Associate senior lecturer in internet privacy and security

Sapere Aude—dare to be wise—is our motto. Our students and employees develop knowledge and expertise that enrich both people and the world around them. Our academic environment is characterised by curiosity, courage and perseverance. Gender equality, diversity and a democratic approach form the foundation of our organisation. We are located in an active and scenic region and we promote sustainable development in close collaboration with the wider society.
 
Karlstad University has a total of approximately 1,400 employees and 17,300 students spread across two inspiring campus environments in Karlstad and Arvika.
 
More information at: kau.se/en/work-with-us

Description 

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science hereby invites applications for an associate senior lectureship in Computer Science with a specialisation in internet privacy and security. The employment as associate senior lecturer aims to attract ambitious and qualified researchers in the area who are in their early careers, with the main goal to let them advance their competence in research and education.

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science consists of two research subjects, Mathematics and Computer Science, and has a staff of around 90 people. The research and education in Computer Science are focused on distributed intelligent systems and communications, security and privacy, and software quality. The Department works closely with international, national, and regional partners from the academic community as well as private businesses.

Close collaboration between research groups and focus areas is vital to the Department. As associate senior lecturer in internet privacy and security, you will be an important person for deepening the collaboration between the PriSec and DISCO research groups:

• PriSec (Privacy and Security), research includes aspects of cybersecurity such as network security, privacy-enhancing technologies, and data security and privacy.
• DISCO (Distributed Intelligent Systems and Communication), research includes internet protocols, wireless systems, edge/cloud services, programmable networks, and 5G/6G.

The Department is active in Cybercampus Sweden — Research, Innovation and Education for Cyber Defence and Security. Contributing to and furthering collaborating with Cybercampus is another important goal.

Duties

The candidate will conduct innovative research in internet privacy and security, contributing to furthering the collaboration between the PriSec and DISCO research groups. The candidate is expected to bring and deepen knowledge in existing and emerging network technologies with a focus on privacy and security. Striving for research collaboration with other colleagues at the Department, industry, and other academics is of paramount importance, for example within Cybercampus. The candidate is expected to expand our international networks and contribute to an increase in research funds on a national and international level.

The candidate is also expected to actively contribute as a teacher for first-cycle and second-cycle courses. Duties also include course administration and development, and degree project supervision on first-cycle and second-cycle levels.

Research time of at least 75% is included in the position.

To contribute to a positive work environment and further the department’s activities, we expect you to be a present and active part of the day-to-day operations and workplace community. 

Qualification requirements

To be eligible for the position of associate senior lecturer, applicants are required to hold a PhD or equivalent academic qualifications in Computer Science or other closely related areas. The position is primarily intended for applicants who have completed their PhD, or acquired equivalent qualifications, no longer than five years before the application deadline. If an applicant completed their PhD or equivalent qualifications more than five years ago, this requirement may be waived if there are special circumstances. By special circumstances, we refer to special grounds such as sick leave, parental leave or similar types of leave. 

The position requires proficiency in Swedish and English. Candidates who are not proficient in Swedish may still be hired provided they work actively to acquire such proficiency.

Pursuant to Karlstad University’s Appointments Procedure, teachers must have the personal qualities required to perform the duties involved, as well as completed training in higher education pedagogy. Candidates who have not completed training in higher education pedagogy may still be hired, provided that they use the time allotted to continual professional development to do so within two years of employment, or that they apply for validation of prior learning. For other eligibility requirements, refer to Karlstad University’s Appointments Procedure 

Assessment Criteria

Special weight will be given to:

• research and development in computer science applied to internet privacy and security, with special attention to the impact on current and next generation Internet protocols,
• the range, depth and quality of an applicant’s scientific work,
• the ability to develop scientific and pedagogical skill required for a senior lecturer position, as well as potential and desire to collaboratively drive future development of research and education.

Considerable weight will be given to:

• how well the applicant can be expected to contribute new knowledge and experience to one or more of the Department’s research groups,
• International work experience and the applicant’s experience with research and innovation projects in collaboration with partners from the academic community and from private businesses,
• documented open-access publications, open-source software contributions, and impact of research results beyond academia,
• recognised or distinguished teaching and assessment skills,
• personal qualities such as good collaboration skills, sound judgment, responsibility, commitment to the organization, and a positive attitude towards colleagues and students.

A valuable qualification

• experience with open-source privacy or security projects, applied AI (in particular recent developments around deep learning and large language models), network simulation, standardisation within IETF or similar, and applied cryptography.

Terms

Fixed-term employment with a duration of 4 years. Full-time, with a preliminary start date of 2024-09-01, or as agreed upon by both parties.  

Terms for promotion to senior lecturer

Upon applying, an associate senior lecturer should be promoted to senior lecturer provided he or she is qualified for the position (Higher Education Ordinance, Chap. 4, Sect. 4) and is deemed suitable following an assessment (Higher Education Ordinance, Chap. 4, Sect. 4a).

To be eligible for promotion, the applicant must, at the time of the application, have completed the required training in higher education pedagogy.

Eligibility for permanent employment at Karlstad University usually includes proficiency in both Swedish and English. The outcome of the evaluation will partly be based on the applicant’s ability to lecture in Swedish.

The promotion evaluation will be partly based on the applicant’s ability to independently initiate and execute research of high scientific quality, published in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings.

For other eligibility requirements, refer to the Higher Education Ordinance, Chap. 4, and Karlstad University’s Appointments Procedure

Application

Submit the application via the University’s web-based recruitment tool, Varbi. For advice on how to draft your application, refer to “What should be included with my application?”. Applicants are responsible for submitting a complete application in accordance with the advertisement, for providing translations of any documents written in a language other than Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or English, and for ensuring that the documentation allows for objective and qualitative assessments. A complete application should be submitted by the application deadline. An incomplete application may jeopardise a fair assessment of qualifications.

The application should include:

• CV,
• cover letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and research interests in relation to the duties of the position,
• an in-depth account of research experience,
• an in-depth account of teaching experience,
• certificate to verify completed courses in higher education pedagogy or an account of equivalent skills,
• an account of other relevant experience (managerial and administrative experience, collaborations, international network experience, etc.),
• plans for future work,
• list of publications (in multi-authored publications, the role of the applicant must be specified),
• language proficiency certificates,
• copy of PhD degree certificate or documented equivalent academic expertise, or equivalent professional qualifications deemed relevant to the nature of the position and the duties included therein,
• no more than 10 scientific publications and no more than 5 materials intended to convey knowledge, such as textbooks, computer programs for teaching, or popular science articles,
• two references, at least one of which is a current or former supervisor.

Attach all the documents and publications you wish to be considered to the electronic application (do not just provide links). Name each uploaded document to clearly indicate its content.

Documents that cannot be submitted electronically, such as books or publications, should be sent in triplicate to the following address:

Karlstads universitet
Hanna Ljungdahl
651 88 KARLSTAD

Application deadline: 2024-05-20                                             

State the reference no: REK2024/64

We look forward to your application!

Karlstad University has chosen advertising channels for this recruitment and firmly declines any contact with advertising or recruitment agencies.

HR Excellence in Research
Karlstad University received the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research award September 2020. The award is issued to employers with a stimulating work environment and good conditions for researchers and its continuous improvement. The award also conveys the university’s commitment to fair and transparent recruitment as well as favorable professional development for researchers. Read more: kau.se/hrs4r

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