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Assistant/Associate Professor/Professor

Job Description

Position Number:

129985

Title:

Open Rank

Functional Title:

Assistant/Associate Professor/Professor

Category Status:

02-Faculty Non-Tenured, On Track

Applicant Search Category:

Faculty

University Authorized FTE:

1.0

Unit:

CMNS-AIM

Campus/College Information:

Founded in 1856, University of Maryland, College Park is the state’s flagship institution. Our 1,250-acre College Park campus is just minutes away from Washington, D.C., and the nexus of the nation’s legislative, executive, and judicial centers of power. This unique proximity to business and technology leaders, federal departments and agencies, and a myriad of research entities, embassies, think tanks, cultural centers, and non-profit organizations is simply unparalleled. Synergistic opportunities for our faculty and students abound and are virtually limitless in the nation’s capital and surrounding areas. The University is committed to attracting and retaining outstanding and diverse faculty and staff that will enhance our stature of preeminence in our three missions of teaching, scholarship, and full engagement in our community, the state of Maryland, and in the world.

Background Checks

Offers of employment are contingent on completion of a background check. Information reported by the background check will not automatically disqualify someone from employment. Prior to any adverse decision, finalists have an opportunity to provide information to the University regarding the background check.

The University reserves the right to rescind offers of employment or otherwise decline or terminate employment if the information reported by the background check is deemed incompatible with the position, regardless of when the background check is completed.

Offers are contingent on providing proof of employment eligibility in the United States no more than 3 days after the initial start date. If this proof is not provided within this timeframe, the offer may be rescinded or employment terminated.

Position Summary/Purpose of Position:

The Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM; aim.umd.edu) has openings for 30 tenured and/or tenure-track faculty positions in Artificial Intelligence, broadly defined.

We additionally have 10 openings for professional track faculty positions; a job ad for those positions will be posted later.

As a member of AIM, applicants will join and help further our mission of defining and engaging in interdisciplinary AI research and education across all of the UMD College Park campus, and in building a thriving and inclusive AI community.

Located just outside Washington, D.C., the University of Maryland is consistently ranked in the top 15 among U.S.-based institutions for AI-related research and education. In the past five years, faculty at UMD have collectively published over 1300 papers, been awarded over $160m in AI-related research grants, and involved in over 15 UMD-based AI-related centers; just last year, we taught over 17k student credit hours of AI-related courses.

Launched in Spring 2024, AIM is a collaborative hub for AI, supporting faculty research, offering innovative and experiential learning opportunities and new degree programs, and focusing on responsible and ethical AI technology to advance the public good across industry, government and society. Against the backdrop of accelerating AI development–including generative AI–across an increasingly wide range of human activities, AIM recognizes that successful models of AI research and education must involve expertise from a wide range of disciplines, including (but not limited to) computer science and engineering, and humanistic and social scientific approaches, as well as experts in other disciplines where AI is on the cutting edge. Including these–and other–disciplines in the development of AI will ensure that this technology is developed in a way that supports people and society while minimizing social inequities and breaking down power structures.

Strong candidates will be considered in all areas of AI, particularly those whose research foci align with AIM’s goals. AIM seeks to advance research in AI as it relates to accessibility, sustainability, social justice, and learning, built on computational foundations (e.g., in speech, language, robotics, multimodality, or advanced computing for AI) as well as strong humanistic or social scientific approaches to AI. We construe these research areas broadly, with accessibility including at least disability, aging, neurodiversity and mental health; sustainability including climate, food security, agriculture, aquaculture, and their civic, public health and business impacts; social justice including race, gender, digital inequality, policy, and social and historical relations of power; and learning including the creation, dissemination and acquisition of knowledge across people, teams, and organizations. We are especially looking for candidates that are interested in cross-disciplinary collaboration as well as actively participating in a strong community of AI-related scholars.

Successful applicants will have a primary appointment and tenure home either within any department on campus and will hold a joint appointment in AIM. Split appointments involving multiple departments are possible as well. A complete list of academic departments and programs at UMD is available at (umd.edu/academic-departments-and-programs).

Salary Range for this position: $48,444 to $240,082 

Benefits Summary

Top Benefits and Perks:

Faculty Benefits Summary

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Ph.D. or equivalent in-hand at the time of joining the University.
  • Strong demonstrated interest in research, student mentoring, and service to the broader scientific community.
  • Strong demonstrated interest in interdisciplinary AI research in one of AIM’s four topic areas highlighted above.

Additional Information:

AIM is committed to building a diverse faculty pre-eminent in its mission of research, education, and service to the community: we strive to create an inclusive environment where every member of our community feels that they belong and are empowered to reach their full potential. We especially encourage applications from women and underrepresented minorities. In addition, candidates who have experience and/or interest engaging with a diverse range of faculty, staff, and students in promoting and fostering inclusivity are encouraged to discuss their perspectives on these subjects in their application materials. Additional information about resources available to faculty at UMD can be found at advance.umd.edu/resources. Information about the university’s work and family policies can be found at go.umd.edu/workfamily. UMD is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and family-friendly community through programs such as TerrapinSTRONG (terrapinstrong.umd.edu) focusing on building an inclusive community, or the FAMILE diversity initiative (faculty.umd.edu/famile-initiative).

Document requirements:

  • Cover Letter – outlining your interest in the position, including a statement of which department would be a best-fit tenure home for you. You can find a list of academic programs at umd.edu/academic-departments-and-programs.
  • CV – including a list of publications and/or creative work.
  • Research Statement – including a brief summary of your major research accomplishments (at most 300 words) and a summary of your ongoing and future research goals (at most 1200 words). Candidates applying for associate professor or full professor positions may use another 500 words.
  • Teaching and Mentoring Statement – including a statement of your teaching interests (please think broadly and include teaching interests both within your home discipline as well as potential interdisciplinary teaching), experience, and mentoring experience.
  • List of three publications, creative work, or other scholarly artifacts that demonstrate your prior research experience in AI as it relates to one of AIM’s four topic areas.
  • List of three people who can provide letters of reference on your behalf. We will only request letters of reference for shortlisted candidates.

Expectations of AIM faculty:

  • Faculty are expected to contribute to AIM’s mission to pursue a truly interdisciplinary future for Artificial Intelligence, through both research and education.
  • Faculty should pursue research related to AI that meaningfully crosses discipline boundaries, and are expected to take advantage of the many interdisciplinary collaborations possible at UMD.
  • Faculty should expect to teach approximately half their courses in AI-related courses that further AIM’s mission: these could be discipline-specific courses (AI-for-X), cross-campus general education courses, courses that support one of our degree programs (B.A., B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in AI), experiential learning courses related to AI, or others.
  • Faculty will engage in service in AIM, commensurate with rank, that further AIM’s goals. This service will be in lieu of an equivalent amount of departmental service.

AIM recognizes that interdisciplinary work is challenging to conduct, and oftentimes risky because it may be at odds with the usual promotion and tenure requirements of individual departments. AIM will work closely with new hires, and the chairs and deans in their tenure home, to craft a memorandum of understanding detailing expectations for promotion and tenure that align with the interdisciplinary nature of these roles so as to best support our new faculty.

Questions for the faculty recruitment committee may be sent to AIM@umd.edu. 

Posting Date:

10/11/2024

Open Until Filled

Yes

Best Consideration Date

12/13/2024

Diversity Statement:

The University of Maryland, College Park, an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, creed, marital status, political affiliation, personal appearance, or on the basis of rights secured by the First Amendment, in all aspects of employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

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