The UNIVERSITY of WESTERN ONTARIO
Tier I CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR in Data Analytics
The Departments of Computer Science and Statistical & Actuarial Sciences are pleased to announce a search for a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Data Analytics to be jointly appointed to a tenured position at the rank of Associate Professor or full Professor. The rank will be commensurate with the successful applicant's qualifications and experience. The starting date will be July 1, 2015.
In accordance with the regulations set for Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs (www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca), the successful candidate will be an outstanding and innovative researcher whose accomplishments have made a major impact; be recognized internationally as a leader in their field; and have a superior record of attracting and supervising graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The successful candidate will provide leadership in research, promote interdisciplinary scholarship, increase knowledge mobilization and societal benefits, and catalyze, in collaboration with faculty and staff, the development of graduate and undergraduate programs in Data Analytics. The preferred candidate will demonstrate leadership, collegiality and strategic vision through collaboration with existing Computer Science and Statistical & Actuarial Sciences faculty members to foster existing and build new links between the departments. The candidate must propose an innovative research program of the highest quality that will attract excellent trainees, students, and future researchers and will have displayed an interest in working on problems of industrial and/or societal relevance.
The information sciences are a cornerstone to broad areas of strength at Western including (i) Environment and Sustainability: with large data challenges in climate and ecosystems, seismic and wind hazards, smart and safe cities, and energy and water utilization; (ii) Financial Markets and Risk: with high-frequency time series and unstructured cross sectional data from multiple sources requiring new analytic techniques; and (iii) Health and Neuroscience: MRI and EEG generate many gigabytes of data, much of which is not effectively utilized to make timely diagnosis, while in public health data analytics underlies solutions for efficiencies in delivery and outcomes.
Big Data in general and Data Analytics in particular is a priority research and teaching thrust at Western University. Demonstration of research interests in one or more of the following: statistical machine learning, topological data analysis, data assimilation, data fusion, applications of compressive sensing to analytics, geometric data analysis, spatial-temporal methods, graph analytics, text analytics, operations research, high frequency trading, credit risk, stream data mining, high performance data systems, software engineering for decision support systems and autonomic systems, and visualization and analysis of high-dimensional data would be especially preferred.
Our researchers are supported by world-class facilities and infrastructure including the computational capacity in Sharcnet (www.sharcnet.ca) and Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform (www.soscip.org) as well as large scale facilities including the Biotron (www.thebiotron.ca) and WINDEEE Dome (www.eng.uwo.ca/windeee/) that generate massive amounts of data from environmental simulations. Western's Brain and Mind Institute (http://www.uwo.ca/bmi/) provides access to data from the neurosciences, while the members of the Cultureplex lab (http://www.cultureplex.ca/) are engaged in the application of big data techniques and ideas to problems in the Digital Humanities.
Candidates should submit a curriculum vitae, one-page teaching statement, one-page statement listing experience or interest in professional and/or leadership programs, two-page research plan, and contact details of at least three referees to:
Professor Bryan Neff, Associate Dean (Research)
Office of the Dean, Faculty of Science
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada.
Applications will be considered starting January 1, 2015 and will continue until the position is filled.
This position is subject to budgetary approval. Applicants should have fluent writing and verbal communication skills in English. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. The University of Western Ontario is committed to employment equity and welcomes applications from all qualified women and men, including visible minorities, aboriginal people and persons with disabilities.