Title: Assistant/Associate Professor - Natural Language Processing

Executive Area: Academic Affairs

College/School/MBU: College of Info & Computer Sci

Department: Computer Science

Work Location: Amherst

Schedule: Full Time

Work Arrangement: Onsite

Job Summary

The Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst invites applications for tenure-track faculty in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and similar areas, at the Assistant and Associate Professor levels. Exceptional candidates at other ranks (e.g. full professor) may be considered.

About UMass Amherst:

The flagship of the Commonwealth, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a nationally ranked public land-grant research university that seeks to expand educational access, fuel innovation and creativity, and share and use its knowledge for the common good. Founded in 1863, UMass Amherst sits on nearly 1,450-acres in scenic Western Massachusetts and boasts state-of-the-art facilities for teaching, research, scholarship, and creative activity. The institution advances a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community where everyone feels connected and valued—and thrives, and offers a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees across 10 schools and colleges, and 100 undergraduate majors. We believe every member of our university community can contribute to our ongoing success by striving for the highest level of excellence as we seek breakthrough solutions to mounting environmental, social, economic, and technological challenges in our world.

About the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences:

Celebrating over 60 years of pioneering contributions to computing, the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) at UMass Amherst is home to graduate and undergraduate programs ranked among the top 25 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and CS Rankings. Following a decade of tremendous growth, CICS currently has 94 core faculty, including 1 Turing Award winner, 20 ACM Fellows, 12 IEEE Fellows, 40 NSF CAREER Award winners, and 8 AAAI Fellows. CICS research encompasses all major technical specializations across the profession and serves as the focal point for interdisciplinary computing research at UMass Amherst, with affiliated research centers such as the Center for Intelligent Information Retrieval, the Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, the Center for Smart and Connected Society, the Computational Social Science Institute, and the Cybersecurity Institute, and the NIH-funded Massachusetts AI and Technology Center for Connected Care in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease.

The college currently enrolls approximately 300 doctoral students, 600 master's students, and 1,700 undergraduate students in its computer science and informatics programs and continues to build on its history of innovative teaching with new BS and MS concentrations in AI, new certificates in public interest technology, and a growing online master's program. The college's new Computer Science Laboratories building serves as a hub for community, collaboration, and innovation. The CICS community is united by a revolutionary vision for computing research, education, and outreach—Computing for the Common Good—and is committed to inspiring and educating students from all backgrounds and experiences, while conducting research that improves the lives of the people of the Commonwealth and the world.

About Natural Language Processing at UMass Amherst:

The position would entail joining UMass' rich NLP and AI research environment, with NLP faculty and collaborators in the context of many related areas. Among CICS faculty this includes NLP alongside machine learning, information retrieval, computational linguistics, computational social science, educational technology, digital media, computer vision, multimodal models, biomedical NLP, clinical NLP, child safety, robotics, security, AI safety, software engineering, and other areas; and elsewhere on campus, with researchers in linguistics, psychology, public policy, health sciences, and more (https://nlp.cs.umass.edu/). Collaborative efforts are encouraged, including through Synthesis Project collaborations with PhD students. CICS fosters an excellent student environment, including many alumni who have gone on to impressive academic and industry positions themselves. Faculty fundraising can be supported through seed grants and CICS’ industry relationships, while faculty and their labs also enjoy access to a well-supported GPU cluster (Unity) for their research.

Minimum Qualifications

Before starting in this position, applicants must hold a PhD in Computer Science or a related area and should show evidence of exceptional research promise.

Additional Details

Starting Date: September 1, 2027. Other start dates (e.g., Spring 2028 or Fall 2028) may be considered.

UMass Amherst and CICS are very supportive of dual-career families. We have a Partner Employment Program and will work with candidates to find opportunities for partners within CICS, across the University, and in the nearby community. Although UMass does not guarantee job placement, efforts are made to help secure a position for spouses or partners. For more information on our Partner Employment Program or other faculty benefits, please see https://www.umass.edu/faculty-development/prospective-faculty.

This position is subject to final budgetary and administrative approval.

Working Conditions

Work is performed in a standard office or indoor university environment and involves minimal physical exertion.

Work Schedule and Work Arrangement

Monday - Friday, 40 hours a week.

Salary Information

It is expected that the salary range for this position is between $79,350 and $204,268. The specific pay for this position will be determined by the University based on consideration of all relevant factors when and if it decides to extend an offer of employment. Please note:

The low-end of the pay range in all faculty searches at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the minimum salary for the rank included in the collective bargaining agreement between the University and the Massachusetts Society of Professors, UMass Amherst/MTA/NEA.

The high-end of the pay range reflects an increase above the median salaries at this rank within the department for faculty who may have multiple years of faculty experience.

Starting salaries for tenure track faculty members in CICS are typically well above the low-end of the pay range indicated above.

Special Instructions for Applicants

We will begin interviewing in January 2027. To ensure consideration for a Winter/Spring interview, we encourage you to apply no later than December 1, 2026.

Candidates must provide the following in their application package:

1) Cover letter that lays out your interest in this position and why you are a good fit.
2) Current curriculum vitae.
3) Statement of research outlining your accomplishments briefly, focusing on your future plans and potential fit at UMass Amherst.
4) Statement of teaching, including your teaching philosophy and potential courses you might offer at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
5) At UMass Amherst and CICS, we strive to be a community where every individual feels a sense of belonging, where every individual is included, and where every individual is valued. You can find these values and goals in our strategic plan here: https://www.umass.edu/strategicplan/strategic-plan. Based on our stated values, please tell us in your teaching, research and/or service statement, how you see yourself contributing to the Common Good in our community.
6) Contact information for three professional references.

Current and previous UMass employees applying for this position should expect that their past teaching, advising, and service contributions will be reviewed as part of their application. This includes, but is not limited to, review of SRTI scores and comments for each course that was taught. Individuals who have previous experience teaching at another university are strongly encouraged to provide relevant course feedback scores and comments for review by the search committee.

Inquiries and requests for more information can be sent to: chair@cics.umass.edu

This position will remain open for the time period required by any applicable collective bargaining agreement and will continue until a suitable candidate pool is identified. Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early.