Professor in Human Computer Interaction

Founded in 1894, City, University of London is a global University committed to academic excellence with a focus on business and the professions and an enviable central London location. City’s academic range is broadly based, with world leading strengths in business; law; engineering; mathematics; computer science; the arts, including journalism and music; social sciences; and health sciences. The University is in the top 5% of universities in the world and attracts over 21,000 students from around 160 countries.

The School of Science and Technology is a multi-disciplinary centre of research and education located in the heart of London's vibrant design community. It is proud of its research advances and of educating thousands of undergraduates and postgraduates in STEM subjects.

The Department of Computer Science has over 580 undergraduate students and over 340 masters and 60 doctoral research students. It has over 50 academic members of staff. The Department has a long tradition of excellence in research and education and continuously improves the content of its programmes. The research in the department is primarily undertaken in its five constituent research centres: the Centre for HCI Design (HCID); the Centre for Software Reliability (CSR); giCentre (visual analytics); the Adaptive Computing Systems and Machine Learning research centre (ACS-ML); and the Artificial Intelligence research centre (CitAI). The results of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) confirmed City’s position as a world-leading university with an international reputation for research excellence. The results showed that 86% of City’s submission to the REF was rated as being of world leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*) quality. In Computer Science & Informatics 94% of the research was rated as world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*), a significant increase from 62% in 2014, placing City 24th out of 90.

We are launching an Interactive Ethical Design Studio in September 2023 to address the digital skills shortage in the UK. The Studio will also provide a practical space to innovate and practice new industrial processes to deliver social and economic value. It will transform and grow our specialist teaching capability in science, technology, and engineering. The Studio will organise ethical design reviews and social responsibility debates among students and industry colleagues. The Studio will have flexible and immersive design and interaction spaces (stations), Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality and Motion Capture facilities for teaching and research. The Studio will be used by MSc Human Computer Interaction Design students to develop their professional skills and knowledge for successful employment.

The School of Science and Technology is seeking to appoint an outstanding academic as Professor in Human-Computer Interaction. The appointed academic will join the flourishing  Human-Computer Interaction Design (HCID) research centre whose primary focus is studying the relationship between people and technology with the aim of creating meaningful experiences that improve people’s lives. This is achieved through a mixture of theoretical and applied research, guided by an overarching “design for good” philosophy. The successful candidate will undertake and lead world-class research in areas associated with HCI and/or computer-supported cooperative work and will lead and deliver teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes delivered by the Department of Computer Science and, in particular, on the MSc in Human-Computer Interaction Design.

The successful candidate will have a PhD in a relevant discipline and an internationally recognised reputation in research in HCI (e.g. in areas such as HCI for healthcare, CSCW, explainable artificial intelligence, ethics in Computer Science research and education, accessible design, socially responsible design). They will have an excellent track record of attracting external funding, and a commitment to, and enthusiasm for, delivering high quality education. Strong leadership capability is essential.

An executive search exercise is being undertaken by Perrett Laver in parallel with the public advertisement of the post. Perrett Laver will support the Selection Committee in the discharge of its duties, both to assist in the assessment of candidates against the requirements of the role and to identify the widest possible field of qualified candidates.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Deya.Demerdzhieva@perrettlaver.com. 

Completed applications should be uploaded at the apply button above quoting reference number 5834GRA. Applications should consist of a covering letter, a full curriculum vitae, and names and contact details of three referees.

The closing date for applications is 09.00 BST Tuesday 11^th April 2023.

It is expected that the appointed candidate would begin the role on 1^st September 2023.

City confirms its commitment to equal opportunities in all its activities. It is intended that no job applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment on the grounds of political belief, sex, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or social class. Selection and promotion criteria are kept under review to ensure that individuals are treated on the basis of the job requirements and on their relevant personal merits; and are not disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.

If you have a disability and are interested in this post, City welcomes your application.