Do you want to contribute to the development of knowledge, insight and solutions that are relevant to society and working life today and in the future?
We are looking for a Researcher within the field of AI Security and Privacy.
About the position
Are you interested in AI security and privacy, and do you want to engage in research together with skilled colleagues who share your interests? Maybe you can become our new colleague at the Department of Science and Industry Systems at the Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences. The position is a fixed-term, externally funded full-time position for a period of two years, with preferred start as soon as possible or by agreement.
Your personnel manager will be the Head of Department. It is a prerequisite that you live close by so that you can be present at, and available to, the academic environment at your workplace during ordinary working hours. The place of work will be at campus Kongsberg.
The position is externally funded with funding from the Research Council of Norway.
About the research project
UTOPIA – Understanding Threats and Optimizing Mitigation and Enabling Privacy-by-Design in AI – is a project funded by the Research Council of Norway. The project investigates how privacy and security threats affect AI systems, how such threats can be systematically characterized and evaluated, and how privacy-enhancing technologies can be designed and assessed to support trustworthy AI.
The project consortium includes the Norwegian Centre for E-health Research (NSE), the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), and Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC), Spain. The overall project is coordinated by NSE.
This position at USN is connected to WP2, “Threat Modeling and Robustness Evaluation of AI Systems,” which is led at USN by Associate Professor Mohsen Toorani. The person appointed will contribute to research on the conditions under which privacy and security attacks succeed against AI systems across different training settings, model types, and data characteristics. This includes formalization of threat models and attack scenarios, critical assessment and development of metrics for evaluating AI robustness, and implementation of structured and reproducible pipelines for robustness evaluation. The work addresses representative attack classes such as membership inference, data extraction or reconstruction, and poisoning or backdoor attacks, and provides methodological foundations for later work packages in the project.
The person appointed will be affiliated with the cybersecurity and AI-related research activities at the Department of Science and Industry Systems at USN.
Duties
- Complete the research tasks assigned to the position within the employment period
- Conduct high-quality research within the framework described above
- Produce academic publications and popular science dissemination
- Collaborate closely with project partners and other members of the project team
- Contribute actively to project meetings, reporting activities, and other joint project tasks
- Participate in relevant national and international academic activities, such as conferences and workshops
- Be prepared for changes in your work tasks after appointment
Qualifications
All items are requirements, unless it is specified that they are preferred qualifications.
- Doctoral degree (or equivalent qualifications) in computer science, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or a closely related field
- Documented research track record relevant to the planned WP2 activities, including research in one or more of the following areas: threat modelling, AI security and privacy, and adversarial machine learning
- Good programming skills and experience with empirical evaluation and reproducible research practices
- Excellent written and oral English language skills
The position may involve access to and handling of unclassified yet sensitive information requiring protection. The successful candidate must demonstrate a high degree of integrity, loyalty, and security awareness, and comply with applicable regulations and internal security procedures
The following qualifications will be considered an advantage:
- Experience with threat modelling methodologies, tools, or frameworks relevant to software or AI systems, such as STRIDE, attack trees, MITRE ATLAS, OWASP Threat Dragon, Microsoft Threat Modeling Tool, OWASP pytm, or related approaches
- Experience with privacy and security attacks against AI systems, such as membership inference, data extraction/reconstruction, poisoning or backdoor attacks, model inversion, or related topics
- Experience with Python and common machine learning and data science tools such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, scikit-learn, experiment tracking tools, and version control
- Experience with LLM security/privacy, trustworthy AI evaluation, privacy-enhancing technologies, or federated learning
Personal qualities that we are looking for
To be able to complete the project, it is important that you can
- demonstrate motivation and potential for research in the field
- work independently and reliably, while contributing to teamwork and collaboration
- demonstrate professional conduct and respect for constructive working relationships
- be analytical, innovative and structured in your work
- present and discuss your research with other academics and professionals, and show that you have the ability to share and learn from the other members of the academic environment
- get involved and contribute constructively with feedback
- work constructively under pressure or in the face of adversity
- show curiosity and strong motivation for the subject area
- analyse data, assess different perspectives, and draw well-founded conclusions
- be flexible and open to adjusting the project plan as necessary
When assessing applicants, emphasis will be placed on
- Formal qualifications
- Relevant publications in journals, participation at conferences, etc.
- Submitted academic work
- The scientific quality, research relevance and degree of innovation of the submitted work and statement of project fit
- The relevance of the applicant’s profile to the research area and duties of the position
- International experience and networks
- Documented research track record and technical fit with the project, including experience in threat modelling, AI security and privacy, adversarial machine learning, and reproducible evaluation of AI systems
- The personal qualities mentioned above
Personal suitability and the personal qualities mentioned above will be assessed through the application, interviews, and reference checks.
Requirements for proficiency in English
This position requires good English language skills. International applicants must document this with a valid certificate from one of the following tests. Specific requirements regarding grades can be found on our webpage English requirement for programmes and subjects taught in English at USN.
- TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based Test (IBT)
- IELTS – International English Language Testing Service
- Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) or Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) from the University of Cambridge
- PTE Academic – Pearson Test of English Academic
The following applicants are exempt from the requirements listed above:
What we offer
- Careers advice and guidance during the employment period. Together we will draw up a career plan that includes the skills and knowledge you will acquire
- An inclusive working environment with ambitious colleagues
- The opportunity during the employment period to acquire teaching qualifications that meet the requirements for employment as an associate professor, if you do not already possess such qualifications
- The opportunity to take Norwegian language courses
- Salary in accordance with the Norwegian State salary scale for Researcher (position code 1109), in the range 663 800 – 860 000. Any further increases in pay grade will be based on length of service in the position
- Deductions will be made from your salary in order to make statutory contributions to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund on your behalf
- Membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, ensuring favourable pension, insurance and loan schemes
Diversity
We believe diversity is a strength in our work and learning environment. Different experiences and backgrounds contribute to better solutions for the challenges we aim to solve.
We are committed to respecting individual differences and accommodating employees with disabilities. We consider your needs and situation during different stages of life.
If this position interests you, we encourage you to apply regardless of gender, disability, cultural background, or whether you have had a career break.
Qualified candidates with disabilities, employment gaps, or immigrant backgrounds will be invited to an interview. If you identify with one of these groups, you may indicate this in our job portal.
General information
The Appointment Committee for Teaching and Research Positions (TUF) is the appointing authority for this position.
Relevant applicants will be invited to an interview. References will also be obtained for relevant candidates.
Employment at USN is carried out in accordance with the principles set out in the Norwegian Civil Service Act.
We are committed to adhering to the evaluation criteria for research quality laid down in The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment – DORA and the commitments in The Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (CoARA) on a fairer, more holistic assessment of research and recognition of a broader range of research outputs and activities. This means that we attach importance to the quality, relevance and significance that can be documented in your scholarly work. Documentation of participation in research projects and research leadership and management will be taken into account in the assessment. We will attach greatest importance to your scholarly work from the past five years.
The University’s competence assessment matrix for teaching and research positions (USN-CAM) can be a useful tool in the work of documenting and reflecting on your competence in relation to the qualification criteria in the application.
As an employee of USN, you must at all times adapt to changes in the field and all organisational changes that are adopted.
There is no anticipated need for an extension or additional work assignments beyond the expiration of the external funding.
How to apply
If you think this position looks interesting and matches your qualifications, you can submit an application electronically by clicking on “Apply for the position” on this page. Here you will need to enter a short application text and information about your relevant education and work experience. In the application text, you must clearly describe your skills and motivation for the position.
The application must include:
- Documentation of a completed doctoral degree. All diplomas must be in a Scandinavian language or English
- Your CV with a complete overview of your education and experience
- Other relevant certificates and diplomas
- A statement of project fit of 2-4 pages (approximately 600-1200 words), describing your relevant research background, technical skills, motivation for the position, and fit with the planned WP2 activities.
- Documentation of your English language skills, where required under the rules stated above
- A complete list of your scholarly works with information about where they have been published. You can also upload/add links to up to five scholarly works, including your doctoral thesis or published monograph based on the thesis
- Contact information for up to three references
The application will be assessed based on the information available in Jobbnorge at the expiry of the application deadline. Make sure your application shows clearly how your skills and experience meet the competence requirements described in the job advertisement.
We take collaborative work into account. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to collaborative work, include a short statement detailing your involvement.
When assessing who is best qualified for the position, we attach weight to education, experience and personal qualities.
All documentation must be provided in a Scandinavian language or English. If the attachments exceed 30 MB in total, they must be compressed before uploading.
Please note that information about you as an applicant may be disclosed publicly even if you have requested not to be included on the public list of applicants (cf. Section 25 of the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act). You will be notified if your request for exemption from public disclosure is denied.
We only consider applications and attachments registered in Jobbnorge. On request, you must be able to provide certified copies of your documentation.
Contact information
For more information about the position, please contact:
Associate Professor Mohsen Toorani, +47 35 02 66 43,
mohsen.toorani@usn.noHead of Department Aida Omerovic, +47 35 95 26 53, aida.omerovic@usn.no
For questions regarding the recruitment process, please contact:
Advisor Tonje Holt Vøllestad,
tonje.h.vollestad@usn.noAbout us
The University of Southeastern Norway (USN) ranks as the country's fourth largest higher education institution. We are a vibrant community of approximately 18,000 students and 1,900 employees.
Video:
https://vimeo.com/898549899/60305e2540