Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Indigenous Data Science

jobsnearcanada.com

The University of Calgary (UCalgary), located in the heart of Southern Alberta, both acknowledges and pays tribute to the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, which include the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprised of the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai First Nations) as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley First Nations). The university recognizes that the City of Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 & 6). By virtue of the signing of Treaty 7 in 1877, the University recognizes that we are all treaty people. The City of Calgary is home to a culturally diverse community. Together, we share this land, strive to live together, learn together, walk together, and grow together in a good way.

In the spring of 2016, UCalgary set out to build the Indigenous Strategy (ii’taa’poh’to’p) by gathering stories and perspectives from Traditional Knowledge Keepers, cultural advisors, agencies, and communities. The strategy was adopted in November 2017 with a foundation in transformation, renewal, and shared ethical space. It includes 27 recommendations that address ways of knowing, doing, connecting and being, touching on all aspects of the university. The university is enacting the strategy’s directions through an Elders/UCalgary leadership Circle of Advisors, the UCalgary ii’ taa’poh’to’p Guiding CIrcle and its seven Working Circles, and the Circle of Indigenous Scholars, as well as several other faculty and unit-based committees and action plans.

Ii’taa’poh’to’p (https://www.ucalgary.ca/indigenous/about-ii-taapohtop) guides UCalgary on its path of transformation and communicates its commitment and responsibility for truth and reconciliation. The strategy is and will remain a living document within the institution, whereby progress will be monitored, and content and direction will be renewed through a process of evaluation and evolution.

The diversity of our scholars and staff are reflective of UCalgary’s commitment to ensure that all have a rightful place to learn and to grow. Our values underpin this commitment, through our teaching, research and community outreach, to serve individuals and communities to flourish and thrive.

The University of Calgary is committed to Indigenous Engagement, systemic change, and walking a parallel path together with Indigenous partners, and is seeking candidates for an Assistant Professor, Indigenous Data Science, in the Faculty of Science. This hire is open to candidates from all areas of Data Science. There is no specific target area, and applicants with expertise in any subfield of the discipline will be encouraged to apply.

Assistant Professor
The Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary is seeking applicants for a faculty position in Indigenous Data Science at the rank of Assistant Professor. This is an open disciplinary search, meaning any candidate with research, scholarship, and teaching expertise centering on Indigenous ways of knowing related to Data Science is welcome to apply.

Data Science is a new and emerging discipline. At the University of Calgary, programs and research in this area represent an interdisciplinary collaboration between the departments of Computer Science and Mathematics (Faculty of Science), and other departments and faculties on campus that use Data Science such as Medicine, Biology, Ecology, Business, and Economics, to name a few. The University’s goal in hiring for this unique position is to explore new innovations in Indigenous Data Science, including Indigenous Data and Information Governance (such as OCAP®), and/or Indigenous Ways of Knowing within teaching and research programs in the Faculty of Science.

An Indigenous scholar that accepts this Assistant Professor (Research and Teaching) Indigenous Data Science position will:

1. Establish and maintain programs and practices that center around, or are driven by, Indigenous peoples and ways of knowing in this new and emerging field. Candidates should demonstrate competency in Indigenous pedagogies and working with Indigenous learners, and conduct research or scholarship informed by Indigenous methodologies, which may include community-driven research or scholarship and/or research or scholarship informed by Indigenous knowledges and intellectual traditions. Additionally, candidates will supervise students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and provide service to their home department, the Faculty of Science, and the Data Science community and programs.

2. Ideally hold a PhD in a topic related to Data Science, and display potential for leading an innovative and impactful research program. The appointee’s proposed research or scholarship program or teaching practice may be disciplinary or transdisciplinary. The successful candidate will have a strong commitment to Indigenous knowledges, approaches and histories, and a record of engagement and/or lived experience with Indigenous communities and organizations in Canada. Familiarity with Treaty 7 and Métis Nation Districts 5 and 6 in Alberta will be considered an asset.

3. Provide evidence of a record of excellence or potential for excellence in teaching and student mentorship. The candidate will have experience in engagement with Indigenous learners and Indigenous ways of knowing and engagement with, or connections to, Indigenous communities. The candidate will eventually be expected to provide examples of research or scholarship with a focus centering on Indigenous peoples or Indigenous ways of knowing related to Data Science.

To Apply
To explore this opportunity further, please send an email with the subject link “Indigenous Data Science” to [email protected].

The University of Calgary’s comprehensive benefits and pension program is designed to promote a productive level of health and well-being to staff members. To learn about our comprehensive benefits package for this Calgary-based, English-speaking position, please visit https://www.ucalgary.ca/hr/benefits-pension.

The University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here; in particular, we encourage members of equity-deserving groups (women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding diversity at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ([email protected]) and requests for accommodation can be sent to Human Resources ([email protected]).

About The University of Calgary
UCalgary is a global intellectual hub located in Canada’s most enterprising city. UCalgary is a bold and spirited institution, recognized as one of Canada’s top research universities, grounded in innovative teaching and learning, and fully engaged with the community it serves and leads.

“Great cities are built around great research universities and cities that successfully reinvent themselves do so in partnerships with focused, world-class institutions. The fate of Calgary and UCalgary are inextricably tied. Our community has supported us, and now is the time to show returns on those investments for the benefit of our community. Our ambition is nothing short of UCalgary being a catalyst of economic growth and quality-of-life improvements in this city and beyond.”
– Dr. Ed McCauley, President & Vice-Chancellor, University of Calgary

UCalgary recently unveiled its Ahead of Tomorrow strategic plan, which articulates a 7-year vision out to 2030. It’s a bold vision that reflects our ambition to increase access to future-focused education, to maximize the impact of our research and innovation, to put the community at the centre of all that we do, and to make our operational processes clearer, simpler and better than any other university.
To learn more about UCalgary’s strategic plan, visit: http://ucalgary.ca/about/ahead-of-tomorrow

Despite its youth, at only 57 years of age, UCalgary is already one of the nation’s leading research universities. It has five campuses in Calgary, one in Qatar, a University Innovation Quarter in Calgary, and five research stations in Alberta, BC, and the Yukon. UCalgary is a global intellectual hub for high-quality research and scholarship, one where students thrive in programs made rich by research, hands-on experiences, and entrepreneurial thinking, grounded in innovative learning and teaching; it is fully integrated with the community it both serves and leads. As a Comprehensive Academic and Research University, we aim to produce the next generation of leaders who experience the best possible training in acquiring and creating new knowledge.

These foundational values and commitments enable inclusive excellence, discovery, creativity, and innovation across the research ecosystem. With over 28,000 undergraduate students, 8,000 graduate students, 575 postdoctoral fellows/associates (postdocs), and 1,800+ faculty actively engaged in transdisciplinary discovery, creativity, and innovation across 14 faculties and schools, and supported by 3,200+ staff, we deliver over 250 degree and non-credit programs – undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, postdoctoral training, and continuing and professional education programs. We increasingly attract domestic students from within Alberta and across Canada, and our knowledge and experience are enriched by international students from over 119 countries.

With over $545M in annual research revenue, $40M of which accounts for Indigenous focussed research, and more than 50 research institutes and centres, UCalgary has become known as a research powerhouse in Canada. The scholarly environment at UCalgary encourages our students, faculty, and staff to take on the tough challenges facing our society and to draw expertise from across all our domains to develop evidence-based solutions. We integrate research into graduate and undergraduate curricula, equipping students with transferable problem-solving skills tested in experiential and work-integrated learning scenarios to increase employability and opportunities for professional advancement.

UCalgary benefits from the ongoing support of our community, which rallies behind the university, recently completing the third-largest fundraising campaign in Canadian history, surpassing $1.4B.

UCalgary is a large and complex institution that drives tremendous value with an annual consolidated budget of more than $1.6B, it is among Calgary’s largest employers and generates over $16B annually in economic impact to the province. Two-thirds of the university’s 220,000 alumni live and work in the Calgary area, effectively building a city of leaders and those dedicated to improving quality of life and prosperity.

UCalgary has been recognized for eight consecutive years as one of Alberta’s Top 75 Employers (2017–2024) and Canada’s best diversity employer (2017–2024).

To learn more, visit ucalgary.ca. You can also view the academic and research & innovation plans, as well as the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Indigenous, mental health and sustainability strategies.

The Faculty of Science
The Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary is leading destination for research talent and action-orientated students. With the launch of its 2024-2030 Strategic Plan “Get Science Done” there is a renewed commitment towards not just Indigenous engagement but embracing Indigenous Science, evidenced by their growth in Indigenous faculty members.

At its heart, the Faculty of Science is driven by curiosity, exploration and discovery. We celebrate curiosity-driven investigation and make fundamental advances in scientific knowledge. We lead change by mobilizing scientific knowledge with the goal of making positive change for our community and the world.

Through excellence and innovation in teaching and learning, we provide students with future-focussed programs that ensures everyone can participate in the opportunities a science education affords. And we strive to do this through a lens of inclusive excellence so all can thrive.

The Faculty benefits from the expertise of over 280 faculty members and 28 research chairs spanning six departments (Biological Sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Chemistry, Earth, Energy and Environment, and Physics and Astronomy), five Undergraduate Programs (Data Science, Environmental Science, Nanoscience, Natural Sciences, and Neuroscience), and two Graduate Programs (Professional Programs, and Computational Media Design).

The Faculty of Science is represented by a global network of 27,203 alumni across 150 countries. With over $50 million in external annual research funding, the Faculty provides a stimulating environment where 7,400 undergraduate students and 1,370 graduate students can thrive with innovative programs, hands-on research opportunities, and access to cutting-edge laboratories. For more information, visit https://science.ucalgary.ca/

About Calgary
Recently ranked the most liveable city in North America and 5th in the world (2024) by The Economist Intelligence Unit, and possessing one of the youngest populations of major cities in Canada, Calgary is home to world-class attractions, sporting amenities and public infrastructure that supports a healthy lifestyle, making it a great place to raise a family (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnh-WugziiiHwMT44-sVwrA). Situated where the Canadian plains reach the sunny foothills of Canada’s majestic Rocky Mountains, Calgary is a major urban centre surrounded by an area of profound beauty with an awe-inspiring mountains, lakes, rivers and gorgeous prairie.

Consistently rated by the United Nations as the world’s best country to live in, Canada is the world’s second largest country by total area and is one of the most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations. Canada ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education.

To help us track our recruitment effort, please indicate in your cover/motivation letter where (jobsnearcanada.com) you saw this job posting.