[BBC] Tenure track: Knowledge Discovery for Predictive Personalized Medicine at K.U.Leuven, Belgium

[Kurt Driessens]

Tenure track Academic Position Knowledge Discovery for Predictive 
Personalized Medicine

The Science, Engineering and Technology Group of K.U.Leuven invites 
applications for a full-time academic position in the domain of 
Knowledge discovery for predictive personalized medicine at the 
Department of Computer Science.

1. DUTIES

1.1. Research

The tenure track positions are intended to foster high quality research 
in strategically selected domains.

The successful candidate will be expected to develop a research program 
that delivers excellent, international level research results and to 
support and enhance national and international research collaboration.

More specifically, this research will concentrate on ‘Knowledge 
discovery for predictive personalized medicine’. This research is 
motivated by the fast development of science and technology for 
medicine. The use of ‘Patient Data Management Systems’ in intensive care 
units, combined with extensive lab tests and genetic screening, 
generates massive amounts of personal data on patients. The study of 
data from different sources and time periods provides unprecedented 
possibilities to discover new knowledge. One of the outcomes could be a 
personalized medicine that orients the therapy according to the genetic 
profile of the patient. The sheer amount of data, their heterogeneity 
and complexity, necessitates the use of knowledge discovery and data 
mining techniques. Knowledge discovery is a novel branch in 
computational sciences, which integrates techniques from databases, 
machine learning, knowledge technology and artificial intelligence with 
statistics. It is concerned with the development of new algorithms, the 
formalization and introduction of background knowledge and ultimately 
the discovery of new knowledge that can be added to the knowledge base 
of a given discipline. The research program should develop in close 
contact with the bio banking initiative for translational medicine, and 
lead to a fruitful collaboration with applied research in the area of 
patient care.

Research will be conducted within the framework of the Leuven ICT Centre 
(LICT) and the Department of Computer Science. The successful candidate 
will collaborate intensively with biomedical research groups (e.g. 
Intensive Care Medicine).

1.2. Teaching

The successful candidate will take on teaching responsibilities 
allocated to the Department of Computer Science in study programs of the 
Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Science or other faculties.

They are expected to meet the reigning K.U.Leuven standards regarding 
academic program level and orientation and to adhere to the K.U.Leuven’s 
concept of education. Commitment to quality of education as a whole is a 
matter of course.

2. QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates should hold a PhD or doctoral degree in Engineering or in 
Science, with specific expertise in the domain of computer sciences or 
informatics.

They are expected to be excellent researchers who show independence and 
originality. More specifically we are looking for candidates with a 
strong background and experience in data mining and knowledge discovery 
for complex data (relational data mining, graph and network mining, 
heterogeneous data,…), in knowledge technology and artificial 
intelligence for medical applications (e.g. intensive care), in 
interdisciplinary collaborations and fund raising. They are dedicated to 
high-quality teaching and will contribute to the quality of both 
research and teaching at the Faculty and the Department.

The candidate’s research ability should be evidenced by publications in 
international peer-reviewed journals.
International research experience is most important. In their 
application, candidates should include a description of objectives they 
wish to realise/methods they plan to use during the five-year period of 
the position.

At K.U.Leuven the main language of instruction is Dutch. Successful 
applicants who are not proficient in Dutch, will be provided language 
training in order to be able to also instruct in the Dutch language 
within three years time. Near-native proficiency in the English language 
is expected of all applicants.

The full-time position will be offered for a period of five years 
starting on March 15, 2010 at the level of assistant professor (docent). 
A positive evaluation at the end of the five-year appointment will 
result in a tenured appointment as associate professor (hoofddocent).

The K.U.Leuven pursues a policy of equal opportunity and diversity.

More information:
  Pierre.Verbaeten at cs.kuleuven.be (chair Dept. of Computer Science),
  Luc.DeRaedt at cs.kuleuven.be (Machine Learning Research Group)
  Maurice.Bruynooghe at cs.kuleuven.be (Lab for Declarative Languages and 
Artificial Intelligence);

Should you encounter any problems with the electronic registration, 
please contact Katoe Buyle
  e-mail: katoe.buyle at pers.kuleuven.be
  tel.: +32 (0)16 328 324.

See also Website: 
http://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/vacatures/engineering.html

Deadline for Applications 30 September 2009



-- 
Kurt Driessens

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