Postdoc in Sustainable Machine Learning

The goal is to develop resource efficient machine learning methods, with a focus on improving the environmental sustainability of deep learning. This position is part of a European research consortium “SustainML” funded by the European Research Council.

The start date is (expected to be) 1 January, 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter. The deadline for applications is 15 September, 2022. We want our team to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

The project

Data sets as well as deep learning models are constantly getting bigger, requiring exponentially increasing computational resources in the last few years. Consequently, the energy consumption and the corresponding carbon footprint of training deep learning systems have also grown considerably.

In this project, we aim to investigate resource-efficient machine learning methods. This can be at the level of developing novel algorithms, learning paradigms, or hardware optimization techniques that can result in reductions in the resources required when training and deploying machine learning pipelines. We are interested in methods that reduce the amount of required training data, labelling, energy consumption, and carbon costs.

The post-doc will work with Assistant Professor Raghavendra Selvan and ELLIS Fellow Professor Christian Igel. Inquiries about the position can be made to Raghavendra Selvan.

Our groups and research – and what do we offer?

The University of Copenhagen is consistently listed as one of the top universities in Europe. Within computer science, it is ranked second in the European Union according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2021. The postdoc will join the Machine Learning Section of the Department of Computer Science (DIKU). The department was founded by Turing award winner Peter Naur. It closely linked to the ELLIS Unit Copenhagen (https://ellis.eu/) and the Pioneer Center for Artificial Intelligence (https://di.ku.dk/ai-centre/). Copenhagen is one of the 10 most livable cities in the world with a rich culture within music, theater and associations. Life for families is made easy by a publicly supported daycare and health care system, dual career opportunities, maternity/parental leave and six weeks of paid annual vacation. International candidates may find information on living and working in Denmark here. Useful information is also available at The International Staff Mobility office (ISM) at the University of Copenhagen (link). ISM offers a variety of services to international researchers coming to and working at the University of Copenhagen.

How to apply?

More information and a link to the online application system can be found here: