Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Law

The Departments of Computer Science and Law at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Assistant Professor. This is a permanent position. We are seeking a talented researcher with expertise in AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP), particularly with a focus on AI and NLP applications in legal compliance control.

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make an important contribution to the development of research in Computer Science (www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/computer-science/) and Law (www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/law/research). It supports the newly founded JusTN0W initiative (www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/csdlp/justn0w), which takes place within the Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy (www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/csdlp). JusTN0W aims to develop a world-leading interdisciplinary work programme, to research sustainable and just solutions for accelerated decarbonisation of economies. The university has committed to invest £5M over four years in this groundbreaking project.

The successful candidate will play a leading role in the development of this new initiative, dedicating the first four years primarily to this work. They will benefit from a reduced teaching load and a startup travel budget to support high-quality research, grant applications, and initiatives to engage other staff in JusTN0W-related opportunities. After four years, the appointment will be reviewed based on grant income and may transition to a primarily research role or an Education and Research Track position with a standard teaching load.

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally excellent research and teaching while allowing you unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution. For more information, please visit our Department pages

at www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/computer-science

and www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/law

The Department of Computer Science is one of the UK’s leading Computer Science departments, with an outstanding reputation in research, teaching, and student employability. Our internationally recognised research covers Algorithms and Complexity, Artificial Intelligence and Human Systems, Networks, Scientific Computing and Vision, Imaging and Visualisation. There is a lively research culture with many visitors and events, and collaborations locally, nationally and internationally. In the recent UK research assessment exercise REF2021 we improved by six places in the ranking. The Department has recently grown rapidly, and now has more than 50 permanent members of academic staff. The Department has a proud tradition of excellence in its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The Department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award.

Durham Law School is a leading law school. Consistently ranked in the Top 10 nationally and Top 50 globally, it comprises a community of over 100 academics and professional support staff. It has an infrastructure of high-profile research centres that brings together colleagues for collaborative projects.  The School has an extensive network of leading international partner institutions and close ties with the City of London and the Inns of Court. Our top-ranked global law courses are very competitive with an excellent and diverse student population from across the world delivering a cutting-edge, research-led curriculum. Our Law School is also proud to hold the Athena Swan Bronze award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all in academia.

The role is full-time, but we will consider requests for flexible working arrangements including potential job shares.

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