The University of British Columbia, Vancouver seeks outstanding internal UBC candidates for the position of Director of the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS).
ICICS is a world-class, multi-disciplinary research institute that is unique for its breadth of expertise and promotion of collaborative research in advanced technologies systems in Canada. It was established in 1986 as the Centre for Integrated Computer Systems Research (CICSR) from the three founding departments of Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. In 2000, CICSR’s scope broadened to include any UBC faculty member involved in advanced technologies research and its name was changed to ICICS. It currently has over 160 members from 18 different departments and 7 different faculties across UBC and approximately 1,000 affiliated graduate students. More information about ICICS can be found at http://www.icics.ubc.ca/.
The Director acts as primary academic and administrative officer of the Institute, coordinating and leading the Institute’s various programs, activities and initiatives. The Director reports to a Steering Committee chaired by the Dean of Applied Science and comprised of the Deans of Applied Science and Science.
The successful candidate must hold an appointment at the rank of Professor and must be a current active member of ICICS. The ideal candidate is a dynamic, visionary and collaborative leader, who will bring people together and build on ICICS’ strengths in education, research, entrepreneurship and professional practice as it manages its growth trajectory. The successful candidate must have proven leadership and administrative experience or have demonstrated the potential for such skills in other ways.
The position is for a five year term. Applicants are invited to submit a package that consists of a brief cover letter expressing their interest, a current curriculum vitae and the name and contact address (including email address) of three references who are able to provide an objective assessment of the candidate’s suitability for this leadership position.
Applications should be submitted in confidence to:
Dr. Marc Parlange, co-Chair
ICICS Director Search Committee
Faculty of Applied Science
5000 – 2332 Main Mall
UBC Campus
The package must be sent by e-mail only to sue.yee@ubc.ca and any attachments should only be Word or pdf files, set for printing on letter-size paper.
Review of applications will begin on September 7, 2016.
UBC hires on the basis of merit and is strongly committed to equity and diversity within its community. We especially welcome applications from visible minority group members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, and others with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.
ICICS DIRECTOR MANDATE
The internal and external ICT/technology landscape has evolved dramatically since the inception of ICICS/MAGIC. Internally, there are new and emerging strong research clusters, e.g., HCI-Human computer interaction and new computing institutes, e.g., Data Science Institute.
Externally, the ICT sector is a rapidly growing start-up and entrepreneurial culture in Vancouver and BC broadly as well as the establishment of significant presence from global organizations like SAP, Microsoft, Hootsuite, Telus, MDA etc. all of which is providing unprecedented economic growth and opportunity for UBC students and faculty.
This rapidly evolving technology landscape requires a focussing of ICICS’s mandate on research excellence, innovation and impact on the creation of a strong knowledge economy in BC, Canada and globally. This is centrally important to UBC’s success now and more so in the future.
The ICICS Director is a dynamic, visionary and collaborative leader, who will bring people together and build on ICICS’ strengths in education, research, entrepreneurship and professional practice.
The mandate of the ICICS Director will include:
- Fostering research excellence through the identification, development and support of strong research clusters.
- Supporting financially and in-kind to enable these clusters to be successful in large-scale, higher-risk research proposals both programmatic (e.e., WD, CFI, NCE, etc) and Industrial (e.g., industry consortia).
- Developing programs and mechanisms that drive research innovation and impact with internal and external communities to increase the reputation and industry engagements with UBC researchers.
- Supporting the entrepreneurial ambitions of the faculty, staff and students through the successful operations and growth of the HATCH incubator in partnership with entrepreneurship@UBC and other faculties.
- Actively raising awareness of ICICS activities and outcomes related to research, innovation and impact both with internal and external communities.
- Developing process and procedures to provide shared space and specialized infrastructure for strategic research, innovation and impact initiatives.