Chair in Computational Sustainability

The Department of Informatics at King’s College London is seeking to appoint a Chair in Computational Sustainability. The successful candidate will have an excellent track record in Computational Sustainability and will provide research leadership in this area within the department and across the university.  

Computational Sustainability aims to identify, formalize, and provide solutions to computing problems, concerning the balancing of environmental, economics, and societal needs for the well-being of humanity and the planet. Concretely, the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations, provide an ambitious agenda to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Such sustainability goals offer challenges but also a wide range of opportunities for the advancement of the state of the art of computing and information technology.  Topics of interest in computational sustainability include energy efficient algorithms, planning, optimization, dynamical models, mechanism design, large scale simulations, computational experimentation, data science and machine learning, citizen science and AI for social good.

We are open to any type of sustainability problems being tackled, and any computational methods being investigated, provided that they lead to research excellence and impact. Our desire is to develop some leadership in this space, linking with opportunities at King’s and beyond.

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract 

This is a full-time post

The appointee will be expected to: 

• Provide the highest level of academic leadership in research in the area of Computational Sustainability, and in teaching and administration, as directed by the Head of Department of Informatics.
• Provide academic leadership in the area of Computational Sustainability within the Department of Informatics, and to play a leading role in this area within the Faculty, and across the College.
• Contribute to the teaching, project supervision, and administration of the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the Department of Informatics.
• Provide other teaching and administrative support within the Department as and when required.
• Enhance the research profile of the Department, through maintaining a consistent high-level output of publications and presentations of world-class quality.
• Sustain high-quality research activity through a portfolio of individual, joint and/or network research projects.
• Engage actively and regularly in the pursuit of research funding through grant applications to Research Councils, etc., and to assist other academic staff in the development of research proposals.
• Develop links and collaboration with academics elsewhere at King’s College London.
• Engage, when appropriate, in the dissemination of advanced research through knowledge transfer, outreach, continuing professional development, etc.
• Contribute to national and international Research Council activities and similar panels as appropriate.
• Seek continued involvement in international research activities, such as conference programme committees and editorial work for academic journals.
• Supervise and train postgraduate students and postdoctoral research staff to ensure their effective development.
• Contribute fully and conscientiously to administrative tasks in the Department of Informatics, as directed by the Head of Department.
• Be involved in the mentoring of junior staff and act as line manager for non-professorial members of academic staff. At an appropriate time, the appointed candidate may be expected to take on a term of office as Head of Department.
• Lead/contribute to service activities within the Department, Faculty and College.
• Contribute to performance and development review processes as appropriate in accordance with the College’s strategy.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Essential criteria  

Education, qualification, and training

1.      PhD in Computer Science, Artificial intelligence, or related field. 

2.      Strong research record in Computer science or Artificial Intelligence, and their application to sustainability challenges, through high quality publications. 

Knowledge and skills

1.      Leadership skills 

2.      Ability to attract and develop talented researchers into the field 

3.      Ability to motivate students and junior colleagues 

4.     Ability to carry out relevant research 

5.      Ability to teach undergraduate and postgraduate modules in Computer Science or Artificial Intelligence 

Experience

1.      Outstanding research record of international stature in Computational Sustainability 

2.      Established record of acquiring research grants/funding 

3.      Teaching and assessment experience at undergraduate and/or postgraduate level 

4.     Experience of supervision of research students 

Personal Characteristics and other requirements

1.      Ability to organise work to meet demands of research, teaching, and administration 

2.      Ability to manage and interact with staff and students at all levels 

3.      Ability to communicate effectively (written and orally) 

4.     Commitment to providing effective teaching at undergraduate and MSc level 

Desirable criteria

1.      Ability to further academic planning and strategic development 

2.      Experience of university governance and of academic administration 

To find out more about the department please follow this link:  

Please also see the links below for supporting information. These include some background information about the university including rankings, research outputs, King’s Health Partner Trusts and our current fundraising initiative.  

www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings

The Department of Informatics is committed to ensuring an inclusive interview process and will reimburse up to £250 towards any additional care costs (for a dependent child or adult) incurred as a result of attending an interview for this position. All new members of staff are allocated a mentor to support them in their career development and staff are encouraged to participate in the wide range of training opportunities available at King’s.