Associate Professor in Software Engineering for Intelligent Interactive Systems

EDU Passport LLC; Trondheim; Remote; NOK 690,000 - 885,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund

Job summary

NTNU—Norwegian University of Science and Technology—invites applications for an Associate Professor in Software Engineering for Intelligent Interactive Systems at the Gjøvik campus. The successful candidate will lead the lab's social robotics strand, strengthen international collaborations, and advance the department's AI-enabled software engineering research profile.

The role includes delivering high‑quality teaching across bachelor, master, and PhD programs, supervising students and postdocs,

Qualifications

• PhD in computer science or related field.
• Strong track record in software engineering with intelligent interactive systems.
• Excellent teaching skills across bachelor and master programmes.

Responsibilities

• Lead research and education in software engineering for intelligent interactive systems.
• Secure competitive research funding (ERC, FRIPRO).
• Shape future directions in responsible and trustworthy HRI and AI integration.
• Contribute to the department’s educational profile and learning environment.
• Deliver high quality teaching at undergraduate, graduate and PhD levels.
• Supervise students and postdocs.
• Engage in interdisciplinary collaboration and external funding applications.
• Communicate research through outreach and dissemination activities.

Skills

Programming skills

Teaching skills

Research independence

Communication

Education

PhD in computer science

Tools

Robot Operating System (ROS)

AI/ML frameworks

Job description

Job Title

Associate Professor – Intelligent Interactive Systems

Location

Global (Gjøvik campus)

Job Description

NTNU is a broad-based university with a technical‑scientific profile and a focus on professional education. The Department of Computer Science at NTNU Gjøvik campus is looking for an Associate Professor in Software Engineering for Intelligent Interactive Systems.

The position focuses on advancing research and education in the engineering of intelligent systems designed to perceive, reason, and interact with humans in natural, trustworthy, and socially meaningful ways. The successful candidate will be affiliated with the Educational Technology Laboratory and will strengthen its research activities, including work on Social Robots.

The lab investigates the design, development, and deployment of socially intelligent systems that interact with humans in natural, trustworthy, and beneficial ways. Its research spans responsible and trustworthy human–robot interaction, multimodal perception that combines natural language processing and computer vision, assistive technologies for active ageing and workplace well‑being, and the conditions for responsible AI deployment in care and community settings.

The new hire is expected to lead and grow the lab’s social robotics research strand, contribute to its international collaboration network and strengthen the department’s software engineering research profile in AI‑enabled application development.

Responsibilities

• Play a leading role in research and research‑based education in software engineering, with a specialization within intelligent interactive systems.
• Secure highly competitive research funding, such as ERC and FRIPRO grants.
• Take part in the department’s research strategy, shaping the future direction of intelligent interactive systems, with emphasis on responsible and trustworthy human–robot interaction, integration of AI/ML components into socially deployed systems, transparency and accountability in AI‑driven interactive behaviour, and software engineering practice for real‑world robotic applications.
• Contribute to the department’s educational profile and an excellent learning environment in collaboration with colleagues, students and external stakeholders.
• Deliver high‑quality teaching at undergraduate, graduate and PhD levels, primarily in software engineering, full‑stack development, and programming.
• Supervise and mentor BSc students, MSc students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows.
• Engage in applications for external funding, e.g. from the Research Council of Norway, European research and educational agencies, the industry sector and other available sources.
• Engage in interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation activities.
• Communicate relevant parts of research through public outreach, industry engagement, and dissemination activities.
• Participate in the management of research, education and other relevant academic activities in agreement with the Head of Department.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in computer science or a related field.
• Relevant research track record (e.g. peer‑reviewed publications, active collaborations, evidence of research independence) in software engineering with a focus on the design and construction of intelligent interactive systems.
• Strong programming skills and experience.
• Excellent teaching skills and the ability to teach and develop courses across bachelor and master programmes, and contribute, where needed, to foundational computer science courses (e.g. software engineering, full‑stack development, programming).
• Documented basic competence in teaching and supervision at a university/higher education level, as referenced in the NTNUs guidelines for academic positions.
• Capacity to complete an approved course in university pedagogy within two years of commencement if required.
• Proficiency in a Scandinavian language (Norwegian) or equivalent to level three of the course for Norwegian for speakers of other languages within three years of appointment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Research experience in the field of social robotics with responsible and trustworthy AI‑human‑robot interaction.
• Experience developing specialised platform applications, such as social robotic applications, using relevant frameworks and tools.
• Familiarity with software architecture patterns appropriate to intelligent interactive systems.
• Experience integrating AI or ML components into interactive systems for multimodal perception, natural language processing and dialogue management, emotion or intent recognition, or behaviour and decision‑making.
• Familiarity with frameworks and ecosystems (e.g. Robot Operating System) relevant to intelligent interactive systems.
• Experience with more than one programming language relevant to the design and implementation of intelligent interactive systems.
• Experience teaching software engineering, web development, or AI/ML courses.
• Experience in interdisciplinary collaboration with industry or public‑sector partners.

Personal Qualities

• Enthusiastic: drive to include all students and maintain good dialogue with them.
• Willing to learn: develop excellent competence over the duration of employment and learn from experience and feedback.
• Team player: work excellently together with colleagues, students and external stakeholders.
• Communication: relay information with clarity and ease, both orally and in writing, solving challenges with transparency and honesty.
• Taking initiative: seek out new opportunities at work, initiate activities and projects by working independently.
• Emphasis on personal and interpersonal qualities.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity of society and that makes use of the potential of the population’s collective skills.

Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse, and gender‑balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education.

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability, and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time. At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality.

Benefits

• Favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Employees receive 2% of salary paid into the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• 2% of salary will be deducted and paid into the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund

Salary and Conditions

As an Associate Professor (code 1011), you are normally paid from gross NOK 690.000 – 885.000 NOK per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority.

As required by law, 2% of this salary will be deducted and paid into the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund. The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU.

After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work. For the necessary professional and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.