The University of Amsterdam (UvA) has announced that it will appoint four new University Professors. The University Professors will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and the societal questions surrounding this technology from a variety of research disciplines. The UvA will use the new chairs to give an extra impetus to its research and teaching in the field of AI.
“The UvA is strongly committed to developing its AI capacity through, among other things, an AI hotspot at Amsterdam Science Park that brings together teaching, research and collaborative partnerships,” said UvA Rector Magnificus, Karen Maex. “AI research is leading to various applications and the developments in this field are only gaining speed. The impact of these applications on various facets of our everyday lives is substantial. This in turn is leading to, among other things, legal, ethical and cultural questions that are also relevant within teaching and learning. The new University Professors will study different aspects of AI from various disciplines.”
Four chairs have been established, each with its own profile: AI and Information Retrieval (affiliated with the Faculty of Science), AI and Medical Imaging (affiliated with AMC), Humanities and AI (affiliated with the Faculty of Humanities) and Law and Technology with a special emphasis on AI (affiliated with the Faculty of Law). The appointment process for a University Professor of AI and Information Retrieval has already started.
The UvA currently has four University Professors: Robbert Dijkgraaf, Alexander Rinnooy Kan, Patti Valkenburg and Frank Vandenbroucke. In addition to their university-wide assignment, the new University Professors will also have a faculty assignment. They will be expected to give an impetus to academic developments that transcend the traditional disciplines and thereby make an important contribution to the profiling of the university.
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