECTS credits in the bachelor/masters of Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, and/or Mathematical Engineering. The specific course(s) will be determined in consultation and based on your specific profile.
- You develop your teachings in accordance with KU Leuven’s vision on activating and research-based education and make use of the possibilities for educational professionalization offered by the faculty and the university.
Service
- You are prepared to provide scientific and university-internal services, and dissemination activities towards the general public.
- You stay up to date with the practices of hardware-aware acceleration of computational workloads.
Profile
- As this professorship is aimed at reinforcing the interaction in research between imec and KU Leuven, only researchers at imec with a substantial appointment (at least for the duration of this professorship) qualify for the position.
- You have a PhD degree in computer science, engineering science, or a related subject.
- You have a strong research profile in the fields of (semiconductor) physics, modelling, design and hardware-aware acceleration of computational workloads aimed for the design of hardware platforms for future electronic applications. The quality of your research is proven by publications in prominent/international journals, invited presentations and through international research collaborations.
- You show an interdisciplinary approach to research, building bridges between various fields and aiming at innovative concepts.
- You have built strong collaborations with academic as well as industrial partners. Ongoing collaborations with the Department of Computer Science is a plus.
- You have demonstrable qualities related to academic education. Teaching experience is an advantage.
- You possess organisational skills and have a cooperative attitude. You also possess leadership capacities within a university context.
- A good command of English is required. We expect you to acquire a C1 level in English, which is required to teach courses in English.
- The official administrative language used at KU Leuven is Dutch. If you do not speak Dutch (or do not speak it well) at the start of employment, KU Leuven will provide language training to enable you to take part in meetings.
- Before teaching courses in Dutch, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch to the required level.
Offer
- We are offering a part-time (10%) employment, for a fixed term of 5 years (possibly renewable for additional period(s) of 5 years, after positive evaluation) in an intellectually challenging environment.
- KU Leuven and imec are research-intensive, internationally oriented organisations that carry out fundamental and applied scientific research. The two institutions have a strong inter- and multidisciplinary focus and strive for international excellence. In this regard, we actively work together with research partners in Belgium and abroad and provide our students with an academic education that is based on high-quality scientific research.
- You will work at imec, near campus Arenberg in Heverlee near Leuven, a historic, dynamic and lively city located in the heart of Belgium, within 20 minutes from Brussels, the capital of the European Union, and less than two hours from Paris, London and Amsterdam.
- Depending on your record and qualifications, you will be appointed for 10% in one of the grades of the senior academic staff: assistant professor, associate professor, professor or full professor, for a period of 5 years, possibly renewable for additional period(s) of 5 years after positive evaluation.
Interested?
For more information on the contents of the job, please contact:
• Prof. dr. ir. Stefan Vandewalle, Chair of the Department of Computer Science,
[email protected]You can submit your application only through our online application system. If you have problems submitting your application online, please contact:
[email protected].
Add to your application the following documents (more information is available on the KU Leuven job site):
- your biosketch in which you indicate the added value as an academic for research, education and service to society of your past career and of your future activities (maximum 2 pages);
- a file on your five most important publications or realizations;
- an extensive cv including a full publication list;
- your research plan with focus on the development of your research line and research team in relation with the colleague-researchers of the entity of employment (maximum 5 pages);
- your vision on academic education and its organization (maximum 2 pages);
- your contribution to society by outreach and public communication on science and technology, internal representation in boards and councils and service activities directly in relation to your developed expertise (maximum 1 page);
- your vision on leadership (maximum 1 page).
KU Leuven places great importance on research integrity and ethical conduct and will therefore ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.
KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.
