The Department of Computer Science at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, jointly with the Center for Computational Mathematics (CCM) of the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute invites outstanding candidates to apply for a joint computer science faculty position in the area of machine learning. The position is generally a 50-50 joint appointment between The Cooper Union and CCM, with the appointee spending half of their effort in each place. At The Cooper Union, the position is a tenured track full-time faculty position in computer science and will be engaged in accordance to Cooper’s relevant policies and procedures. At CCM, the position will be at the Associate Research Scientist level, in accordance to the Foundation’s relevant policies and procedures. The position is based at the Simons Foundation and The Cooper Union offices in New York City. It is expected that, subject to satisfactory progress in research, the Associate Research Scientist appointment at CCM will last for the duration of three years; afterwards, the joint appointment will end and the person in this position will continue with their faculty appointment at The Cooper Union.

The Cooper Union is consistently ranked among the top ten undergraduate engineering institutions in the nation and is focused on providing an exceptional engineering education through an intimate experience characterized by small class sizes and a student-faculty ratio of 7:1. We value interdisciplinary approaches and the intersections among art, architecture, engineering, humanities and sciences. 

We seek candidates with expertise in all areas of machine learning including deep learning, Bayesian statistics, probabilistic modeling, optimization, learning theory, high dimensional data analysis and visualization, and applications of machine learning for science. The candidate should be capable of teaching broadly across the undergraduate computer science curriculum, including courses such as introductory programming, data structures and algorithms, and advising project courses at all levels.

The Cooper Union was founded in 1859 by philanthropist Peter Cooper to provide an education ``equal to the best’’ to all who qualify, regardless of race, religion, gender, wealth or social status. Today, The Cooper Union provides a rigorous professional education in the Schools of Art, Architecture, and Engineering, including a broad curriculum offered by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Fostering a culture of collaboration among a diverse student body and faculty, The Cooper Union teaches students that art, architecture, and engineering have cultural, environmental, and ethical contexts and consequences. As students develop their professional abilities, they recognize their responsibility to advance science and art and to create a sustainable future. We encourage and are interested in engaging with candidates from a diversity of experiences and perspectives with the talent to challenge our students to maximize their learning potential and with an interest in working within a culture that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 in New York City by Jim and Marilyn Simons. With an annual grants and programs budget of $300 million, the foundation’s mission is to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. The foundation pursues its mission through its grant-making division, comprising programs in Mathematics & Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Education & Outreach and autism research, and through its internal research division, the Flatiron Institute.

Directed by Dr. Leslie Greengard, the mission at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Mathematics is to create new mathematical approaches, algorithms and software to advance scientific research in multiple disciplines, often in collaboration with other Flatiron Centers. CCM has particularly strong research groups in the areas of numerical analysis, image and signal processing, computational statistics, and machine learning.

Please see https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/center-for-computational-mathematics/ for a full description of the goals of the research groups and science staff.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

An earned doctorate in computer science or a closely related discipline is required. Interested and qualified candidates should submit in one searchable PDF document:

• A cover letter. To assist the search committee, all cover letters should address your interest in the joint position and how you envision your teaching and research will contribute to both institutions. 
• A current curriculum vitae.
• A statement of your teaching philosophy (typically 1-2 pages).
• A research statement that addresses your current activities and interests, your future plans and goals.  This statement should specifically address how you would make use of the joint appointment and involve undergraduates in your research program (4 pages maximum).
• A statement about diversity and inclusion describing your interests, experiences, and future plans for promoting diversity and inclusion in engineering (typically 1-2 pages).
• One or two representative published research papers in PDF format.

Important: in order to be considered for this joint appointment, candidates must submit their application in two places: 

 

To CCM:

https://www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron/careers/?tab=job-openings&center=ccm

To The Cooper Union:

Nominations and reference letters should be sent to hr@cooper.edu and questions may be sent to Department Chair Sam Keene at sam.keene@cooper.edu. 

Application Materials for both institutions:

The application materials should include a letter describing current and planned research activities, a curriculum vitae, list of publications. Additionally, the candidate should also have three reference letters emailed directly to each institution’s email listed above. At least one reference should be able to specifically address capabilities and interest in teaching undergraduates. 

This is a unionized position at Cooper Union. This is a non-union position at Simons Foundation.

Review of applications is ongoing with a priority deadline of December 20^th, 2024 and will continue until the position is filled. 

The full-time annual compensation range for this position is $115,000- $130,000.