Faculty Recruitment

Deadline: TBD

Application portal: TBD

While you await the formal application process, we are also open to arranging school visits (or virtual visits) for prospective faculty candidates. After an initial review, the school will be happy to invite you for a visit and will cover domestic air travel and local hospitality expenses.

About the Opportunity:

The Mehta Family School of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (MFSDSAI) at IIT Palakkad's vision is to create an ecosystem that addresses the challenges of the 21st century and creates opportunities. We are actively seeking exceptional candidates for faculty positions. We are looking for individuals with expertise in areas such as (not necessarily limited to): Computer Vision, Reinforcement Learning, Classical Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Representation, Planning, Bioinformatics, Optimization, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Human-Computer Interaction, Speech, MLOps, AI Systems, Responsible AI, etc.

An initiation/start-up grant of up to Rs. 10.00 lakhs is available to new faculty members on joining, to be used for initial research set up, travelling to conferences etc. There is also the possibility of a higher start-up grant, based on a proposal, for carrying out a research project of 3 years duration, on a selection basis. A Cumulative Professional Development Allowance (CPDA) of Rs.3.00 lakhs for every block period of 3 years (Rs.1.00 lakh per year) is also made available to every member of the faculty, on reimbursable basis, to meet the expenses for participation in national and international conferences, payment of membership fee of professional bodies and contingent expenses

Who Should Apply:

Candidates with a Ph.D. in relevant areas of research in Data Science, with first class or equivalent at the preceding (penultimate) degree, with consistently good academic record throughout. An ideal candidate would complement the expertise currently possessed by the School and would have an outstanding publication record, with papers presented at top conference venues such as (representative but not limited to) AAAI, AISTATS, CVPR, ICCV, ICLR, ICML, KDD, NeurIPS, *ACL, SIGIR, etc.

About the School:

The Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (MFSDSAI) was established in 2024, thanks to a generous endowment from the Mehta Family Foundation (MFF). The MFF has a track record of establishing successful schools/centers at IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, and IIT Roorkee. The foundation’s support will enable MFSDSAI to become a leading center of excellence in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, fostering cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the development of innovative solutions to real-world challenges. The school is part of one of the youngest and vibrant academic departments at IIT Palakkad. The core faculty focuses on both theoretical and applied research in diverse areas such as Deep Learning, Meta Learning, Responsible AI, Optimization, Computer Vision, Privacy, Natural Language Processing, Data Mining, Computer Architecture, Cryptography, Information & Coding Theory. The school currently offers a B.Tech. in Data Science and Engineering, an M.Tech. in Data Science and research-based Master’s and Ph.D. degrees.

Application Process : Your application should include the following (please visit TBD to see the complete list)

1. Latest CV: Including details of student supervision, funded projects, post-PhD research experience, list of all publications (with DOI links and additional information such as Scopus/Google Scholar profiles, impact factors, core rankings, and citations) and other research-related activities. Any other information such as prizes and awards, organisation of conferences, reviewer for journals, member of editorial boards, outreach activities and administrative roles undertaken may also be clearly highlighted in the CV.
2. Teaching Statement: Indicating courses that you can teach. An expanded statement of the objectives and long-term interests in coursework development may be included. For those with prior teaching experience, the statement should preferably contain details of student feedback ratings, outline of courses taught by the candidate and novel methods used, if any. The statement can also include details of any teaching-related awards and details of participation in teacher development programs as participant or as mentor.
3. Research plan: Highlighting the current/past research interests/achievements and also future plans in the short and long terms. The plan should highlight how the work contributes or will contribute to advances in the field. The research plan may also briefly include details of sponsored and consultancy projects that are completed and ongoing, if applicable.
4. Recent Publications: Submit copies of three best publications (journals or conferences) authored in the last 10 years, which best highlight your research contributions.
5. Copies of degree certificates. Certificates for proof of category, physical disability and NOC, as applicable.

Submit your application package online via the IIT Palakkad faculty application portal (TBD). After an initial review, the school will invite the applicants for an informal interaction. An expert committee will shortlist the candidates for the subsequent round, which will involve a teaching seminar, research presentation, and a technical interview. For further inquiries, contact the head-of-the- school at hodds@iitpkd.ac.in.