University Professorshiop (m/f/d) for digitality, artificial intelligence and machine learning int the arts

For over 150 years, the University of Applied Arts Vienna has been engaged in reflecting on and, above all, shaping major social transformation processes. Today, it is above all the interplay of art, design, science, of research, teaching, and transfer, that provides the University of Applied Arts Vienna with the best conditions for reflecting on and helping to shape the major challenges of our time, thereby promoting an open, democratic, and resilient society.

In this sense, the University of Applied Arts Vienna understands digitality, artificial intelligence, and machine learning not as mere tools, but as cultural, aesthetic, and political phenomena that fundamentally shape current and future artistic practices and social developments. The university's goal is to promote a responsible, critical, and creative approach to data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence in society.

With the establishment of the Chair of Digitality, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning in the Arts, the University of Applied Arts Vienna is strengthening its profile as a place of art, artistic and interdisciplinary research, speculative practice, and responsible engagement with data-based systems. We are looking for an artist who understands these technologies as materialized ways of thinking, reflects on their aesthetic potential as well as their ethical, ecological, and social implications, and develops new forms of artistic expression and knowledge together with students.

The University of Applied Arts Vienna is seeking to fill the following position as of October 1, 2026

UNIVERSITY PROFESSORSHIP (m/f/d) FOR DIGITALITY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING IN THE ARTS

(40 hours per week)

The professorship will be established as a strategically relevant, interdisciplinary cross-sectional function and will work in close coordination with the university's artistic and scientific institutes and departments. It will initially be filled for a limited period of five years, with the possibility of a later contract extension by mutual agreement.

Tasks and profile of the professorship

The core tasks of the professorship include artistic exploration and experimentation in the fields of digitality, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) in teaching, research, and the development and exploration of the arts.

We are looking for a personality who is intensively engaged with current digital media, in particular data-based systems, and who experimentally researches and teaches these, e.g., through newer forms of image and sound generation using machine learning-supported methods.

A key focus of the professorship is the critical examination of (one's own) artistic means and the theoretical foundation of one's own media practice and/or artistic research. In this way, the applicant should contribute to the development and exploration of the arts in dealing with data-based systems.

The professorship is expected to play a key role in establishing and expanding the university's expertise in the field of AI and ML in the arts and in teaching, as the nucleus for a center for artificial intelligence/machine learning in the arts, design disciplines, and sciences. In addition to providing speculative freedom for interdisciplinary teaching and learning and exchange within and outside the university, this includes, in particular, promoting the ethically sound, ecologically and economically sustainable use of digital resources, for example by establishing and using open-source infrastructures in research and teaching.

Other tasks include:

·        Designing and conducting interdisciplinary courses within the framework of the university's overall curriculum

·        Willingness to engage in interdisciplinary and research-related collaboration

·        Supervising master's, diploma, and PhD projects in the artistic disciplines

·        actively organizing and conducting public events to promote international networking and increase the visibility of the university

·        creating exchange formats within and outside the university

·        assuming university self-administration tasks and administrative duties as part of teaching activities

·        managing an organizational unit, including staff management and budget responsibility in accordance with internal guidelines

Additional requirements

Applicants should meet the following criteria:

·        Completed relevant university degree (diploma/master's), excellent artistic qualifications and an internationally recognized profile with a strong artistic positioning in the field of the call for applications

·        Proof of outstanding, internationally visible artistic work and success in acquiring third-party funding/cooperation projects

·        Proven ability and enthusiasm for excellent teaching and supervision of theses in an interdisciplinary environment

·        Proven leadership experience and a cooperative and situational understanding of leadership, teamwork, and communication skills

·        Proof of competence development in the field of AI and machine learning in the arts and teaching

·        Excellent English skills and good written and spoken German; courses are held in German and English

·        Gender competence and intercultural competence

In order to remain a vibrant and authentic university, we require the visible and continuous presence of our professors in Vienna.

Salary

According to the collective agreement (A1, salary scale for academic/artistic university staff), the negotiable basic salary for professors is € 6,713.30 gross per month, paid 14 times a year. Based on previous experience in this field, the salary can be increased accordingly by paying above the standard rate.

The University of Applied Arts Vienna pursues an anti-discriminatory employment policy and stands for equal opportunities and diversity. We aim to achieve a wide range of gender identities, ages, physical conditions, and cultural, social, and ethnic backgrounds among our employees. We also strive to maintain a high proportion of women among our artistic, academic and general university staff, particularly in management positions, and therefore expressly encourage qualified women and LGBTQIA+ individuals to apply. Where qualifications and suitability are equal, women and LGBTQIA+ individuals will be given priority if they are underrepresented at the university.

Application procedure

Applications must be submitted in German or English in electronic form (as a single PDF document) by March 31, 2026 (date of receipt by the university) to the Rector of the University of Applied Arts Vienna (professuren@uni-ak.ac.at). Only applications sent to this email address will be considered.

The application must include:

1.   A detailed curriculum vitae

2.   Comprehensive documentation of artistic work (e.g., catalog of works, list of publications, digital writings/project documentation)

3.   A presentation of the applicant's personal ideas about teaching and a research or artistic development concept that outlines how the applicant intends to promote competence development in the field of AI/ML and sustainable digitality at the University of Applied Arts

4.   A presentation of leadership experience and understanding of leadership