Professor of Computer Sciences: Understanding Strengths and Limitations of AI

The Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has embarked on a multi-year effort to grow its faculty, enhance its strengths in many areas of computing, and extend its impact in interdisciplinary areas. As part of this endeavor, and as part of the department's involvement in the Wisconsin Research, Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Initiative at UW-Madison, we invite highly qualified candidates with expertise in understanding the strengths and limitations of AI to apply to a position at the assistant, associate, or full professor levels that will begin in August 2025. The successful candidate will advance the educational mission of the College of Letters & Science, that values, prioritizes, and actualizes evidence-based and student-centered teaching and (undergraduate student) mentoring. They will contribute to an environment that fosters engagement and a sense of belonging for faculty, staff, students and members of the broader community.

Duties will include scholarly research in one or more area(s) of computer science associated with AI, especially research on experimental and theoretical techniques to analyze the performance of neural networks, with the goal of understanding the strengths and limits of AI systems in more rigorous, theory-driven ways; individual and classroom teaching in computer science at the undergraduate and graduate levels and advising and mentoring graduate students majoring in computer science or related areas; service to the department, college, university, and academic community, nationally or internationally. The successful candidate will participate in interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts with other departments, schools and colleges.

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion

Required
Applicants must have a Ph.D. in Computer Science or in a closely related area prior to start of appointment.

Successful candidates will show potential for developing an outstanding scholarly research program in one or more area(s) of computer science and for innovative and for student-centered teaching in computer science at all levels. The successful candidate will demonstrate experience with fostering or the ability to foster a teaching, learning, mentoring, departmental, and research environment where all can thrive.

Full Time: 100%

This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location.

Ongoing/Renewable

AUGUST 18, 2025

Negotiable
ACADEMIC (9 months)

The Department of Computer Sciences is among the oldest and top-ranked computer science departments in the world, renowned for its groundbreaking research in computer architecture, database systems, distributed and grid computing, programming languages, optimization, and many other areas of computer science. The department has a strong track record of support of transformative research and building large-scale computing infrastructures, such as HTCondor and CloudLab, and of new interdisciplinary collaborations, programs, and centers, including the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery (WID). The department has also been the beneficiary of significant donations aimed at supporting its research and educational mission.

The School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) is a significant resource for the Department of Computer Sciences to strengthen its interdisciplinary and cross-campus research collaborations, to establish new, innovative educational programs in the intersection of computing and other domains, and to promote engagement with high-impact, real-world challenges that can be addressed through computing. More information about CDIS can be found at https://cdis.wisc.edu. Construction is proceeding on a new building for CDIS, which will be the new home of the Department of Computer Sciences; see https://cdis.wisc.edu/building-future/.

The College of Letters & Science is committed to creating an inclusive environment in which all of us - students, staff, and faculty - can thrive. Ours is a community in which we all are welcome. Most importantly, we strive to build a community in which all of us feel a great sense of belonging. There is no excellence without diversity in all its forms; diverse teams are more creative and successful than homogeneous ones. We are better when we are diverse and when we acknowledge, celebrate and honor our diversity. In acknowledging and honoring our diversity, we also assume a responsibility to support and stand up for each other.

This position is part of the Wisconsin Research, Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Initiative. Through accelerated and strategic faculty hiring, research infrastructure enhancement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and increased student and educational opportunities, RISE addresses complex societal challenges of importance to the state, nation and world. Building on UW-Madison's strengths, RISE expands the University's successful track record of connecting with communities and industry on collaborative solutions.

Over the next three academic years, UW-Madison will substantially increase current hiring levels, bringing 150 new RISE faculty to campus. Candidates hired through RISE will join a community of scholars working across disciplines, schools and colleges on research, teaching and outreach endeavors. The community will engage regularly in venues such as seminar series and colloquia to share ongoing projects and identify opportunities to work together. The University will support the community, facilitating access to research infrastructure, and funding to support broad and rich collaboration.

Further information regarding RISE can be found at: https://rise.wisc.edu/

Located at the nexus of four beautiful lakes, Madison, the capital of the state of Wisconsin and home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, consistently ranks among the top American cities for its quality of life. With the headquarters of medical software company Epic, Microsoft's Jim Gray Systems Lab, Google, and several other technology giants in the area, as well as a strong startup ecosystem, Madison is also among the fastest growing technology hubs in the country

Applications must be submitted through Academic Jobs Online. Application materials, including a curriculum vitae, statements of research and teaching objectives, three sample publications, names and contact information for at least three references, must be electronically submitted via http://cs.wisc.edu/faculty-apply. Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible and no later than December 1, 2024, to ensure full consideration. Applications will be accepted until positions are filled. Questions should be directed to recruiting@cs.wisc.edu.

See https://www.cs.wisc.edu/people/faculty-staff-recruitment/ for further details.
Please note that applicants will be evaluated based upon submitted application materials and therefore should speak to and include evidence of their qualifications. Application materials must clearly demonstrate the applicant's dedication to excellence in student-centered teaching and mentoring. Additionally, materials should showcase the applicant's ability to purposefully plan their teaching practices, evidenced through goals, action plans, reflection, and related documentation. This portion of application materials must be created by the applicant that may include supporting letters. It cannot be only in the form of letters and testimony by others.

Employment will require an institutional reference check regarding any misconduct. To be considered, applicants must upload a signed 'Authorization to Release Information' form as part of the application. The authorization form and a definition of 'misconduct' can be found here: https://hr.wisc.edu/institutional-reference-check/

Stephen Wright
recruiting@cs.wisc.edu
608-316-4358
Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Professor(FA020) or Associate Professor(FA030) or Assistant Professor(FA040)

A48-COL OF LETTERS & SCIENCE/COMPUTER SCI/COMP SCI

Faculty

306500-FA