Postdoctorate Fellowships or Assistant Professors in Explainable and Scalable Symbolic AI for Computational Law and Legal Decision-making

Postdoctorate Fellowships or Assistant Professors in Explainable and Scalable Symbolic AI for Computational Law and Legal Decision-making

The Department of Computer Science invites applicants for two 24 month positions in Explainable and Scalable Symbolic AI for Computational Law and Legal Decision-making, either at the level of   postdoctorate fellowship or Assistant Professor. The positions are affiliated to respectively the LEXplain (Explainability requirements for AI used in legal decision-making) project and the larger research project “XHAILe” (Explainable Hybrid AI for Computational Law and Accurate Legal Chatbots) affiliated to the AI Pioneer Centre. Both projects are in collaboration with the Faculty of Law at Copenhagen University. LEXplain is funded by the Research Council of Norway and further involves Faculty of Law, University of Bergen. XHAILe is financed by Innovation Fund Denmark and further involves Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, DTU Compute, and industrial partners: DCR Solutions, KL (Local Government Denmark), TietoEvry, and Lexoforms.

Start date is 1st November, 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The projects
The projects aim to provide efficient, accurate and explainable hybrid AI technologies for computational law, legal decision-making and natural language interaction with e-government solutions along with trustworthy benchmarks and guidelines for legal use of the technology. The successful candidate is expected to conduct research in symbolic AI for computational law and legal decision-making and to contribute to its application in the project.

The projects will be building on research of the PI and his research groups jointly with DCR Solutions, which is a spin-off from a prior research project, centred around the development of a graph-based modelling language, DCR Graphs, for the declarative modelling of law and business processes. The DCR Graphs language is today used widely and successfully in the public sector.

Further information about the affiliated research projects:

LEXplain: www4.uib.no/en/research/research-projects/lexplain

XHAILe: https://di.ku.dk/english/research/research-projects/xhaile/

Who are we looking for?
We are looking for candidates with a PhD degree and demonstrable experience in the field of symbolic AI, logic or declarative decision and process models; additional experience in the use of symbolic logic for computational law and large language models would be a plus.

Our group and research- and what do we offer?
We offer a position affiliated to projects that are a collaboration between several faculties within the University of Copenhagen, Technical University of Denmark, Local Government Denmark - and with a reference group of governmental institutions and leading international experts in the field. The postdoctorate Fellow or assistant professor will be positioned at the Computer Science Department, University of Copenhagen, in the research section for Software, Data, People & Society. There will be close collaboration with the industry partners and regular collaboration with the other academic and external partners in the project. The project has the ambition to play an important role in the trustworthy and effective application of AI in the public sector.

The University of Copenhagen was founded in 1479 and is the oldest and largest university in Denmark. It is often ranked as the best university in Scandinavia and consistently as one of the top places in Europe. Within computer science, it is ranked number 2 in the European Union according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2021. 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.

The duties of the postdoc and assistant professor will include research and publication/scientific communication within Explainable and Scalable Symbolic AI for Computational Law and Legal Decision-making.

The assistant professor’s duties will in addition include research-based teaching with associated examination obligations.

To a limited extent the positions may also include other duties.

Assessment of applicants for the assistant professorship will primarily consider their level of documented, internationally competitive research and internationally recognized high potential to make a future impact. The ability to attract external funding will be considered together with outreach qualifications. Teaching qualifications are not mandatory but documented teaching qualifications and teaching experience will be considered.

University of Copenhagen’s criteria for recognising merit
Six overall criteria apply for assistant professor appointments at the University of Copenhagen. The six criteria (research, teaching, societal impact, organizational contribution, external funding and leadership) are considered a framework for an overall assessment of the candidates. Furthermore, each candidate must be assessed according to the specific requirements stated in the job advertisement. Please read more here:
For assistant professors: https://jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabelige-stillinger/kriterier-for-videnskabelige-stillinger/dokumenter-til-meritering/5a_Criteria_for_recognising_merit_-Assistant_professors.pdf.

Filing of application
The position may be applied for at the assistant professor level or postdoc. Please note that it is possible to apply at more than one level. If applied at more than one level, separate applications must be submitted (see below).

The application including all attachments must be in English and submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Applying for the assistant professor position please include

• Curriculum vitae including:
  • Please describe and document international network and relations
  • Please describe and document internationally based activities
  • Positions held at universities/research institutions outside Denmark
  • Outreach activities, i.e. popular lectures or other activities in the media
  • Grants held, personal or in part. Career development grants.
  • [Other qualifications can be filled in by Department]
• Diplomas (Master and PhD degree or equivalent)
• Research plan - description of current and future research plans
• If available, description and documentation of teaching and supervision experience and qualifications- please describe and document:
  • Experience with supervision of BSc and MSc students
  • Teaching experience
  • Formal pedagogical training

• Complete publication list
• Separate reprints of up to 5 particularly relevant papers

Applying for the postdoc position please include

• Curriculum vitae
• Diplomas (Master and PhD degree or equivalent)
• Research plan – description of current and future research plans
• Complete publication list
• Separate reprints of 3 particularly relevant papers

The deadline for applications is Sunday 3 August 2025 23:59 GMT +2.

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Interview Committee.

You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

Interviews will be held in week 36-37

Please refer to the following no. in future communication in this case:

211-0518/25-2A, Assistant Professors in Explainable and Scalable Symbolic AI for Computational Law and Legal Decision-making

211-2253/25-2I, Postdoctorate Fellowships in Explainable and Scalable Symbolic AI for Computational Law and Legal Decision-making